Inventing ourselves: an informed essay for Black female scholars in educational leadership

Abstract

Black women and men often work in academic spaces that were not made for them, where they are often viewed as outsiders and in many cases where they find little support for their efforts. But being a Black female professor in a predominantly white institution can sometimes be especially challenging. The purpose of this essay is to provide a brief recounting of some of the author’s experiences as a Black female graduate student and professor, and discuss the imperative for: (a) developing a strategic plan that will lead to a successful career in the academy; and (b) building and sustaining mentoring relationships. The article concludes with some thoughts about getting over and keeping our eyes on the prize.

Keywords:

• Black females
• mentoring
• educational leadership

Acknowledgements

Portions of this article were adapted from an earlier work (Tillman 2011).

Notes

1. The term was taken from the poem “Still I Rise,” written by poet Maya Angelou in 1978.

2. Black women in the movies have largely been regulated to maids, servants, prostitutes, drug addicts and other derogatory and subordinate roles. One of the most famous movies which featured black women as slaves and maids was Gone With the Wind which was first shown in 1939. In the movie, Butterfly McQueen played the part of a young black woman named Prissy who was considered unintelligent and silly. Hattie McDaniel played the part of Mammy, the stern, big-breasted, wise black woman who ran the white household, but who knew her place as a subordinate.

3. The poem titled “I’m Not Giving My Black Back” was written under the pseudonym of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. The writer describes all of the joys of being Black – fictive kinship, places, traditions, culture, icons, food, music and history. The author declares “I’m not giving my black back! Lift up the black woman’s spirit.”