Community

Rites of passage: creating liminal spaces for Black youth

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN-RECORDER — Transitions from one developmental stage to the next are very challenging periods for all human beings. Black youth, many of whom suffer from identity crises caused by trauma, are particularly strained.

Published

7 years ago

January 1, 2019

Oakland Post

By Brandon Jones M.A.

Transitions from one developmental stage to the next are very challenging periods for all human beings. Black youth, many of whom suffer from identity crises caused by trauma, are particularly strained.

Black youth face difficulty during critical transitional periods and the negative cultural implications precipitated by these difficulties. Youth development programs and initiatives that serve Black youth have been adding cultural paradigms (rites of passage) to assist with this development and transition.

There is a concept, liminality, that has become more popular of late. This concept is defined as relating to a transitional or initial stage of a process. A liminal space is the time between the “what was” and the “next.” It is a place of transition, waiting, and not knowing.

This is a vital time for many Black people transitioning in a world of high expectations and demanding high levels of responsibly, standards informed by a foundation of inequality. How do Black youth transition without having prosocial influences that focus on healthy identity, empowerment and healing?

In anthropology, liminality is the quality of ambiguity or disorientation that occurs in the middle stage of rites, when participants no longer hold their pre-ritual status, but have not yet begun the transition to the status they will hold (adulthood) when the rite is complete.

This is a concept that is not discussed in schools, households, or community organizations. However, it might be an important thing to understand for the healing of the Black community.

We do discuss how Black youth have lost our traditions of rites of passage. Today’s society has not clearly defined the way our males transition to men and females transition to women. In fact, some may say the intergenerational trauma that plagues our community has vastly impacted our path into adulthood.

It is often stated that the way Black males become men is defined by having to take to the streets prior to turning 18. Also, the rites of passage for many females transitioning to women have been defined with involvement of sexual activity and/or conception of a child. These are just two examples of the major life events that have somehow morphed into our current cultural custom.

When we become aware of our own liminality, most of us, if we’re honest, don’t know who to become or how to navigate the transition. We often miss the real potential of “in-between” places and either stand paralyzed in our current situations or flee to a place of unknowns.

As Black people who care about the future of our future generations, we must deliberately create liminal spaces and opportunities that counter the impacts of intergenerational trauma and promote the positive development and evolution of our community.

If we approach the liminal spaces of Black youth intentionally and within community, rather than staying paralyzed, running away, or going at it alone, we can boldly approach it and confidently move forward into our futures with productivity and success.

Rites of passage can take place in your very own home. However, to influence a desired result you must be willing to set an expectation of what is to “happen next.” We should prepare the next generations to meet the demands of modern society and set them up for prosperous lives. The generations to come desire that from you and me.

This article originally appeared in the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.

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Oakland Post: Week of May 13 – 19, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 13 – 19, 2026

Published

25 minutes ago

May 15, 2026

Oakland Post

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Marin City Public Housing Residents Demand a Voice in County’s Renovation Plans

Representation has been a continuous struggle for the Residents Council, she said in an interview with the Post News Group. In 2014, the tenants took the county to federal court over this issue, and prevailed, resulting in an MOU that was in effect from 2014 to 2024, said McLemore. “Now, they are not responding to our rightful requests to participate. They are not giving us a legal justification for their position.”

Published

5 days ago

May 10, 2026

Oakland Post

The largest housing complex in Marin County, Golden Gate Village residents are for predominantly Black and low-income. Courtesy image.

Tenants say the County of Marin is ignoring federal law requiring resident council participation

By Ken Epstein

Marin City public housing residents say the County is illegally depriving them of their rights to participate in renovation decisions that affect the future of their housing, raising deep concerns over whether the county ultimately will find a way to displace them.

According to regulations established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Marin City public housing residents have the right to organize, elect resident councils, and hold public housing agencies accountable for involving them in management decisions.

Without resident participation, the Board of Housing Commissioners, made up of the five Marin County Board of Supervisors and two resident comissioners, has approved a $226 million project. The plan calls for renovation of the 296 units in Golden Gate Village (GGV) and focuses on interior improvements. The project is scheduled to start in July.

