Abstract
While there is a good amount of general literature on the experiences of Black men in Canada, there is a paucity of empirical data regarding the specific lived experiences of first- and second-generation, Canadian-born, impoverished Black young men (ages 15–29). Black male youth are often impoverished due to anti-Black racism and classism, which together further social and economic barriers. While many methods of data collection and analysis provide a useful snapshot of the experiences of young Black men, many traditional methods are unable to highlight the nuance that lies in complex intersections of identity for Black young men experiencing poverty and un(der)employment. This article demonstrates the success of practices rooted in phenomenology to understand and articulate the unique, heterogeneous lived experiences of first- and second-generation impoverished Black young men who utilize youth employment training programs in three Canadian cities. Further, this article demonstrates how using Frantz Fanon’s scholarly work and applied phenomenology can inform future research on Black and other underserved youth who face complex marginalization.
Plain language summary
While there is a good amount of general literature on the experiences of Black men in Canada, there is limited information regarding the specific lived experiences of first- and second-generation, Canadian-born, impoverished Black young men (ages 15–29). Black male youth are often disadvantaged due to anti-Black racism and classism, which together further social and economic barriers. This article demonstrates and discusses the experiences of first- and second-generation impoverished Black young men who utilize youth employment training programs in three Canadian cities.
Introduction
Using a phenomenological framework and a Fanonian analytic, this study seeks to accurately reflect the multiple truths surrounding the masculinities of Canadian-born Black male youth and their experiences in accessing Youth Employment Training Programs (YETPs). This work explored the mechanisms by which Canadian white settler colonial social settings serve to other many racialized people’s existence while denying them access to social and economic rights (current study explored the multifaceted experiences of all thoseThobani, 2017). The current study focused on YETPs in Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal that serve Black young men (15–29 years of age) and was conducted in 2021. The work explored how different actors within YETPs, such as employment counsellors, support impoverished young Black men as they seek employment. The research aimed to examine the discriminatory societal understanding that impoverished young Black men are undeserving of employment. This analysis contributes to the growing literature on Black studies as it maintains a particular focus on the ways impoverished Black male youth experience YETPs within the context of colonized nation-states, such as Canada, where the perception of Black masculinity remains negative and discriminatory (Crichlow, 2014; James, 2019; Kitossa, 2021). I use the term impoverished to articulate how the young men in this study are of low socio-economic and experiencing social hardship, such as housing concerns and barriers to education. This article does not use the term impoverished to condemn these young people’s lived experiences but to highlight that these young Black men are of the lower social class, which is markedly different from middle-class Black men. This article aims to demonstrate the value of employing Frantz Fanon’s conceptualizations of gender and violence and its harmony with a phenomenological methodology to highlight experiences of colonialist oppression and racism, with special relevance to impoverished Black male youth living in the white settler Canadian nation-state. The current study provides further context on Black masculinities in Canada, encouraging critical thinking and engagement regarding Black social experiences.
This study explores the multifaceted experiences of all those implicated when young Black men engage with YETPs. The study explored the experiences of young Black men in Canada themselves when accessing YETPs and how they apply the skills they learned from the YETPs in their employment-seeking strategies.
The current study focused on three Canadian cities—Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa. The study’s purpose in the three cities was to encapsulate the social experiences of impoverished Anglophone Black young men and their un(der)employment realities. The study purposely focused on Black youth of a low socio-economic status and male. Along with experiencing racial discrimination, impoverished young Black men lack social capital in the area of legal employment, resulting in different lived experiences than middle-class young men in mainstream Western societies. The study broadly explored young Black men’s understanding of the objective nature of Blackness and how this contributes to the social construction of their masculinity. It also sought to understand how young Black men utilize their Blackness to make sense of their experiences in YETPs.
This research sought to understand better how the combination of race, gender, and social class work together to impact impoverished Black male youth who utilize YETPs and the implications for young Black men when these intersections of identity go unrecognized in employment programs. Globally, Black youth who enter many employment centers experience challenges in program delivery, which usually do not take into account the inequality and historically uneven financial distribution barriers to receiving appropriate education (Holmes, 2019). The reality for Black youth is that many community programs do not adequately address their social and economic need due in part to a lack of recognition of their lived experiences encountering institutional and structural anti-Black racism (Jones & Neblett, 2016). Prior studies have demonstrated that many youth service providers, who are predominantly white, are underqualified for working with youth from a diverse range of social and cultural backgrounds. As a result, many Black youth who enter youth-serving programs experience frustration and a lack of sense of belonging (Gormally & Coburn, 2014; Holmes, 2019). This research encourages us to make sense of the racist, gendered, and socio-economic barriers that impact the ability of impoverished Black young men to seek and sustain employment.
