About this episode

Dr. Bianca Baldridge discusses her new book and the importance of supporting Black youth outside of school.

Dr. Bianca Baldridge is back in the class—and this time she brought her new book. Associate Professor of Education at Harvard University and former youth worker for over two decades, Dr. Baldridge has spent her career shining light on the spaces where Black children are seen, held, and loved outside of school walls. Her new book, Laboring in the Shadows: Precarity and Promise in Black Youth Work (Stanford University Press, 2026), is one of the most necessary things I have read in years. I don't do courtesy. I do testimony. There are an estimated 2.53 million youth workers in this country. Young people spend only 18% of their waking hours in school. And yet we have no national youth policy. No floor. No framework. No "do good and be paid well." This conversation changes that. Pull up. Books Laboring in the Shadows: Precarity and Promise in Black Youth Work — Stanford University Press (February 2026) Publisher page & order: sup.org/books/sociology/laboring-shadows Reclaiming Community: Race and the Uncertain Future of Youth Work — Stanford University Press (2019) 2019 American Educational Studies Association Critics' Choice Book Award Previous Episode And We Still Keep Fighting…

People in this episode

Hosts: Dr. David J. Johns, Thomas Cunningham IV

Guest: Dr. Bianca Baldridge

Topics covered

• youth work
• Black children
• education policy
• community support
• literature

Keywords

• youth workers
• Black youth
• education
• community
• policy
• literature

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Harvard University, Stanford University Press

Books & works: Laboring in the Shadows: Precarity and Promise in Black Youth Work, Reclaiming Community: Race and the Uncertain Future of Youth Work

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