The voices of all youth have power, value and meaning. However, many spaces in and beyond school struggle to honor the voices and literacy practices of African American youth who live and learn in urban communities. The current case-study explores the lived experiences and literacies of African American high school students in a GEAR-UP pre-college college program. Three questions frame the research study: (1) In what ways, if at all, does GEAR-UP foster African American students’ navigation of school and the college preparation process (2) What do we learn about African American students’ lived experiences and literacies through their participation in GEAR-UP? (3) More specifically, what do we learn about students’ lived experiences through their engagement in multiple literacies?Data from the study include program observations captured in both video-recordings and fieldnotes; interviews with student participants and staff; students’ writing samples and presentations; and program curricula. Three major theoretical frameworks shape study analysis: Third Space, Community Cultural Wealth and Multiple Worlds Typology and Critical Race Theory. Third Space Theory helps to contextualize the importance of beyond school spaces that honor the voices of culturally and linguistically diverse youth. Community Cultural Wealth acknowledges the significant forms of capital that communities of color possess. Multiple Worlds Typology provides a framework for understanding how students’ multiple worlds impact their academic success and preparation for college. Critical Race Theory provides a framework for providing a space to illuminate the voices, lived experiences and literacies of African American youth. Findings from the study speak to the ways in which GEAR-UP and students’ families formed communities of possibility for students’ academic success. Additional findings illuminate how African American youth utilized literacy as a means for self-exploration and representation and engaging in community change. The findings from the study reinforce the importance of spaces both in and beyond school that allow African American youth to speak and write about their lived experiences, and deem these opportunities as valuable and necessary to their success
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