Prelims

Half Title Page

African American Young Girls and Women in PreK12 Schools and beyond

Series Title Page

Advances in Race and Ethnicity in Education

Series Editors: Chance W. Lewis and James L. Moore III

Recent Volumes:

Title Page

Advances in Race and Ethnicity in Education Volume 8

African American Young Girls and Women in PreK12 Schools and Beyond: Informing Research, Policy, and Practice

Edited by

Renae D. Mayes

University of Arizona, USA

Marjorie C. Shavers

Missouri State University, USA

And

James L. Moore III

The Ohio State University, USA

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2022

Copyright © 2022 by Emerald Publishing Limited

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-78769-532-0 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-78769-531-3 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-78769-597-9 (Epub)

ISSN: 2051-2317 (Series)

Dedication

I have been so fortunate to be loved and supported by so many strong Black women who have come before me. I want to dedicate this edited volume to my beloved mother, Sonya Mayes; sister, Shayla Mayes; maternal granny, Bertha Dunson; paternal grandma, Norlene Mayes; and my maternal aunt, Linda Epps. I am because we are, and I am so grateful for the ways that each of you have poured into my life.

Renae D. Mayes

My work stands on the shoulders of the many Black girls and women who walk beside me and those Black women who have paved the way for me. I would like to dedicate this edited book to my mother, Crystal Giles, who has shaped my path and sparked my love for reading and education from as early as I can remember. I also want to dedicate this book to my late daughter, Madison Evelyn Shavers. Although you were here for only a short time, you inspire me every day.

Marjorie C. Shavers

I dedicate this book to those Black women and young girls who have played a tremendous role in my life development, such as my mother, Edna M. Moore; maternal grandmother, Mable Miller; maternal aunt, Frances Anderson; wife, Stephanie M. Moore; sister, Dr S. Rochelle Sullivan; three daughters, Sienna A. Moore, Savanna M. Moore, and Sannai E. Moore; and mentors, Dr Bevlee A. Watford, Dr Valerie Lee, and Dr Donna Y. Ford.

James L. Moore III

About the Editors

Renae D. Mayes, PhD, NCC, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Disability and Psychoeducational Studies within the College of Education at the University of Arizona. She is a licensed professional school counselor and a national certified counselor with strong experience counseling children and adolescents in K-12 schools across multiple settings.

Informed by Critical Race Theory, Critical Race Feminism, DisCrit, and Bioecological Systems theories, her research agenda focuses on academic success and postsecondary readiness for gifted Black students with dis/abilities and educational and noneducational concerns related to Black girls. To this end, Dr Mayes has coauthored over 15 book chapters and 30 peer-reviewed articles.

Recently, she secured a $200,000 grant from the Eli Lilly Foundation to support the training of culturally responsive practices and partnerships among preservice and inservice school counselors and administrators. Her work has been recognized by Ball State University (i.e., Teachers College Outstanding Research), MENSA Foundation (i.e., Excellence in Research), American Educational Research Association Division E (i.e., Dissertation of the Year), and Muncie Chapter of the NAACP (i.e., Presidents Award). Because of her expertise, she is a highly sought after education consultant and professional development trainer.

Marjorie C. Shavers, PhD, LPCC-S, PSC, is Department Head of Counseling, Leadership, and Special Education within the College of Education at Missouri State University, and she is an Associate Professor in the same department. Dr Shavers is a professional licensed clinical counselor, with supervision designation, and a licensed professional school counselor in Ohio. She has worked as a counselor in an agency setting, college counseling center, and public school system. In each of these counseling settings, her work focused on diversity, advocacy, and racial trauma.

Dr Shavers' research agenda, using Critical Race Theory, Critical Race Feminism, and Black Feminist Thought, combines her personal and professional experiences by studying how educational experiences can affect mental health and overall well-being of Black girls and young women. She has been the PI and Co-PI on more than $2 million in external funding.

James L. Moore III, PhD, is the Vice Provost for diversity and inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer at the Ohio State University. He is also the Executive Director of the Todd Anthony Bell National Resource Center on the African American Male and the EHE Distinguished Professor of Urban Education in the College of Education and Human Ecology. Dr Moore is one of the country's leading education scholars on topics related to school counseling, gifted education, urban education, higher education, multicultural education/counseling, and STEM education. Based on his stellar career, he has published over 160 publications, including one authored and five edited books and has secured nearly $30 million in grants, contracts, and gifts. Further, he has received numerous prestigious awards, honors, and distinctions from prestigious organizations, such as the American Educational Research Association, National Association for Gifted Children, American Counseling Association, National Association for Multicultural Education, American Council on Education, American College Personnel Association, Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, Institute for School-Based Family Counseling, Ohio School Counselor Association, North Central Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, MENSA International, Education Trust, College Board, and Phi Delta Kappa.

About The Series Editors

Chance W. Lewis, PhD, is the Carol Grotnes Belk Distinguished Professor of Urban Education and former Provost Faculty Fellow for Diversity, Inclusion and Access at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Additionally, Dr Lewis is the Executive Director of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte's Urban Education Collaborative, which is publishing a new generation of research on improving urban schools.

