The foundations of racial agency: one African American woman resisting racial tropes in the academy

ABSTRACT

This study utilizes Black feminist thought and funds of knowledge as conceptual frameworks for understanding how Assata, an African American doctoral student, scholar-activist and single mother attending a predominantly White institution in the Midwest, learned to resist oppression and racial tropes beginning with her adolescence until the point of pre-doctoral study. This study draws from the research traditions of hermeneutic phenomenology as the methodological and analytical approach. Findings indicated that the most salient foundations of Assata’s racial agency, a desire to tackle racial issues in both public and private discourse, stemmed from her racial identity, being separated from her community, respectability politics and violence. Suggestions for policy and practice are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Racial agency
• funds of knowledge
• Black feminist thought
• African American students
• respectability politics

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.