Leveraging Black Youth Voice in Florida amid COVID-19 to Add to the Discourse about Re-Envisioning the Educational Futures of Black Students

Despite the national impact on students due to COVID-19, for Black students living in the state of Florida, the disruption of their social, emotional, psychological, and academic normalcy was complicated further. At the height of the pandemic, Florida consistently ranked in the top three states in the U.S. for total COVID-19 cases; moreover, even before the onset of COVID-19, over 33% of Black youth under the age of 18 in the state (the highest for any group in Florida) had faced trauma, also known as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Black Floridian youth with ACEs residing in urban-situated neighborhoods have been overwhelmed by COVID-19. Yet little is known about Black youth and their experiences with COVID-19 beyond average achievement on national assessments. Particularly, we do not understand how Black youth made meaning of what was (and still is) transpiring in their communities with COVID-19 and how they made meaning of their schooling, amid a pandemic. Nor do we understand how the pandemic will affect the educational futures of Black youth. The salient goals of this study were to (a) leverage youth voice amid COVID-19 to add to the discourse about re-envisioning the educational futures of Black students within schools to inform educators and school districts in supporting an educational environment that is prepared to address the post-traumatic growth of students, and (b) promote micro-level policies in schools that enhance equitable educational and mental health practices among youth.