Learning, leading, and teaching for justice: celebrating Aisha – a friend, colleague and leader

Abstract

This article puts forward a portrait of a leader who learns, and sketches a model of true transformative leadership. The researcher and the researched are co‐workers who are constantly learning from each other's leadership styles. This article captures some of those lessons learned. Aisha is a young African‐American female who lives in the barrios of the US. Through her story, juxtaposed against those of Ella Baker and Septima Clark, two African‐ American leaders from a different era, we learn of leadership that rises from struggle and strives for justice.