“Letting Go”: exploring the nuance of (Black feminist) epistemologies

Abstract

As scholars, teachers, and researchers within academe we have, at times, felt the gravity, nuance, and depth of Black feminist theories and epistemologies have resulted in articulations and manifestations so flat they are rendered illegible and almost always universally synonymous. While there are certainly deep and rich connections among and between Black feminist theories, and while their proliferation has been often mutually facilitative, they are worthy of distinction. Our paper explores how the genealogy of Black women’s theorizing has survived through its varying conceptualizations through explicating Womanism; Black Feminist Thought; and Endarkened Feminisms. We illustrate the genealogy of Black women’s theorizing and suggest moving away from the singular meanings that, ultimately, reduce their public force and utility in higher education research and practice.

Keywords:

• Black feminisms
• epistemologies
• theorizing

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Christa J. Porter

Christa J. Porter, PhD (she/her) is an associate dean for the Graduate College and associate professor of higher education administration at Kent State University. Her work centers policies and practices that influence the trajectory of Black women in higher education; college student development at the intersections of identities; and research and praxis in higher education and student affairs.

Wilson K. Okello

Wilson K. Okello, PhD (he/him) is a transdisciplinary scholar who draws on Black critical theories to think about knowledge production and student/early adult development. He is concerned with how Blackness makes visible the epistemic foundations that structure what it means to be human and imagining otherwise possibilities for Black being.

Terah J. Stewart

Terah J. Stewart, PhD (he/him) is an assistant professor of higher education and student affairs at Iowa State University. His work centers on creative and critical approaches to qualitative research, critical disruptive onto-epistemological frameworks, and theories to destabilize dominant ways of knowing, including Black/endarkened feminist, womanist, and afropessimist perspectives.