In the present study, weinvestigated the role of Black psychological empowerment (BPE) and liberation in fostering sociopolitical development among Black youth impacted by community violence. This study developed a measure of BPE based on Black youths’ reports of empowerment, racial identity, and sociopolitical leadership, informed by a literature review. Data were derived from the Youth Voices program evaluation as part of the Healthy Communities for Youth study (Lozada et al., 2025). The Youth Voices program included 115 Black youth, ages 14–18, in 9th–12th grade from communities affected by community violence. A convergent triangulation mixed-methods design was utilized to establish a multidimensional measure of BPE, examine whether BPE predicts critical consciousness and sociopolitical development, and examine youths’ narratives. Exploratory factor analysis resulted in four factors: Awareness and Motivation for Community Engagement (α = .85), Collective Action Beliefs (α = .84), Positive Racial Identity (α = .82), and Positive Self-Esteem/Self-Concept (α = .82). Regression analyses indicated that Collective Action Beliefs negatively predicted critical action (β = -.31, SE = 0.11, p = .005). Positive racial identity did not predict perceived inequality (β = -.05, SE = 0.20, p = .818). These findings suggest that certain dimensions of BPE relate to sociopolitical development.
