Power threats and radical healing in Black youths’ leisure

Abstract

Using racial threat theory, the present commentary argues that Black youth have been historically and are presently treated as a threat in leisure settings. The acknowledgment that leisure settings have perpetuated injustice for Black youth creates space for dialog about opportunities to promote justice. The second half of this article thus argues that the margins—as a space relatively free of oppression—may be an effective site for Black youth to imagine alternatives to their status as a threat. Radical healing, a process of building the capacity of Black youth to resist oppression, is described as a strategy to facilitate that imagination. Research questions and designs are recommended for future radical healing scholarship. The commentary closes with a call for further examination of the ways that leisure simultaneously furthers oppression and offers opportunities for resistance.

Keywords:

• African American
• racism
• recreation
• resistance
• social justice