This article describes a three-year qualitative study on how youth of color in one community-based organization, Durham Community Youth, used the mentor text, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "What's your life's blueprint?" speech, as a reflective tool to transform themselves and their community. Using a critical literacy framework, the…

This article draws from a decade-long community-based research partnership oriented toward learning from and supporting immigrant youth and families as they advocate for themselves in the face of educational inequity. In particular, we focus on examining the trajectory and insights of the partnership in light of ongoing educational, health, and…

Drawing upon standpoint theory and phenomenology, this study chronicles the lived experiences of 16 successful female first-generation students of color as they pursued K-12 schooling and accessed higher education. Findings indicate that a complex set of school, family, peer, and personal factors affected students' lived experiences in their urban…

This article uses a critical sociohistorical lens to discuss and explain examples of the ways in which young people reflect, refract, and contribute to discourses of gentrification, displacement, and racial, ethnic, and geographic community identity building in a rapidly changing urban neighborhood. The article explores examples from open-ended…

The article draws on work in Critical Geography Studies and Photovoice methodology, to illustrate the ways in which youth in an inner city conceptualize neighborhoods and public spaces. We utilize youth's photographs, narratives, and maps to tell a story of youth's lived experiences and argue that these experiences are vital sources of knowledge…

The urban university must directly respond to the special needs of the community in which it is located. The university should reflect its commitment to the city through its instructional programs, the interests of its faculty, the character of its student body, and the openness of its events and facilities to the public. (Author/GC)

Six Black men in their midtwenties, all from inner-city school, expressed their feelings about what it means to be a Black man and their views of family. Participants had taken varying steps toward overcoming negative self-images but still had many obstacles to overcome. (SLD)