This presentation examines the role of technology and media as tools and venues for Black students to explore their racialized academic identities. Specifically, this project explores how representations of Black people in film, television, and social media are used by Black adolescents to construct unique identities through critical engagements in their informal learning environments. The findings from this project reveal that not only are popular and social media useful for identity constructions, they also allow for Black adolescents to exchange information in culturally specific ways within their online communities. The implications of this study include new race-specific psychological constructs and open the door for understanding the contemporary Black media environment as a place of socio-cultural and political engagement for youth building towards Antiracist and Afrofutures. 

*Zoom link will be provided on the day-of to the appropriate UT list