1st Edition
Black Doctoral Students’ Experiences in Academia Narratives of Collective Responsibility, Community, and Care
Preface: Narratives of Collective Responsibility, Community, and Care
DeLisha Tapscott and Nardos Ghebreab
Part I: Before We Belonged — Entry, Identity, and Institutional Dissonance
1. The Neglected Scholar: Being Black, First-Generation, and a Doctoral Student
Sean M. Hembrick and Ivanna D. Colòn-Alverio
2. From the AUC to Appalachian Elegy: A Black Girl’s Guide to Adjusting to a Predominantly White Institution
Rayven L. Peterson
3. Finding Healing Amidst the Chaos: A Black Feminist Autoethnography of Surviving a Predominately White Institution
Allante M. Moon
4. The Fear of Complacency: A Continuous Struggle for Black Scholars
Mohamed Yusuf
Part II: Building and Becoming — Joy, Community, and Collective Action
5. Black Mother Scholars in Pursuit of the Ph.D.: Redefining Success Beyond Academic Metrics
Dawn D. Stephens-Jenkins
6. Who Gon’ Save Us: Highlighting the Experiences of Black Women in Higher Education Through Collaborative Autoethnography
Taiylor R. Rayford, Jernesha R. Walls, Aixa D. Marchand, and Cherie M. Avent
7. Black in Bloom: Planting Seeds for Community, Growth, and Success
Josclynn Brandon, Gloria L. Howell, Shanalee S. Gallimore, and Donté Miller
Part III: Reclaiming and Reimagining the Academy
8. Digital Tribalism, Fictive Kinship, and Reclamation in Higher Education
Jewell Stewart Lay
9. To all the Academic Aunties, Uncles, and Cousins: Open Letters from a Black Doctoral Student to Their Fictive Kin
Christian Scioneaux
10. Dialogue Between the Editors
DeLisha Tapscott and Nardos Ghebreab
Biography
DeLisha Tapscott is the co-founder of Black Girl Narrative and a storyteller and scholar whose work explores race, gender, digital culture, and the lived experiences of Black women. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Purdue University and Southern New Hampshire University, USA.
Nardos Ghebreab is the co-founder of Black Girl Narrative and a scholar-practitioner whose work examines race, racism, and Black teachers’ preparation and development in U.S. schooling.
“This book is a testament to everyday resistance; the quiet, powerful acts of Black scholars who choose to stay, create, and reimagine spaces that were never meant for them. It invites the academy to see resistance not as defiance, but as devotion to truth, to community, and to collective liberation.”
Ashley Gaddy Robbins, Community Reformer, USA
“During a time where Black doctoral students are often being overlooked in academia, this book provides a place for them to feel seen, heard, and hopeful for what’s to come in their journeys.This book should be a required reading for all Black doctoral students as they embark on their journey.”
Ka’lyn Coghill, Award-winning Educator and Activist, USA
“…a groundbreaking text and mirror into the lives of Black doctoral students as they seek to earn their terminal degrees…a guide for other Black doctoral students, providing insights on how to not just enter a program, but carve out a position as a contributing member of the research ecosystem.”
From the Foreword by Ramon B. Goings, Director and Associate Professor, Language, Literacy, and Culture PhD Program, University of Maryland, USA
