Centering Black Youth Wellbeing
This virtual community of practice explores ways to center the wellbeing of Black young people and their... View more
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What is One Simple Thing you could do to center Black youth wellbeing in your work? What is One Simple Thing that your organization could do to center Black youth wellbeing?
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What is One Simple Thing you could do to center Black youth wellbeing in your work? What is One Simple Thing that your organization could do to center Black youth wellbeing?
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I think one thing I can do is act on the recent report our organization received regarding creating a place for Black Youth to come together to support each other as they experience racist treatment.
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One simple thing I could do is to make sure that the accomplishments of Black people are celebrated everyday and that the walls have posters of Black people and that the movies watched in class and books read by students tell the stories of Black people so that Black youth in schools feel represented and proud.
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Yes, a small change I observed at one school was a poster which read “Black History Month” was altered to remove the word “month!” It seems like a small thing but I believe it is impactful and I notice it everytime I’m in that school – it is in a place of prominence which is where it should be.
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One simple thing I can do to center Black youth and wellbeing is to have a meaningful conversation with each one of my Black youth, asking them how they are doing and what is going on in their lives. Often, Black youth are silenced or looked over, so I want to be there and show them that I care about what goes on in their lives, and hopefully this can give them reassurance that they are seen by someone, and that their voice can be heard.
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One simple thing would be to determine at least 1 staff member per youth/student who represents a safe, caring, guiding adult. The expectation should be that this adult maintains the connection by checking in with the youth daily or weekly as needed.
A bigger yet important and doable step would be that each staff in our school board take this course!
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I was a students’ rights activist in my twenties, so I always think about bringing the voice of students in my classroom. Acknowledging and taking account of their voices give students more power for themselves to thrive in their learning and in the community. This will have no pushbacks from other students as I will have their voices also, but students who are silenced by the society will have more chances to bring their voices out. This will also serve as a better chance for their wellbeing as they will be able to advocate their own needs and will feel less marginalized and less oppressed.
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I work more indirectly with Black youth, in that I create resources for the counsellors and staff on campus that work with Black youth. I think one simple thing we can do as an organization is to include as much research on Black Youth as possible within our resources, to make sure our stakeholders are as informed as they can be on the realities faced by Black youth, so that they can better support them.
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I think that it will be helpful to ensure that data collected on youth outcomes and experiences in programs should be disaggregated to look a the unique outcomes of Black youth. In my past experience, this practice has been really valuable, and detrimental to how a program is run and operated. This course has really cemented the need for evaluation and research that highlights the specific experiences of Black youth, instead of lumping all youth outcomes together. This can then further inform how programs need to change and improve.
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I totally agree, Erika. Lumping all Black youth into one category is really irresponsible and misrepresentative. Disaggregating data would definitely help with this. As a researcher, I also think of the power that comes from having youth participate in the research not solely as objects of study, but as active proponents in the work.
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One thing I would say would be to say their names properly. Making sure that the name they were given/chose is said out loud, correctly. Hearing their name in a positive and thoughtful manner helps Black youth recognize who they are and boost confidence. It will also help to eliminate the notion that Black names are not “regular” or “normal”, because what is normal and by whose standards?
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Shalaine, this is such a simple but effective thing that anyone can do. I love it. I am also intrigued by the use of pseudonyms in research because of the power that giving and having a name holds. I will be careful to think about this in my future work.
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I love this idea! As someone with a name that is difficult to pronounce, I understand how pronouncing one’s name correctly can instil great amounts of confidence in them.
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One thing I find imporatant in working with youth is to priortize sharing the vast knowledge of African contributions to human advancement historically and to emphasize the various black leaders of today in numerous fields who are actively changing the world. One of the youth who I work with has now found a strong interest in Cosmology after being introduced to Star Talk hosted by Scientist and educator Neil de Grass Tyson. The simple act of seeing positive representation of your people is empowering especially in a system designed to promote negative aspects constantly.
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I believe that it’s key to make sure that the work you do is trauma informed at all times. Do our best to self reflect, check our biases and hold ourselves accountable in the process.
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I agree that adopting a trauma-informed stance/approach is super important and I would add that (at least for myself) part of a trauma-informed approach is working to facilitate “braver” spaces where service users can give honest and frank feedback about how I “show up” and specifically, where/how I may have misstepped or caused harm, whether intentional/conscious or not. I think this kind of relational accountability and relationship repair is a deeply important, if not under-acknowledged, aspect of trauma-informed work.
