Nearly 60 million children (81.2% of all children) in the U.S. live in diverse urban areas. As children grow and develop their identities in these diverse cities, the people they meet, the way their lives are organized, the way their families live and survive, and virtually all aspects of their lives will be shaped by the city. Children's books…

This study captures the stories of adult Black men from an urban area plagued by generational poverty and low educational attainment. Narrative semi-structured interviews were employed to examine their stories, the factors that contributed to their identities as students, and their decision to drop out of school. Using the cool pose theory (Major…

This study examines often-overlooked youth perspectives on the sociospatial changes happening in a community experiencing Black displacement, mass Latinx immigration, and impending gentrification. To date, studies of complex urban change rarely consider the ways in which young people perceive and produce place differently from adults. Drawing on…

As many U.S. school administrators create policies around hair, many often neglect to consider racial differences, especially those pertaining to hair care and maintenance styles. News media outlets have recently highlighted the ways schools create and sustain racially biased policies and schooling environments, demonstrating the media's role in…

The scholarly paper explores how racial justice and college credentials have become conflated despite the higher education system being a site of anti-Blackness. The argument is advanced through analyzing critiques of higher education--stratification, lack of support, un(der)employment, and consumerism--on Kanye West's first album "The…

There is an emerging interest in studying social action and civic engagement as a part of the developmental process. Studies among youth of color indicate that empowerment has been associated with well-being, a critical perspective, and in combating social oppression. These studies also show that civic involvement and awareness of social justice…

Despite the national impact on students due to COVID-19, for Black students living in the state of Florida, the disruption of their social, emotional, psychological, and academic normalcy was complicated further. At the height of the pandemic, Florida consistently ranked in the top three states in the U.S. for total COVID-19 cases; moreover, even…

This article explores the role of the podcast, Block Chronicles, in contributing to Latinx education issues via its a role as a form of public pedagogy. The authors situate their work in experiences within urban spaces such as Los Angeles, CA and the south Bronx, NY, while also making links to rural/semi-rural towns in the New Latinx south.…

In this paper we describe our investigation of underrepresented high school students' interests, engagement, and experiences in design-based Information and Communications Technology (ICT) summer workshop activities; with the goal of identifying activities, aspects, and/or elements of the program that can be tailored or improved upon to attract,…

This article intentionally proposes the use of anticolonial Xicana feminisms as a theoretical foundation for Spanish--English bilingual teacher preparation programs that serve a majority of Latinx aspiring teachers. An anticolonial Xicana feminist framework is imperative in order to prepare bilingual teachers to confront and counter the growing…

Nature field trips offer opportunities for urban students' exploration, discovery, and learning which they may not experience otherwise. Seventh grade students at an economically disadvantaged urban school in the US Midwest sorted statements related to school, nature, and science before and after their field trip experience. These sorts provide a…

In this article, we tell the story of a changing urban landscape through the eyes of the youth we work with in an ongoing after-school program and community-based research project rooted in Photovoice methodology. In particular, we focus on the work that, over the 6 years of our time with youth, has "ended up on the cutting room floor"…

Community-based organizations have long influenced education reforms, and urban areas are especially vulnerable to community work that transcends racial and economic boundaries. The purpose of this study is to explore how The League of Women Voters of Las Vegas Valley, a mostly White, middle-upper-class women's organization, worked to pursue one…

This is the examination of how a secondary school in England, the Robert Clack High School, not only made the transition from failure to success "against the odds", but sustained and enhanced that status despite changes in local demographics resulting in the school serving a significantly different ethnic community than was evident at…

The purpose of this cross sectional study was to predict feelings of belonging and social responsibility based on the motivational climate perceptions and contingent self-worth of children participating in urban after-school physical activity programs. Three-hundred and four elementary school students from a major Midwestern city participated.…