UCLA

Anti-black violence in schools has contributed to a myth of low aspirations and persistent inequities that seek to limit the ways that Black adolescents dream of and imagine for themselves and their communities. While there is a growing number of research that centers Black teenage dreams for their adult selves, little research foregrounds and highlights the dreams that Black youth have for their adolescence. With significant research documenting the ways that Black adolescence are adultified and not treated or understood as children, exploring Black youth dreams in this area, in addition to Black youth futures, is a significant area of study. This project uses qualitative methodologies to explore and illuminate the dreams and dream-sharing of Black 10th graders living in South Central Los Angeles. Through a portrait of a 10th grade English classroom, and portraits of three Black students, this study finds that Black youth dream of adolescence and adulthood in capacious and diverse ways. This study finds that Black youth describe multiple dimensions of their dreams, and include critical sense-making, vulnerability, and relationality. Lastly, this study contributes and offers nuance into methodologies for Black dreaming research, by urging researchers to consider dream-sharing as a deeply vulnerable act, with implications for researchers.