Introduction
Welcome to the Engaging Black 2SLGBTQIA+ Youth Implementation Guide. Created between 2020-2023 by the QIC-2SLGBTQIA+ community, this guide is a resource for professionals who are new to, or struggling with, engaging Black 2SLGBTQIA+ youth in their work.
There are countless opportunities to partner with Black 2SLGBTQIA+ youth and young adults at every facet of an organization! This of course may make it hard to know where to start or how best to do this within any specific type of profession. This guide will help you figure out where to start, identify possible strategies and engagement activities, and point you towards additional resources. All you need to do is follow along and be open to doing this exciting and challenging work.
Youth Engagement
Youth engagement is a strategy in which youth are given a meaningful voice and role, and are genuinely and intentionally involved in working towards changing the programs, services, and/or systems that directly affect their lives. Youth engagement is a means by which an organization achieves a goal, such as improving young adult outcomes, or increasing the rate at which young adults utilize the organization’s services from a codesigning, collaborative approach.
Youth engagement is not a one-time event; it is an ongoing process and may be at different stages and in different parts of programming and/or services. Active youth engagement looks like youth assisting with planning meeting agendas, facilitating workshops, keeping records such as attendance and notes, and/or researching ways to improve or change programs. These are common areas where high participation levels of youth engagement can sometimes be found. However, by contrast, a program’s budgeting process or board of directors may have lower participation levels of youth engagement. This might be because of the level of training or support young people may need to understand finances, which requires intentional ongoing coaching. Perhaps there are policies which exclude young people under a certain age from serving on the board of directors, and it takes time to adjust policies that would encourage further youth engagement. Some states even have laws that prohibit youth under a certain age from serving on boards, so it’s always good to check your state requirements, and advocate on a state level for change.
Youth Mental Health
It’s important to talk about mental health in youth advocacy work because it impacts how young folks view and interact with the world and others. It can affect how they view their own 2SLGBTQIA+ identity in a positive or negative light, it can even affect how they are treated and function in society that can intentionally, and unintentionally, devalue and even criminalize their identity and mental health.
Common mental illnesses among historically, and still presently, marginalized people who face systemic oppression, such as the BIPOC, 2SLGBTQIA+, and disabled youth communities are depression, anxiety, and even trauma based ADHD. Queer and trans Black people face one of the largest numbers of disproportionate health disparities and intergenerational trauma. To folks of privileged identities, “symptoms” can look like moodiness, irritability, paranoia, coming off seemingly blunt or rude, or even as youth lashing out or acting in “unacceptable” ways. For many Black youth, mental health needs, trauma, and lack of safe, affirming environments, are often perceived as aggression. For foster youth, in particular Black youth within the child welfare system, this can manifest as anger and standoffishness as a defense mechanism.