Dr Lewis currently teaches graduate courses in the field of Urban Education at the UNC Charlotte. His experiences span the range of K-12 and higher education. From 2006 to 2011, Dr Lewis served as the Houston Endowed Chair and Associate Professor of Urban Education at Texas A&M University. In 2001-2006, he served as an Assistant Professor of teacher education at Colorado State University. During 1994-1998, Dr Lewis served as a Business Education Teacher in East Baton Rouge Parish Schools (Baton Rouge, LA), where he earned Teacher of the Year honors in 1997.

He has over 100 publications including 70+ refereed journal articles in the leading academic journals in the field of urban education. He has received over $7 million in external research funds. To date, Dr Lewis has authored/coauthored/coedited 28 books: White Teachers/Diverse Classrooms: A Guide for Building Inclusive Schools, Eliminating Racism and Promoting High Expectations (Stylus, 2006); The Dilemmas of Being an African American Male in the New Millennium (Infinity, 2008); An Educator's Guide to Working with African American Students: Strategies for Promoting Academic Success (Infinity, 2009); Transforming Teacher Education: What Went Wrong with Teacher Training and How We Can Fix It (Stylus, 2010); White Teachers/Diverse classrooms: Creating Inclusive schools, Building on Students' Diversity and Providing True Educational Equity [2nd Ed.] (Stylus, 2011); Yes We Can!: Improving Urban Schools through Innovative Educational Reform (Information Age, 2011); African Americans in Urban Schools: Critical Issues and Solutions for Achievement (Peter Lang, 2012); Black Males in Postsecondary Education: Examining their Experiences in Diverse Institutional Contexts (Information Age, 2012); Improving Urban Schools: Equity and Access in K-16 STEM Education (Information Age, 2013); Black Male Teachers: Diversifying the United States' Teacher Workforce (Emerald Publishing, 2013); An Educator's Guide to Working with African American Students: Strategies for Promoting Academic Success [2nd Edition] (LEC Press, 2013); African American Male Students in PreK-12 Contexts: Implications for Research, Policy & Practice (Emerald, 2014); Teacher Education & Black Communities: Implications for Access, Equity and Achievement (Information Age, 2014); Autoethnography as a Lighthouse: Illuminating Race, Research and the Politics of Schooling (Information Age, 2015); Priorities of the Professoriate: Engaging Multiple Forms of Scholarship across Rural and Urban Institutions (Information Age, 2015); High School to College Research Studies (University Press of America, 2015); Reaching the Mountaintop of the Academy: Personal Narratives, Advice and Strategies from Black Distinguished and Endowed Professors (Information Age, 2015); An Educator's Guide to Working with African American Students [3rd Edition] (LEC Press, 2016); Black Female Teachers: Diversifying the United States' Teacher Workforce (Emerald, 2017); Global Issues and Urban Schools: Strategies to Effectively Teach Students in Urban Educational Environments around the Globe (Information Age, 2019); Community College Teacher Preparation for Diverse Geographies (Information Age, 2019); The Dilemmas of Being an African American Male in the New Millennium [2nd Ed.] (LEC Press, 2019); An Educator's Guide to Working with African American Students: Strategies for Promoting Academic Success [4th Ed.] (LEC Press, 2019); Conquering Academia: Transparent Experiences of Diverse Female Doctoral Students (Information Age, 2019); Mentoring Strategies for African American Males: Single Mothers Tell their Stories (LEC Press, 2020); Reimagining School Discipline for the 21st Century Student: Engaging Students, Practitioners and Community Members (Information Age, in-press); Purposeful Teaching and Learning in Diverse Contexts: Implications for Access, Equity and Achievement (Information Age, in-press) and Economic, Political and Legal Solutions to Critical Issues in Urban Education and Implications for Teacher Preparation (Information Age, in-press).

James L. Moore III, PhD, is the Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer at the Ohio State University, while serving as the first Executive Director of the Todd Anthony Bell National Resource Center on the African American Male. He is also the inaugural EHE Distinguished Professor of Urban Education in the College of Education and Human Ecology. From 2015 to 2017, Dr Moore served as a program director for Broadening Participation in Engineering in the Engineering Directorate at the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Virginia, and, from 2011 to 2015, he was an associate provost for Diversity and Inclusion at the Ohio State University, where he managed numerous programs and units.

Dr Moore is internationally recognized for his work on African American males. His research agenda focuses on school counseling, gifted education, urban education, higher education, multicultural education/counseling, and STEM education, and he is often quoted, featured, and mentioned in popular publications, such as the New York Times, New York Magazine, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Columbus Dispatch, Spartanburg Herald, Cincinnati Enquirer, Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, Chronicle of Higher Education, and Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. From 2018 to 2021, he was cited by Education Week as one of the 200 most influential scholars and researchers in the United States, who inform educational policy, practice, and reform.

Dr Moore has developed a national reputation as a thought leader on important educational public policy topics and regularly invited to share his expertise to various K-12 school systems, universities, professional associations, and governmental and nonprofit agencies. On May 9, 2019, Congressman Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH), Congressman Troy Balderson (R-OH), and staff of the US House Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology invited him to testify at the hearing titled, “Broadening Participation in STEM Education,” in the Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC.

