Radical Inquiry—Liberatory Praxis for Research and Evaluation

Abstract Conventional social science research and evaluation too often replicate unjust and oppressive narratives and assumptions about young people of color's capacities, abilities, and needs, treating them primarily, and sometimes solely, as risk, problem, or disease. Overemphasis on “metrics of compliance,” such as personal behavior change, self‐efficacy, and resilience perpetuate this burden while ignoring those of survival, fortitude, and resistance in the context of structural/historical subjugation, discrimination, and state‐sanctioned violence communities of color have endured as part of US nation‐building. Invisible, insidious, and assumed, the dominant tropes and frameworks render white middle‐class subjectivities as the gold‐standard of achievement, status, and success. RYSE Youth Center in Richmond, California, creates safe spaces grounded in social justice that build youth power for young people to love, learn, educate, heal, and transform lives and communities. Toward this, RYSE employs Radical Inquiry through intentional, active, and ongoing listening. Radical Inquiry facilitates connection, proximity, and empathy—humanization.