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If anyone is looking for additional ideas on how to center Black youth wellbeing I recommend taking a look at the “The Potential for Youth Programs to Promote African American Youth’s Development of Ethnic and Racial Identity” research summary available on the YouthREX Knowledge Hub https://youthrex.com/research-summary/the-potential-for-youth-programs-to-promote-african-american-youths-development-of-ethnic-and-racial-identity/
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I appreciate continuing to read all of the practice strategies that folks have shared in this space!
I wanted to let you all know that Carol Wade (who presented Module 3’s lecture, “Strengthening Engagement with Families of Black Youth”) is hosting a webinar with YouthREX on Thursday, March 24th, from 12:30PM to 3PM ET, on Centering Equity in Family Engagement.
The conversations with caregivers, advocates, service providers, and researchers will build on what Carol shared in her lecture, using the 4Es framework for culturally relevant family support and engagement (check out our NEW factsheet on the Knowledge Hub!).
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One simple thing I can do in my personal practice to support Black young people and their families, is to be open and responsive to their needs. Also, I think it’s important for me to harness and use my feelings of frustration and pain as a Black man, to fight harder, speak louder, and work smarter.
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My organizations currently has some supports for Black wellbeing like short-term counselling, care sessions, and social programming. One thing that I could do to center and support this work is reach out to the organizers and see what I can help them with in the background, for example creating event logistics and promotional materials, so that they have more energy to participate fully in giving support and being part of community.
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One of the ways to center Black youth is to listen. Listening is the most critical way to amplify the voices of Black youth. As educators, service providers, and community/social workers we need to ensure that we are approaching our work in an inclusive and anti-oppressive way. This approach will allow us to effectively engage with Black youth, rather than exclude them from these conversations. While making improvements to the system is a process it is one that is important to continue to support Black youth.
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One simple thing that I will continue to do in my work is to challenge the language used to describe students. Aggressive, violent, defiant- question we were taught to always ask is, “According to who?” I am going to push all educators I work with to use asset based language when discussing students and observations rather than judgements when focusing on behaviours teachers find difficult.
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It’s important to listen to Black youth. When we are creating/supporting youth programs, we have to make sure that they are the center of the lesson plans. We have to create programs that actually engage/interest Black youth. My organization runs a Black mentorship program, and they are having trouble signing up Black youth. From what I’ve heard, many of the youth don’t think it’s beneficial to them because a lot of the lessons that are being taught are outdated. If we are making Black youth programs, it’s crucial that Black youth have to be the center of the program, not an after thought.
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One simple thing I can do is to share my learnings from this certificate with my coworkers and/or encourage them to complete this certificate themselves so we can work collectively to assess and address what our organization can do to better center Black youth wellbeing.
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One thing I can do is simply do the work – apply what I have learned to create positive spaces and honor and allow my students to thrive. Hold others accountable and call out the racism I either witness or experience. Hold my organization accountable when they do wrong and make sure I speak up for students when conversations are about them – find a way to bring them to these conversations as well. Do it authentically – heart work!
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One simple thing I plan to do is talk about this course with my colleagues and management. We talk about health equity, and the social determinants of health, but it was only recently that we talked about racism as a determinant of health. I feel like the self-reflection and re-education that occurs through taking this course is essential to moving forward to working with Black youth and families, and I want to encourage others to get more comfortable having these conversations.
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One simple thing we can do to center Black youth wellbeing in our work and everywhere else, is to genuinely care for them, to authentically engage in anti-racist work, and not do it just for show, because it looks good on a resume, or because it’s trending, or because you are afraid to be called out, or afraid to miss out on career advancement opportunities. One should care for real, and one should do this work because it is the right thing to do. It is the responsible thing to do, especially if you are in a position of power and influence. Be real, be empathetic, teach empathy and solidarity, demand and expect more from your organization as well.
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One thing schools could do is listen to the needs of Black students. Creating brave spaces where Black students are listened to and their ideas for change are acted on.
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Sarah, I couldn’t agree more — the very act of providing a space for Black students is Action and hopefully would be perceived by others as a positive and necessary action. For black students to have a space where they can share, be brave (or not) can be so validating. At at least one of our schools, there is a group for Black and racialized students to gather which has been affirming and active.
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EDUCATE EDUCATE!! I believe that having your organization/community involved and ready to learn! Bring in new practices to your community or workplace.
