Between me and the world: Black survival and solidarity, here and then

Abstract

Letters enable writers to convey potentially difficult information in creative ways that are different from academic writing conventions. The subject of this article is healing from racial battle fatigue–the psychological, physiological, and emotional stress responses to racism. We use letters addressed to Black educators to illustrate how we wrestle with the question: What does it mean to live in our Black bodies in this historical moment? We also offer some possible larger meaning-making from our letters for Black readers endeavoring to heal from racial battle fatigue and pursue the neverending quest of working to live freely in their Black bodies.

Keywords:

• Black
• race
• racism
• letters

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Wilson Kwamogi Okello

Wilson Kwamogi Okello is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. He is an interdisciplinary scholar who draws on theories of Blackness and Black feminist theories to think about knowledge production and identity development; racialized stress and trauma; critical masculinities; and curriculum and pedagogy.

Stephen John Quaye

Stephen John Quaye is Associate Professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs at The Ohio State University and Senior Associate Editor of the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. His research concentrates on dialogues about difficult topics; student and scholar-activism; and healing strategies from racial battle fatigue.

Erin M. Satterwhite

Erin M. Satterwhite is a third-year Ph.D. student in the Higher Education and Student Affairs Program at The Ohio State University and a graduate research associate. Her research agenda focuses on institutional response in student activism; organizational equity; and Women of Color and racial battle fatigue.