Chapter 7: Care/Ful Kinship: An Intergenerational Reflection on the Risks and Possibilities of Youth Work

This chapter is co-written by Amanda Torres and Anna West, longtime collaborators in the field of grassroots youth arts organizing and education. In this chapter, we reflect on how reciprocal intergenerational relationships form inside of youth development contexts. Through the example of our relationship, we show how intergenerational relationships can be vital, transformative shelters, both deeply powerful and also precarious. We explore how intergenerational relationships can be sites of positive transformation, but are also potential places of exploitation, particularly when youth workers fail to reflect on their own power and engage in their own healing. This dynamic is complicated because the structures of youth organizations are deeply under resourced, and therefore unable to prioritize staff wellness. Ultimately, we discuss how––without necessary reflection–– mirrored partnerships between youth and adults can lead to the exploitation of both youth and youth workers.