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Language learns. Languages learn in relation. We are too in relation. Literacy is not confined to the reading of chapter books but extends to the ways in which we read the world beyond this discussion board. Thus, words do not exist in isolation, but within the context in which they are breathed. We are breathing.

In this spirit of breathing, I wonder about the meaning of "empowerment" beyond the out-of-context dictionary definition to the within-the-strand of relation to youth resistance. "Empowerment operates here as strategy of self-governance to make the powerless and politically apathetic act on their behalf, but not necessarily oppose the relations of power that made them powerless (Kwon, 2013, p.11)" (Tuck and Yang, 2013). Considered in an economic, dominant narrative context, which serves to package and ship dominant knowledges (and ways of being), "empowerment" has as a "glass ceiling." Though the empowerment is not always seen (glass), it still serves to enclose and contain. I question: who names a project as empowerment? There is literally power within the word empowerment. What is power? I recall a note on power from Tribal Critical Race Theory:

"Power is not a property of trait that an individual has to exercise control over others, rather, it is rooted in a group’s ability to define themselves, their place in the world, and their traditions (Deloria, 1970; Stoffle and Zedeño, 2001; Vizenor, 1998; Warrior, 1995)" (Brayboy, 2005)

The questioning continues: who is defining empowerment? Where are the relations in the definition? In what ways are empowerment projects "at risk" to the reproduction of dominant structures? We continue breathe and wonder: it is hard to feel the rain in under glass ceilings…

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References

Brayboy, B.M.J. (2005). Toward a Tribal Critical Race Theory in Education. In The Urban Review 37(5), pp.425-446.

Tuck, E., & Yang, K. W. (2013). Introduction to youth resistance research and theories of change . In Youth Resistance Research and Theories of Change pp. 1-24.