Dawn P. Witherspoon

Beginnings is a foundational book for understanding the origins of scholarship focused on understanding Black youth's development in a holistic manner. This collection of works, from leaders in the field, includes theory and addresses important developmental issues for Black children, but does so, in a way that was uncharacteristic of the time -- not focused on deficits and dysfunction. The book pushed me to think critically about our knowledge base about minoritized youth.