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One simple thing is to be open to conversations about anti-Black racism and openly correct one another or allow oneself to be corrected. I find that sometimes in workplaces we push comments and our concerns under the rug rather than speaking out or taking criticisms as an educational experience. This can also relate to our privileges, and as a biracial Asian-Canadian, we don’t realize how rooted anti-Black racism can be in our own cultures until we take a step back and be open to these conversations. In the workplace, I think more representation and programming surrounding Black youth and their experiences would greatly benefit them. Having a mentor that can connect with you on different intersections can mean the world; as if they are not alone and have someone they can relate to. Also having programming specific to their experiences, history, and feeling of belonging can provide great change and allow them to feel more comfortable in a space that is focusing on their needs. Courses like this are a great resource for youth workers and educators, but I do wonder how similar courses like this can benefit the youth themselves. Such as learning about their history as this is not openly available or provided to them in schools.
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This is a very simply thing, but I have personally always been struck by how impactful it can be to see a pride flag on display in a business or community space – to me, this simple visual hints or suggests that the space in question is welcoming and nonjudgmental, at least to LGBTQ+ folks. I feel similar about pronoun pins – a small marker which is not definitive, but allows gender-diverse folks to feel a little more at ease knowing that they will be acknowledged and respected in that space (generally speaking). I wonder if one similarly easy, simple way to show Black youth that they are safe, welcome and respected in a space might be to offer visual cues to this effect – whether it be BLM materials, posters/information/books by and about Black folks, Black art, or whatever the case may be. I know this is far from a solution, but might help to make Black youth feel a tiny bit more seen and valued in a community center/space. I would like to hear if anyone makes an effort to do this or has thoughts on effective ways to add these kinds of visual markers to a space.
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I am currently in the process of creating a brave space where we focus on all the amazing things they have done, are doing and will do in the future. When I am running my career program for students I focus on reframing and acknowledging all the powerful things they have accomplished.
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One thing my work can do is try to promote more black youth cooks is by giving them more avenues and creating a more multicultural environment that can make it so that they are more welcomed into what other wise would be a white dominated environment. try to learn food from different walks of life and implement them into the menu maybe as specials
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Broaden our understanding of “culturally appropriate” programming to create spaces where lived-experience can be voiced and incorporated. Instead of looking at content as something that is unilateral (from our organization / to or even with the youth) to content that can be built, adapted, co-created in real time.
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One thing that I have been working to do as an educator – is allowing students to see themselves – in the content being presented. For example, I am teaching food and nutrition, and this semester we have been previewing the Netflix series “High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America,” showing a lot of predominant strong black individuals. Students need to see themselves in the material that is being taught in schools – and to be quite frankly vast majority of it is white!
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An educator, what I could do to center Black youth wellbeing is to help validate their lived experiences by making my curriculum culturally relevant. Use examples from their communities and from their lives to ensure that they feel seen and can connect to their learning. That could be as simple as using the effects of ABR on Black mental health as an example in a Psychology unit. It could also be allowing them to take opportunities to form connections between their learning and their lives and sharing it with the class if they are comfortable. Sometimes Black youth need to feel as though they can express themselves without judgement and to feel like they hold a place in the curriculum and the class/school environment. They can make a joke, laugh, cry, express concerns; whatever they can do to feel like a protected kid. Finding that place and knowing someone is there to take care of them is a huge part of that wellbeing piece.
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This is a great idea! Connecting black students’ learning experiences to the true history of black people in Canada and their own lived experiences has been shown to be an impactful teaching practice when combatting anti-black racism.
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This is key in working with working with Black students. We often make the assumption that the lived experiences of Black students are the same just because they are Black. In as much as generational racism is real for everyone, youth have come up with different forms of healing for themselves…they needed to be seen first, heard, understood and then supported. This is one singular approach I am promoting with my staff working with Black youth.
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One thing that I am currently working on with my students is creating a Black Student Union. Where I live (and in the high school I teach), there is a very small percentage of black students. In previous conversations with my Black students, they have told me how they don’t feel like a priority within the Board or connected to their school. By formally bringing our Black students together with the Union, it not only creates an opportunity for them to lend their voices and stories, but it creates a space for them within their school where they are represented. Also, also allows our Board to work with these students when it comes to policies that impact them.
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This is a great idea! I have heard many black students express how much they feel like an afterthought, especially in schools where there is a small percentage of black students. Something like this would be great in areas in and outside of the GTA where the experiences of black students are often not considered.
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I feel it is important to validate Black youth experiences. Often in my work Black youth voices and experiences are disregarded or misconstrued as disrespect when they are in many case attempting to advocate for themselves. I think the education system in general could work harder to provide necessary training around ABR and its negative implications for student wellbeing. I think we need to also be willing to call out those who refuse time and again to be called in to ABR work.
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