Extract

Black Female Scholars’ Re-articulation of Knowledge Production in the Academy

LAMEESA W. MUHAMMAD, ANDREA L. TYLER, ADONICA JONES-PARKS, AND LARA CHATMAN

Black men and women often work in spaces in which they have been historically prohibited and struggle against inequitable and systemic contemporary cultural norms that seek to further suppress and not only prohibit, but inhibit legitimized thinking and practice. Although both the Black male and female bodies face oppressive attitudes and behaviors that seek to delegitimize their very nature, the Black woman, because of both her race and gender, suffers an intersection of oppression that lends itself to multiple marginalization and an experience in which she is treated in a way that marks her struggle persistent, insistent, and unique in the ability to attain acknowledgment and respect in a world that deems her a raced, gendered, and cultural deviant (Turner, 2002). Despite this struggle, the Black woman consciously strives to affirm and celebrate the intersection of raced, gendered, and cultural identities although we continue to find ourselves in places of restrictive vocalization by those who do not share our multiple identity (Tillman, 2012).

There has been an increase in research focused on the impact of race and gender for Black women as we work to achieve academic pursuits in predominantly White institutions (Benjamin, 1997; Berry & Mizelle, 2006; Collins, 1990; Cooper, 2006; Gregory, 1995; Mabokela & Green, 2001; Turner, 2002). Much of this research acknowledges that due to both the race and gender...