Navigating white space: how Black and Latine youth deepen their understanding of race and space through community-based education and youth workers as spatial guides

Abstract Guided by theories of racial capitalism, “white space,” and “bodies out of place” as frameworks, and through combined analyses of two studies in the same city with shared participants, the authors argue that Black and Latine youth possess a spatial awareness of white space. Community-based educational spaces (CBES) and youth workers, who are central to the process of sociopolitical development, act as spatial guides, fostering opportunities for youth to: (1) make sense of the spaces they encounter, and (2) deepen their understanding of race and space as a core component of sociopolitical development toward social action. The authors suggest that relationships between youth workers and youth within CBES are essential catalysts for deepening youths’ understanding and navigating white space.