Black Masculinity
Blackness is more than a skin color, it “is a reflection of mental attitude” (Biko, 1998, p. 360). Blackness goes beyond skin color as it is complex and diverse (Dei, 2018). The complexity of Black people and their Blackness is reinforced by law or tradition, which generates discrimination politically, economically and socially. It is through these measures that Black people find themselves in constant mental struggle for their aspirations (Biko, 1998). Dei (2018) argues that “Black and African peoples are continually asked to validate/legitimize our existence” (p. 119). The challenge that Black people face with their Blackness is that they are attached to authoritative accepted meanings (Foster, 2007). These meanings are linked to stereotypical conceptions that subject Black people to subordinate roles. Biko (1998) argues that committing to Blackness is a “fight against all forces that seek to use your blackness as a stamp that marks you out as subservient being” (p. 360). For instance, Black male youth experience moments of anti-Black racism, which are directed at them not only because of their skin pigmentation but also what their skin represents. The mental attitude among many Black young men encourages their awareness that they are different and can lead to a sense of unbelonging. This leads to their historical experiences “of having been abused and exploited” (Manganyi, 2019, p. 23). This molds Black males’ consciousness to be based on the significance and negative reception of Black skin. Consequently, they are at the mercy of sharing a yearning to escape the suffering of what their skin represents, which is a reflection of how they experience their subordinate positions in society.
Throughout Canada’s history, the policing of Black men, particularly those who are marginalized, was justified as warranted to ensure that white society remained unthreatened by marginal Black men. Curry (2017), who has concentrated his work on the social plights of Black men and their masculinity in North America, suggests that “the prison is a coercive force constraining and recognizing the very being of the Black man within its walls. Contrary to the assertion of the hypermasculinity of prison, Black men lack the power to appeal to or access patriarchal masculinity in prison” (p. 86). The prison system serves as just one example of the ongoing remnants of slavery experienced by many Black men, as it continues to enslave and colonize their social experiences, restricting the ability of marginalized Black men to achieve a sense of respectable masculinity. Davis (2011) mentions that the prison system is an institutional presence in society and cannot be unimagined. Although Davis (2011) speaks from a U.S. reality, it applies to the Canadian prison system, as it too continues “to profoundly influence contemporary structures, attitudes and behaviours” (p. 24). Slavery and segregation are deeply intertwined in the prison systems and subject Black prisoners “to the tyranny of slavery” (Davis, 2011, p. 25). Today, Black people make up only 3% of the population, but they are disproportionately overrepresented in Canada’s jail system, accounting for 8.6% of all federal inmates (Morgan, 2018). Together, marginalization and criminalization reduce many Black men and boys to slave-like conditions while creating economic and political barriers for them.
Methodological Framework: Phenomenology and a Fanonian Analytic
Phenomenology is defined as the study of consciousness and experiences from the subjective perspective (first-person), intersubjective (from those around the person) and historical accounts, which make up one’s consciousness (Gallagher, 2022). Applying phenomenology in Black studies demonstrates that Blackness is an objective and subjective truth, “a form of lived experience” (Macey, 1999, p. 8). The present study recognizes that impoverished young Black men are social beings, existing in certain historical and cultural settings and a part of a shared world (Szanto & Moran, 2015). The theoretical framing promotes a deep understanding of the process by which objects and meanings manifest, become self-evident, or are formed for us (Moran, 2005, p. 1).
Phenomenology is helpful because it “stands opposed to naturalism, scientism and reductionism, and to all forms of explanation that draw attention away from the manner of the appearance of the phenomena in question” (Moran, 2005, p. 2). Further, phenomenology encourages this current research to “focus on the specific conditions of human embeddedness in an environment and to make visible the phenomenon of the environment itself” (Moran, 2005, p. 5). As such, a phenomenological framework is aligned with the current study, which details how the theory can be applied to understanding the social experiences of Canadian-born, young Black men with low socioeconomic status living in a settler-colonial nation-state and utilizing YETPs.
