Exploring the Influence of Negative Experiences within Gun Violence Prevention Organizing Spaces on the Civic Engagement of Black and Latinx Youth

Background and Purpose: To bring attention to gun violence within urban neighborhoods, Black and Latinx youth have joined both community-based and nationwide gun violence prevention organizations. Using an intersectional, youth agency lens, this study explores and sheds light on Black and Latinx youth gun violence prevention organizers’ negative experiences within organizing spaces. Our qualitative study investigates how these experiences affect youth’s civic engagement and overall well-being, with implications for understanding how to support youth organizers.

Methods: From December 2022 to March 2023, semi-structured interviews via Zoom were administered with 20 young people between the ages of 18-23. Youth identified as Black (70%), Latinx (25%), or Afro-Latinx (5%), female (70%), were based in the U.S., and had experience in gun violence prevention organizing spaces. Based on their association with gun violence prevention organizations, youth were recruited purposely through Twitter and Instagram. The 1-hour interviews explored youth’s timeline of civic engagement, negative experiences within organizing spaces, and the influence of the experiences on their activism and well-being. The transcripts were coded for central ideas using reflexive thematic analysis, and overarching themes were identified through team discussion.

Results: We identified two themes: (1) youth had negative experiences while organizing that negatively impacted their well-being and (2) the accumulation of negative experiences changed the way youth engaged in gun violence prevention activism.

Youth described negative experiences that ranged from instances of discrimination to physical violence during protests. In addition, youth confronted daily challenges such as constantly reliving trauma from gun violence and losing their identity within the work. Kristen (she/her, Black) shared “it was also difficult while organizing and having to constantly talk about that day [I experienced gun violence] and constantly talk about how I felt, like it was traumatizing in and of itself to have to do that all the time.” As a result of these negative experiences, youth have detailed feelings of burnout and stress.

Following these negative experiences and impacts on their wellbeing, youth explained how they had to either take a break from activism work, change the type of work they were doing, or disengage completely from activism. Lisa (she/her, Latinx) explained that the events “made me more a bit like hesitant and reluctant on activism as a whole... it kind of made me rethink what activism really is for myself, and for others, as well.” Ultimately, these negative experiences changed the way that the youth viewed organizing work and the way that they engaged in the work.

Conclusions and Implications: The discoveries highlight the adverse experiences of young Black and Latinx organizers in gun violence prevention work and the impact on their mental health, as well as their subsequent involvement in activism. Our study will offer recommendations for educators, policymakers, and community-based and national-level gun violence prevention organizations that can assist Black and Latinx youth organizers in their organizing efforts and general well-being.