Intersectional Learning: How Black and Latinx Boys Learn About Power and Difference

With limited studies on how Black and non-Black Latinx boys come to learn about difference and power, this study asks, what are the learning contexts and programming that facilitate a recognition of power and difference? Specifically, I examine the complex ways in which boys learn about intersectionality in a community-based educational space in Los Angeles County. Relying on data collected during four years of participant observations, I find that “comprehensive intersectional learning” develops the intersectional thinking of the participants. Comprehensive intersectional learning refers to the programming that youth workers develop, the relational practices they foster, the lessons they provide, and how boys make meaning of these lessons and activities. I argue that comprehensive intersectional learning develops the intersectional thinking of these young social actors by providing them with language to understand difference, examine it in relation to social structures, and feel empowered.