ABSTRACT
Duoethnography offers the narratives of first-generation Black women scholars who created a virtual community as a transformative safe space for peer mentorship and scholarship. Framed through a womanist epistemological lens, our narratives provide insight about challenges and triumphs of navigating the academy from female scholars of African descent. Unique to this chronicle, the development of an Accountability Sistah Circle in 2012 became an organic transformative community for personal and professional growth. Through the components of this model, which can be implemented with others living in the margins, we uncovered our authentic voices, shared resources, expanded social capital, and developed a ritual that provided a safety shield around us and ultimately helped enhance our academic fortitude.
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Notes on contributors
Denise R. McLane-Davison
Denise R. McLane-Davison is Assistant Professor in the MSW Program, School of Social Work, at Morgan State University. Camille R. Quinn is Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University, College of Social Work. Kimberly Hardy is Assistant Professor at Fayetteville State University. Rhoda L. Smith is Assistant Professor at Springfield College.