The study’s application of phenomenology is meant to examine the masculinities of impoverished Black youth and the importance of engaging an approach that accounts for the heterogeneous nature of their lived experiences. Phenomenology allows researchers to make sense of participants’ lived experiences and the historical underpinnings (Williams, 2021). An individual’s subjective understanding of their environment creates their experience and truth. Using phenomenology as a qualitative research methodology allows the researchers to focus on a person’s lived experiences with the world we live in (Neubauer et al., 2019). Phenomenology is employed in this research to address historical underpinnings of Black masculinity, the subjective position of impoverished young Black men, and the intersubjective experiences of others in their social sphere, including interpersonal understandings of people collectively.
Phenomenology promotes a deep understanding of and is “a developmental approach that captures one’s background, development, and personal accounts to inform a broader culture” (Beale et al., 2019, p. 6). As a methodology, phenomenology opposes reductionism and naturalism and instead focuses on the experiences of people, which provide contemporary guidance on needed tools to overcome barriers and obstacles (Beale et al., 2019). In the context of Black men, “phenomenology was instrumental in noting the sensitive and reflective accounts of participants” (Beale et al., 2019, p. 6). For instance, Montreal-based Black male youth John, who utilizes YETPs in the city, reflected and explained how he identifies as a Black male youth based on his ethnicity.
Yes, I am Black, but that is not all. Why? Because it is important to take pride in where you come from. I am a son of Haitian descent, mother, and father, so I represent being Haitian to the fullest. Like I said earlier, I am Black, so I also rep being Black to the fullest. No matter whether we are Caribbean or Nova Scotian, we are Black. So yeah, I definitely take pride in that.
Here, John mentions his lived experience as a Black man, but he also provides further insight into how he views his Blackness and ethnic background. The reflection gives deeper meaning to his Blackness, tied to his ethnic upbringing. John’s appreciation for being Haitian provides him with a further appreciation for being Black, but he also recognizes that Blackness is culturally different based on ethnicity. Considering the differences, John views Blackness as an entry point to solidarity, where it does not matter the ethnic background. The reflection from another Black male youth, Courtney, in Toronto, was similar. He mentions:
I was born in Canada, but my parents are Jamaican. We live at the west end of Toronto. Although we are Jamaican, we live in an area with people from the Caribbean and other African countries, like Nigeria. It is just all different cultures, but we are all Black, making me feel at home.
As was true in the current study, phenomenology works toward encouraging Black people to bring forth their perspectives of how they experience the world, as they are often the most absent in qualitative studies (Henderson et al., 2023). While being attentive to the lived experiences, through a phenomenological approach, of those most nonexistent in qualitative studies, we can dig deeper and gain access to lived experiences through direct interaction. To this end, phenomenology encourages researchers to “focus on the specific conditions of human embeddedness in an environment and to make visible the phenomenon of the environment itself” (Moran, 2005, p. 5).
Fanonian Analytic
The present research accounted for the mechanisms by which Canadian white settler colonial social settings, specifically in employment, systemically continue to have a dire impact on Black youth (Lopez & Jean-Marie, 2021). Fanon (1967a, 1967b) contributes useful analytical and conceptual tools to illuminate how colonial history has resulted in immense challenges that spur racial inequality and broad-scale economic exclusion (Brewer, 2019). In this study, I center Fanon’s ideas on the colonial systematization of racism. Although he does draw on the study of phenomenology, the current study employed Fanon’s ideas regarding gender and violence and how the colonizers in settler colonial nation-states monopolize violence on Black men and boys (Farhan, 2018). Fanon’s work mobilizes studies of this nature to bring the voices and everyday experiences of the colonized to the forefront while focusing on how the colonized constantly face the violence of colonialism (Brewer, 2019; Goozee, 2021). This study contends with the multiple social truths about young, impoverished Black men and their masculinities. Locators of Fanon’s work argue that Fanon himself insists on research to contend with the colonized and their multiplicity of racialized experiences, particularly on the differential positionalities in Black lived experiences (Al-Saji, 2020). His work aligns with the current study, which considers Canada a white settler colonial terrain. Thus, the combined use of phenomenology and a Fanonian analytic presents a unique and successful alternative method of engaging young Black men and understanding their lived experiences in employment support settings. Fanon and phenomenology allow for the disclosing of multiple truths and social discourses about the ontological nature of the colonized (Turner, 2021).
