Geographies of Refusal: Understanding Racially Minoritized Youth Activism in Suburban Schools

While more is known about how racially minoritized youth in urban settings turn to activism to counter marginalizing schooling practices, less is known about what this looks like in suburban schools and communities. I engage with scholarship on fugitivity and critical youth studies to examine the issues that shape and drive racially minoritized youth’s activism at a suburban school in Iowa. My analysis examines how participants engaged in activism to fight for a more equitable and just schooling environment. I unpack how youth of color made sense of a school culture invested in ghosting and gaslighting when they voiced their grievances and mobilized for equity and justice. I also examine the tensions that youth wrestled with in their activism.