After my final presentation for my family theories class, @RebeccaMBWhite asked how I’d respond to folks that say “discrimination leads youth to develop competencies.” What does this mean re: critical consciousness?

I feel passionate about my response, so I’ll elaborate

Yes, marginalized youth’s critical consciousness is a developmental competency.

However, it is only a “competency” when the norm and the standard is oppression.

We cannot separate “competency” from its context.

It is a SHAME that we live in a world where BIPOC and other marginalized families must learn how to humanize themselves because the current systems of our world are hell-bent on, and structured for, their dehumanization and oppression.

Youth of color develop resilience against racism + other isms, on top of the other developmental demands they experience JUST for being youth.

Focusing on resilience highlights, “yes, they’re surviving” and it counter narratives of helplessness, which is important;

However, I don’t think we should simply applaud their resilience/survival/coping and stop there.

At the heart of critical consciousness is shifting the conversation towards, “how do we change the systems that put them in survival mode in the first place?”

End , thank you for listening to my TED talk