Residents’ concerns have a long history, said Royce McLemore, president of the Golden Gate Village Residents Council and a 50-year resident of Marin City,

With no current MOU mandating training and participation of residents, the legal basis for all the redevelopment decisions made by the county since 2024 is questionable, said Terrie Green, executive director of Marin City Climate Resilience. “We are experiencing voicelessness. If residents had a voice, we wouldn’t be where we are today,” she said.

County decisions include a plan, in line with federal regulations, to convert GGV from public housing to a public-private enterprise that allows for private investment. The Marin Housing Authority has created a limited partnership that includes Burbank Housing – which will renovate the units and manage the property – and Wells Fargo Bank, the investor.

This change in federal policy regarding public housing, which includes a shift to a Section-8 voucher system, has resulted in gentrification across the country, particularly affecting African Americans in cities such as San Francisco.

Shifts in criteria of what is considered affordable could also end up pricing residents out of their living units. At present, low income in Marin County is officially considered $156,000. But the median household income in Marin City is significantly lower at $68,846.

Damian Morgan, a community advocate with Marin City Climate Resilience, questioned why the county is renovating apartments without fixing toxic infrastructure that is impacting the lives of people in GGV.

Morgan said tenants have filed a class action lawsuit because of unsafe conditions at Golden Gate Village.

Residents are also concerned that the County still does not have an adequate family plan for temporary displacement while their apartments are being renovated. Although the County has suggested other community apartments as alternatives, nothing concrete has developed except vacant public housing units that have the same toxic conditions, such as mold and mildew.

Green said it doesn’t make sense. “…Why are we moving people around into temporary housing that’s uninhabitable, when you should be dealing first with the infrastructure, the foundational work, replacing old and rusted water pipes and new sewers.”

Morgan questions the County’s motivation for neglecting infrastructure repairs. “They’re remodeling the units but leaving the decayed infrastructure in place. I feel like they’re just setting this up for it to fail.”

“What slowed it down a little is that GGV is a historic preservation district, but I think what they’re striving for is demolition by neglect,” he said. “The neglect has always been on their part.”

Architect Ora Hatheway said her concern is about cutting corners. “You have to deal with the land issues. You have to deal with grading and drainage, and that’s being brushed under the rug.”

In an interview with KGO TV, Marin County Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters responded to some of these concerns. She said residents are guaranteed the right to return to their homes.

“This is a concern that we take seriously,” she said. “Every resident will move back into their own unit, and we’ve given this to them in writing. Before they leave their unit, we will sign a document together that guarantees their right to return.”

In response to residents who feel left out of the planning process, she said community input has focused on those affected by the first phase of the project. “So other residents may not have heard quite as much or felt like they had as much contact. But if there are residents who have concerns, we’re happy to hear from them. You can contact my office or the housing authority directly,” she said.

While County leaders may be giving some updates to some tenants, they are not sitting at the table with the Residents Council nor giving residents a voice in decision-making, said McLemore.

Without a voice in decisions, tenants are worried that Black people may be forced out of public housing, resulting in gentrification, she said in an interview with ABC 7. It’s still paternalistic, she said. “It’s still that ‘We know what’s best for you.’’’

Several years ago, the Residents Council proposed a land trust plan that would give tenants homeownership rights. Though the plan had broad support throughout the county, it was rejected by the Board of Supervisors

In the final analysis, Green said, for Marin City tenants the fight is not just for decent housing but to maintain their community with dignity under conditions of mutual respect.

“We’re talking about people who came here to work in the shipyards during World War II to bring about peace and safety to this country,” she said. “Look at the discrimination we’ve faced down through the years. Look at the life-span issue of Marin City folks – almost 20 years less than the rest of the County.”

“We want educational equity so our children will have decent schools. We need a land trust, property ownership, so we can have wealth creation. Marin City needs the same quality of life as other communities in Marin County.”