A message for faculty from the present-day movement for black lives

Abstract

The present-day movement for Black lives calls attention to the antiblackness that is supported and reinforced in White America. Antiblackness ostensibly contextualizes what it means to Learn While Black at predominantly White institutions. This article presents a content analysis of the demands that pertain to faculty and faculty work Black students submitted to institutional leaders in the aftermath of Ferguson and the campus rebellion led by Concerned Student 1950 at the University of Missouri. Study findings point to the classroom as a pedagogical site of Black Liberation; that is, interrogating Whiteness. This article concludes with recommendations to help faculty, especially White faculty, in interrogating whiteness and advancing Black Liberation in higher education.

Keywords:

• Black lives matter
• faculty
• Whiteness
• Black college students
• student demands

Notes

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Dumas writes antiblackness in lower-case in reference to the social construction of its racial meaning.

2 Dumas uses the phrase “the Black” in correspondence to its racial meaning of non-humanness.

3 Thedemands.org is a project of WeTheProtesters, a national collaborative of activists fighting to end racism and police violence in America (The Demands, n.d.)

4 The Black Liberation Collective is a collective consisting of Black students dedicated to transforming institutions of higher education through unity, coalition building, direct action, and political education (Black Liberation Collective, n.d.).

5 Also known as Gustavus Vassa, was an enslaved Nigerian who became heavily involved in the abolition movements of the U.S. and England.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Chayla Haynes

Chayla Haynes is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education Administration and the recipient of Texas A&M University's Robert and Mavis Simmons Faculty Fellowship. Her research interests and expertise include: critical and inclusive pedagogy, critical race theory and intersectionality scholarship, and Black women in higher education.

Kevin J. Bazner

Kevin Bazner is a PhD candidate at Texas A&M University in Higher Education Administration. His research interests include: examining issues of race and racism in student affairs leadership, whiteness in higher education, and projects that incorporate his knowledge of student affairs administration and minoritized populations.