In white settler-colonial societies, Black people have been characterized as having “no culture, no civilization, and no long historical past” (Fanon, 1967a, p. 17). This portrayal characterizes Black history as inferior to colonial retellings and insignificant in the white colonial nation-state. Curry (2017) explains that Black men have historically been linked to material disadvantages that are expressed through incarceration, police brutality, and high rates of unemployment. Considering the important role of history while utilizing phenomenology as a framework allows us to explore how impoverished young Black men perceive themselves and how history shapes their social experience. Further, phenomenology encourages an honest exploration of how perceptions of the people surrounding young Black men are shaped by stereotypical and historical narratives of the past.
Participants and Recruitment
The concept of Blackness is complex among African descent people. The many ethnicities within the race category, such as African and Caribbean, contain different cultural and social experiences. To incorporate the many nationalities that people of African-Black descent in this study identify with, such as Jamaican and Ghanaian, the current study respectfully refers to participants as Black. This term includes people of African and Caribbean descent. Although nomenclature is complex, the term is suitable to capture the social and cultural differences among all people of African descent (Hutchinson & McKenzie, 1995).
The primary participants in the current study were first- and second-generation Canadian-born young Black men (ages 15–29, and 20 youths were interviewed) living in Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa. All youth in the study identified as first- or second-generation Canadians who were born in Canada. The young men from Montreal identified as both Anglophone and Francophone. However, they preferred to conduct interviews in English and specified that they speak English more often. No language barriers emerged throughout the study.
Being conscious of the differing social locations between the researcher and the youth participants is important when conducting this work because consciousness is always “manifested of something” (Gordon, 2021, p. 83). Gordon argues that “Black Consciousness is not premised upon biology or birth but social and political location” (Gordon, 2021, p. 83). The reality of the Black consciousness is that it is made from the ontological nature of Blackness, which was socially positioned to be defined as the lower class or subhuman while considering Black bodies to be problematic (Gordon, 2021). Throughout the data collection processes, it was imperative to check privileges by avoiding jargon, inaccessible language, or flaunting high-valued socio-economic status. This study encourages a reflexive consideration because “the self is not a complete formation of itself but a dialectical unfolding of overcoming through which selves and correlated concepts of domination, bondage, and freedom emerge” (Gordon, 2021, p. 84). The young men, like myself, who experience the world, are “always struggling with its own fragmentation and incompleteness in relation to a world that resists it and through which other selves emerge through such struggles” (Gordon, 2021, p. 84).
By employing the concept of intersectionality, the current study recognizes and highlights intersections of inequality among young, impoverished Black men. Walby et al. (2012) suggest that an intersectional analysis allows for more comprehensive ways to address social inequalities and differences among people. Hill Collins (2012) notes that using an intersectional approach draws attention to the complexity of the lifeworld based on human experience. The theoretical framework allows for analyzing the axes of race, gender, sexuality, disability, social class, religion, citizenship, and age, all of which distinctively shape the lived experiences of young Black men and how they approach employment through YETPs. Bhopal and Preston (2012) suggest that using intersectionality in research allows analyses to engage with differences. The current study examines how intersecting characteristics of identity impact the social location of young, impoverished Black men, permitting or restricting their access to employment through YETPs. The current study focused exclusively on the different lived experiences of impoverished Black male youth. While undeniably important, the study purposely did not focus on the experiences of Black young women to avoid conflating the experiences of young Black men and women as the same.
The study’s approach remains “critical of ontological presuppositions that may interfere with the meaningful dimensions of lived experiences and, by extension, lived reality” (Gordon, 2019, p. 125). Most importantly, the research avoids misrepresenting Black youth experiences to avoid the assumption that young Black women experience the same gender and racial biases as young Black men. Black women and girls experience different social ways of living in ways where they must resist and confront colonizing, racist, and sexist ideas that are different among Black men (Smith et al., 2022). By recognizing that there are varying identities among Black people, the study demonstrates, like many studies focusing on colonial landscapes, that careful attention is needed to avoid any opportunity for colonial thinking to shape subjectivities (Jilani, 2023). Considering the need to study the experiences of young Black men, the research allows for a deeper analysis of how these young men are “becoming despite and out of colonialism” (Jilani, 2023, p. 1) while considering the many intersections of Black masculinity, such as age, sexuality, social class, and ethnicity, which all work together to shape the many ways Black men and boys identify themselves.
