The prevalence of mental health challenges continues to worsen among adolescents, with Black American adolescents experiencing rates of suicide attempts that are increasing faster than any other racial and ethnic groups. Research has found that the neighborhood environment impacts mental health through the type and level of stress that people…

This study investigated microaggressions Black children experienced in early childhood education during the pandemic. Using racial microaggressions as a framework, we sought to gain insights into these experiences through counter-narratives from parents of Black children. Parents provided unique insights into their children's experiences, giving…

Black children today fight to define their own futurity beyond the myth of low aspirations -- a dominant societal ideology which limits Black success to careers in professional sports and entertainment and blames Black families and communities for devaluing education. Informed by career aspiration research and qualitative methodologies, this study…

Online racial discrimination (ORD) has been found to have deleterious effects on the psychological and academic outcomes of youth of color. Racial centrality (i.e., the extent to which one regards their racial group membership as important to their identity) may be a powerful buffer of these effects and has been identified as an important…

This article examines children's literature written by African American teachers during the first part of the twentieth century. Drawing on theories of racialization, I analyze children's books written by two African American teachers: Helen Adele Whiting (1885-1959) and Jane Dabney Shackelford (1895-1979). I argue that their books represented…

Family instability has negative consequences, on average, for child and adolescent behavior, cognitive scores, and educational attainment. Beyond changes involving parents, many children experience household changes involving extended family and nonrelatives. These children are less likely to graduate from high school and complete some college…

The constant dehumanization of Black fathers and boys in the media, education, politics, pop culture, and society is traumatic. Deficit perspectives and a racialized political climate often negatively portray the moral, familial, and relational practices that Black fathers and boys engage in with their family members in their homes. Using…

Drawing on the work of critical scholars, this study is guided by the idea that systems and structures are malleable, and young people can challenge the conditions and policies which inform their lives. Utilizing qualitative methods, I investigated how nine adult youth workers from three different non-profit organizations supported youth of color…

Purpose: This paper aims to contribute to a growing body of work (re)imagining the future for Black girls by calling Western notions of time into question. At its core, this paper argues that all Black girls are imaginative beings and that it is essential that Black girlhood imagination as a mode of future-making praxis be considered an integral…

Introduction: Parents of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) endorse increased parenting stress and lower levels of parenting efficacy and satisfaction as compared to parents of children without ADHD. Additionally, maternal ADHD and depression differentiate children with and without ADHD, with children with ADHD being…

Suicide rates among Black youth have risen faster than any other racial/ethnic group in the past two decades. Black youth residing in rural areas are subject to systemic challenges such as minimal access to mental healthcare providers, generational poverty and oppressive social structures that lead to racial discrimination. Racial discrimination…

The contributions, participation, and exploitation of Black people within science and science education are devalued within the cannon of science teaching and learning. This in part is due to the Eurocentric nature of science and education. As a result, Black youth participate in science regularly; however, it is overlooked, not recognized, and/or…

After-school programs are potential contexts that may promote positive youth development (PYD) and reduce problem behaviors among African American children. One way after-school programs may be associated with reduced problem behaviors is by fostering an affirming sense of identity. Prior research on racial-ethnic identity among African American…

This article explores the impact of critical, humanizing pedagogies in early childhood education by focusing on the joyful experiences of Black children in PK-2 classrooms. Through the use of photovoice (Wang & Burris, 1997), a participatory research method, senior-level undergraduate early childhood education teacher candidates documented and…

Black children and their families encounter systemic disadvantages in their journey to and through an autism diagnosis. Black families often experience social and systemic barriers to service use. Providing family-centered, psychoeducational interventions can reduce barriers to service access and utilization for Black families raising autistic…