Project Period: 2020–2024
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic crisis it produced, and the uprisings against police brutality and systemic racism, Justice + Joy launched a youth participatory action research (YPAR) project that brought the experiences and leadership of girls and gender-expansive young people of color to the forefront of decision-making. The project facilitated 15 virtual, regional, and Tribal In Solidarity conversations with more than 380 participants in Spring and Fall 2020, followed by a 2022 survey with returning youth researchers. These spaces allowed young people to name the challenges they faced and articulate what they needed from the systems meant to support them.
These efforts culminated in the release of At the Forefront: The Experiences of Girls, Young Women and Gender-Expansive Youth of Color as they Navigate the COVID-19 Pandemic and Social Uprising on May 24, 2022, as well as a four-part report series titled Power in Our Truths released Winter 2023 through Spring 2024.