Methods
After the study was approved by the university’s appropriate ethics review board, connecting and seeking out participants was not difficult. Establishing your personhood and professionalism as a trustworthy researcher or a community activist lends the research positive credibility. It is useful to rely on professional and academic connections, which can assist with snowball sampling. Snowball sampling was the primary “method for reaching difficult-to-access or hidden populations” (Tracy, 2019, p. 136). Sociological studies that have utilized snowball sampling have defined the method as chain referral sampling, which involves identifying people participating to refer other potential participants who are suitable for the research (Kennedy-Shaffer et al., 2021).
Fortunately, most people contacted for the current study were excited about the project and happy to facilitate recruitment. Participants in the study who were contacted were also asked to spread the word about the research to their colleagues who work in YETPs and young Black men who utilize YETPs. Generally, the contacts were more than willing to suggest “a colleague, a friend, or a family member” (Tracy, 2019, p. 136).
Many Black Canadian communities, including the cities in the current study, are continuously challenging colonial white supremacy ideas and its operation to uphold anti-Black racism (Jean-Pierre & James, 2020). Participants recognized the value of the research and felt that this work was contributing to the fight against social and political discrimination against Black people. Many community members in each city identified the unique barriers that impoverished Black male youth experience through our Canadian education systems, pointing to the criminalization of young Black men. Many participants saw the value of this type of research as building upon Black Canadian storytelling and formally documenting evidence that challenges anti-Black racism in all its social and political forms.
Participants were informed about the interview process and provided with a hard copy of the consent form detailing the project’s specific goals. All participants were given a copy of the consent form to sign. Prior to completing the consent form, participants were informed about how their responses would be used to inform the study. Everyone who participated volunteered, and there was no indication that any participants felt pressured. Contact information, such as cellular phone numbers, was provided to participants in case anyone had further questions about the study. Every person who volunteered participated without withdrawing from the study.
Qualitative research “is a systematic and planned empirical inquiry into meaning, an orientation grounded in the world of experience that seeks to understand how others make sense of their experiences and perspective” (Baldridge, 2019, p. 211). The use of qualitative methods requires an interpretation of the lived experiences of those who are researched. Meaningful interpretation involves the researcher delving deep into critical conversations around powerful topics, such as race, gender, and community (Denzin & Lincoln, 2011). Qualitative methods allow the researcher to “stress the socially constructed nature of reality, the intimate relationship between the researcher and what is studied, and the situational constraints that shape inquiry” (Denzin & Lincoln, 2011, p. 8). Researchers can use this specific approach to sociological inquiry to study individuals, their communities, and the various phenomena within their social environment(s) (Baldridge, 2019). In other words, these methods allow the researcher to interpret and make sense of participants’ social experiences (Baldridge, 2019).
Qualitative studies such as this ensure an account of the positive and negative experiences juxtaposed in Black people’s lived experiences (McKeown & Wainwright, 2020). The youth felt comfortable engaging in a dialogue, and in many moments, they elaborated on the responses without being asked. For instance, when speaking with one of the Black male youths, Nigel, from Ottawa, I asked him how he perceived his relationship with his parents. Instead of giving me a one-word answer or a few words, he responded with detailed information regarding his relationship with his parents.
How do you perceive your relationship with your parents?
Me and my mother have a very strong relationship. It’s hard going up to her and asking her advice as a young man, but I know she will always be honest, and that’s what I like the most. With my father, it’s different. I think because my father did not grow up in Canada, where it was normal to be open and vulnerable with your father. So, yes, we communicate on certain levels about things we Black men go through in life, but it is never gotten to a deeper point.
This is yet another example of how the young men felt comfortable discussing their experiences with me. The young men in the study felt it necessary to engage but to provide nuance to the answers.
Interviews utilized open-ended and semi-structured questions about the youth regarding their encounters with systemic racism and classism and how these discriminatory experiences shape their economic opportunities. Researchers studying Black men should rely on their interpretation skills to make sense of situations. Examples of questions researchers should ask themselves include: What does it mean? What is the significance? Keeping these questions in mind encourages the researcher to be open-minded toward people and their lived experiences and to recognize that nothing is ever self-evident.
After interviewing the young Black men, the current study conducted semi-structured interviews with YETP counsellors to understand their perceptions of how youth are served in YETPs. For instance, when speaking to YETP counsellors Dailene and Jonathan, two YETP counsellors in Toronto, I learned from them that YETP counsellors need to practice an active cultural competency approach when working with young Black men. She mentions
It is important that we, as counsellors, practice cultural competency and continue to unlearn our unconscious biases. If we are going to make any meaningful counselling with Black male youth, we need to be practicing.
