La Cultura Cura: A Community-based Research Study with Justice-Impacted Youth

Danielle N. Aguilar

While state-sanctioned violence and carceral systems are not new, research has often overlooked or failed to recognize ingenuity in times of terror, particularly the cultivation and deployment of resistance capital and forms of healing justice vital to Black and Brown communities. The goal of the proposed study is to gain a deeper understanding of what culture, resistance, and healing mean for youth of color who have experienced heightened surveillance and criminalization indicative of the present time, including how they understand and reimagine resistance through the use of Indigenous cultural practices. As this study works with youth impacted by the justice system, there was a need for theoretical frameworks that not only interrogate historical injustices and honor counterstories while acknowledging the complexities of multiple marginalizations, but also offer love and dignity to all persons involved in the research process. Employing community cultural wealth and a healing justice framework together rejects a deficit-based view of youth who have been impacted by the justice system, grounds historical and systemic oppression, while acknowledging the resistance and wisdom exercised by youth, recognizes ancestral wisdom as a strength or capital, and seeks to transform systems, not just individuals. Informed by community-based participatory research, I co-design a study using altares with youth from the Denver Metro area to explore how principles of community cultural wealth and healing justice are understood, reimagined, and/or practiced by youth impacted by carceral systems.

About Danielle N. Aguilar

Danielle Nicole Aguilar (she/her) is the granddaughter of Mirna Prieto, Maria del Refugia Aguilar, Jose Prieto, and Rafael Aguilar. She is the proud daughter of Lorraine Y. Velasquez and Antonio Aguilar, and the bonus-daughter of James C. Velasquez Jr. Hailing from Ontario, California, Danielle comes from a working-class family with roots in Mexico. Danielle studied Feminist and Black Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara as a Pell Grant recipient and first-generation college student. She enrolled at the University of Vermont after graduation and earned a master's degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration. Danielle was a leader in residential life, orientation, multicultural affairs, and LGBTQ student services before pursuing a PhD in Educational Foundations, Policy, and Practice at the University of Colorado Boulder. Danielle employs critical theory and community-based research approaches to disrupt the relationship between carcerality, youth, and schools. Danielle aspires to be a tenured professor at a minority-serving institution, uplifting and mentoring young scholars. When she's not doing transformative research, Danielle enjoys being a foodie, vibing at concerts, and embarking on adventures.