Joy and Rage: A Critical Reflection of Co-Creating Black Girl Space

This reflection documents the process of developing and facilitating a community-engaged program with Black middle school girls, centering joy as a developmental and political strategy amid ongoing attacks on Black educational spaces and youth well-being.I describe the co-creation of weekly sessions that integrated Afro-Caribbean dance, letter writing, and participation in a photovoice research study.The reflection emphasizes the complexities of community-engaged scholarship, including navigating overlapping roles as alumna, researcher, mentor, and facilitator while maintaining trust.Situating these practices within Black studies scholarship and developmental science, I argue that centering process over findings allows scholars to understand communities in their full complexity.By attending to what Black girls protect as much as what they express, this reflection offers insights for scholars navigating multiple roles and the structural constraints of conducting community-engaged work within academic institutions.