We can encourage people to do lunch and learn about cultural competency, anti-Black racism, anti-oppressive, and Islamophobia; any of these would prove to be beneficial in our working environment with Black male youth. I think, in my opinion.
Researchers studying Black men should rely on both social discourses and lived experiences through storytelling and lived experiences, which intermingle with one another to capture the intricate details of the participants’ lives. For instance, by interviewing young men and the counsellors, the study was well-positioned to consider the many intersubjective perspectives. These perspectives influence impoverished Black young men’s employment opportunities and outcomes. When using qualitative methods in research with racialized people, we uncover nuance in their storytelling and validate participant experiences, which ties in to validate phenomenology in research (Gunaratnam, 2003).
Although the study engaged in four focus groups, it was more beneficial to utilize one-on-one interviews, as the method elicited more specific responses to questions. During the one-on-one interviews, young Black men were able to be more vulnerable while sharing their lived experiences of seeking employment through YETPs. From a phenomenological perspective, vulnerability can be considered a positive and important tool for the analysis. Previous studies have demonstrated that discerning vulnerability in research exposes multi-faceted dimensions of human vulnerability, which can be valuable for learning human experiences (Mao, 2021). As such, the research drew heavily on one-on-one interview data.
Participant observation field notes were also included in the analysis. Participant observation “is a form of production of knowledge through being and action; it is praxis, the process by which theory is dialectically produced and realized in action” (Shah, 2017, p. 45). Applying theory to understanding social phenomena can only occur in tandem with learning about others’ experiences. Theory can only speak to broad sociological meanings through empirical research. Researchers need to recognize that racialized boundaries are produced and that decolonization should be a continuous action so that the colonized can reconstitute their subjectivities while understanding the self and the material conditions (Jilani, 2023). Shah (2017) explains the usefulness of participant observation:
Through living with and being a part of other people’s lives as fully as possible, participant observation makes us question our fundamental assumptions and pre-existing theories about the world; it enables us to discover new ways of thinking about, seeing, and acting in the world (p. 45).
Participant observation was utilized when visiting YETPs in all three cities. The method was particularly used when meeting YETP counsellors and Black young men to conduct interviews in or around the program centers. Participant observation allowed for observations of any Black-specific posters or signage that could be used to develop employment skills for young Black men. During the moments utilizing participant observation, the study considered the relationship between bodies and actions in the social space that truncated the coercions of settler colonialism (Jilani, 2023; Thobani, 2022). For instance, when visiting two YETPs, one in Montreal and the other in Toronto, there was a recognition that both had pictures of Barack Obama, Martin Luther King, and Malcolm X. The representation of these Black men stood as an example of positive figures for impoverished Black young men in the employment programs as they worked to resist white settler colonial ideas. The study considers that these pictures were placed in the YETPs as visual reminders of Black successes for young people.
Participant observation was utilized during interviews with Black young men and YETP counsellors. During these interviews, attention was given to body language, particularly eye contact. It was particularly important to understand the level of sincerity shown by participants who were not part of the youth category but professed to support youth. Fanon reminds us that research must consider the multi-layer of interrelatedness between material conditions of colonization while recognizing that the colonized are always concerned with who and what they are, as the dominant colonial society remains intact (Jilani, 2023). The study sought to know if they were comfortable speaking about these young people, not to exploit their vulnerabilities, but to provide information that could help better the employment outcomes for young Black men. For instance, when speaking with two of the white YETP counsellors, one in Montreal and the other in Toronto, the YETP counsellors broke eye contact and provided quick answers about impoverished Black young men. These moments discussing race proved that discussing the topic is “always saturated with many challenges” (Gordon, 2019, p. 134). The challenge is rooted in the notion that the ontological understanding of Black experiences and engagement is one to be at a great distance (Gordon, 2019).
Conversely, Black YETP counsellors in all three cities sustained eye contact and voiced their appreciation for the opportunity to describe the employment barriers that Black young men experience. Many of the Black YETP counsellors wanted to have their real names and the names of their respective organizations revealed throughout the research to ensure that their stories were told to the public. Black counsellors recognized how the colonial white social discourse “is premised on the problematic blackness” (Gordon, 2019, p. 134). This means that Blackness is recognized as not to be sanitized but needs validation (Gordon, 2019). Their conviction verified they were sincere and strongly desired better employment outcomes for impoverished Black male youth.
Discussion
The perceived universal truth about Black masculinity is that it is a subordinate gender expression to general masculinity, which is available exclusively to white males (Curry, 2017). The application of this subordinate Black masculinity to all Black young men fails to account for and appreciate the varied and complex multitude of lived experiences among Black young men, particularly around employment. As such, researchers need to apply a framework that highlights intersections of oppression while focusing on the unique lived experiences of impoverished Black young men who reside in white settler colonial nation-states.
This work suggests that future research investigating the lived experiences of Black male youth can benefit from understanding intersubjectivity as fundamental to the work. In Canadian society, the masculine qualities of young Black men are seen as a “set of lasting dispositions” (Ricoeur, 1992, p. 121), which have been established by white settler colonialism. Ricoeur (1992) argues that “the identity of a person or a community is made up of these identifications with values, norms, ideas, models, and heroes, in which the person of the community recognizes itself. Recognizing oneself in contributes to recognizing oneself by” (p. 121). In the context of this research, young, impoverished Black men recognize themselves through sharing space with others. When speaking with one of the YETP counsellors in Toronto, they mentioned that YETP staff often fail to consider the individuality of young Black men and the multiple ways they express themselves. The YETP counsellors also noted that cultural competency is required to administer practical support for Black male youth in YETPs. Instead, many YETP counsellors commit to a one-shoe-fits-all program approach and assume that all youth can benefit from the same program design and find suitable employment. This approach fails to appreciate the white settler colonial ideas that are rooted in systemic racist and gender-based discrimination that impoverished Black male youth encounter. Consequently, young Black men who utilize YETPs are influenced by the people with whom they have contact, contributing to the ongoing shaping of their characters.
In their attempts to move towards the general sense of masculinity that is tied to whiteness, Black men “are reduced to their phallic aspirations for selfhood” (Curry, 2017, p. 10). Black men, historically, have been negatively impacted by hundreds of years of hyper-sexualization borne out of enslavement. Thus, it is important to consider the effects of culturally inscribed gendered assumptions and expectations about young Black men, especially in informal and extra-institutional settings, where anti-Blackness and gender biases based on race can thrive. The methodological approach in the current study encouraged understanding of how young, impoverished Black men and their masculinities are perceived subjectively. It also examined how their gender, social class, and race affect the help they receive from YETP counsellors. It is crucial for YETP counsellors of different races, ethnicities, social classes, and genders to understand and recognize the stereotypical notions that complicate the lived experiences of impoverished young Black men. According to Fanon (1967a), white colonial civilizations have placed an existential deviation on the Black man. This means that the social script fashioned about Black men and their masculinity is that they are hypersexual, violent, and seditiously cunning (Clarke, 2012). This stigmatizes Black men, and this stigma then becomes normalized in society and accepted as an objective truth. It is essential to consider the subjective truth of how white colonial powers have thrust this stigma upon society as an objective understanding of impoverished Black men.
Research must be grounded in the lived experiences of young Black youth. To ensure there is an account of the multiple lived experiences of Black men and boys, research must contend with the various truths surrounding masculinities. The individual’s subjective understanding of their environment creates their experience and their truth, which then creates their understanding of their environment. It is the consciousness of an individual’s “certain particular experiences rather than of a general or some outer reality beyond individual experience” (Dillon, 2014, p. 303). This framework aligns with the directive of the current study, acknowledging the many lived realities among Canadian-born, impoverished Black male youth.
Conclusion
In conclusion, utilizing applied phenomenology and a Fanonian analytic allowed the research to recognize impoverished Black male youth’s varied and unique lived experiences as they struggle to seek and sustain employment using YETPs. The research set out to understand how the multiple, intersecting identities of impoverished young Black men shape the barriers and facilitators they face when using YETPs to gain employment. This work identified a need for researchers to engage in approaches that empower impoverished Black young people to speak their truth. The methods used in the current study honored the experiences of Black young men and other participants, allowing them to be vulnerable and share their stories without feeling a sense of exploitation. This work further highlighted the potential of phenomenological approaches in research with underserved and impoverished youth to uncover and parse apart their unique experiences.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Mitacs & United Way of Easter Ontario.