Dr Moore has coedited and coauthored six books: (1) African American Students in Urban Schools: Critical Issues and Solutions for Achievement; (2) African American Male Students in PreK-12 Schools: Informing Research, Policy, and Practice; (3) Black Males and Intercollegiate Athletics: An exploration of Problems and Solutions; (4) Advancing Educational Outcomes in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics at Historically Black Colleges and Universities; (5) Gifted Children of Color Around the World: Diverse Needs, Exemplary Practices and Directions for the Future; and (6) Black Boys Lit: Engaging Gifted and Talented Black Boys Using Multicultural Literature and Ford's Bloom–Banks Matrix. He has also published over 160 publications; secured nearly $30 million in grants, contracts, and gifts; and given over 200 scholarly presentations and lectures throughout the United States and other parts of the world (e.g., Brazil, Bermuda, Bahamas, Jamaica, Canada, England, Spain, China, India, Indonesia, Ireland, and France).

Throughout his career, he has received numerous prestigious awards, honors, and distinctions. Notably, he was selected as an American Educational Research Association Fellow, American Council on Education Fellow, American Counseling Association Fellow, and Big Ten Committee on Institutional Cooperation Academic Leadership Program Fellow. In 2011, he was bestowed a proclamation from the Ohio House [OH]; in 2014, a resolution from the Columbus City Council [OH]; and in 2015, a key to the City of Spartanburg [SC]. Additionally, in 2018, Missy and Bob Weiler of Columbus, Ohio, established in his honor the Dr James L. Moore III Scholars Program to support diverse undergraduate students transferring from Columbus State Community College to the Ohio State University.

About the Authors

Halima Alhassan, PhD, is a Ghanaian American, licensed School Psychologist, who is committed to working with children and adolescents in inner-city schools. Dr Alhassan's research documents, interrogates, and analyzes the lived experiences of African immigrant families receiving special education services. Through school and community initiatives, Dr Alhassan is committed to fostering mentorship programs for Black school-aged girls. Further, through these mentorship programs, Dr Alhassan creates spaces that empower Black girls and helps them navigate the sociocultural experiences of their everyday lives.

Mahauganee Shaw Bonds, PhD, is an experienced student affairs educator and a leading scholar and trainer in emergency preparedness, response, and recovery for postsecondary institutions and higher education professionals. She has developed and instructed coursework on organizational leadership and emergency management, regularly presenting and publishing on these topics. Her work has been published in the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, and Journal of Student Affairs and Research Practice. Dr Bonds has a myriad of professional experiences in higher education, both as a student affairs administrator and graduate faculty member across several institution types. Additionally, she served as the 2017-2018 Fellow for the Society of College and University Planning. Currently, she spends most of her time consulting for higher education institutions on various projects.

Angela Danielle Carter, EdD, received her BA in English from Georgia State University, and later embarked on a 16-year career as a manager in the shopping center industry. She received her MEd in Workforce Development from the University of Arkansas, and an EdD in Adult Education from the University of Georgia to culminate a career change to human resource development and corporate training. Dr Carter is a Assistant Professor at Clemson University in the Master of Human Resource Development program and an International Coaching Federation ACC Certified Executive Leadership Coach. Dr Carter teaches, researches, and presents on issues concerning inclusion and equity, human resource and organization development, leadership, and coaching.

Tomika Ferguson, PhD, is the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and Inclusive Excellence and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Education. Her research centers on the intersection of race, gender, sport, and educational equity, with a focus on the professional development of P-16 leaders regarding inclusive, equity, and antiracist praxis. Dr Ferguson is the founder of the Black Athlete Sister Circle, a holistic development program for Black women student-athletes. She often collaborates with and trains leaders in educational, athletic, and corporate environments to build equity-minded organizational cultures through effective policy and practice.

Dorinda J. Gallant, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Studies at the College of Education and Human Ecology at the Ohio State University, and Director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) STEM initiatives, where she also serves as Co-PI and Director of the Ohio Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation. She holds a doctoral degree in Educational Psychology and Research (Research Track) from the University of South Carolina. She is interested in applied measurement in education and factors associated with students' academic performance.

Meseret F. Hailu, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Higher and Postsecondary Education at Arizona State University (ASU). Her research focuses on the retention of minoritized women in STEM higher education pathways. Recently, her work has focused on how Black immigrant women in the United States persist in engineering and how higher education institutions in Eastern/Southern Africa conceptualize and implement equity initiatives. Prior to coming to ASU, Dr Hailu was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Ohio State University.

Tiffany Y. Halsell, PhD, currently works at the Ohio State University (OSU) as the DEI Multicultural Student initiatives Director in the College of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences. She earned her PhD in Educational Policy and Leadership from the Ohio State University. Tiffany earned her Masters of Education and Bachelor of Liberal Arts degrees from Xavier University of Cincinnati, Ohio. She is the founder and CEO of TYH Coaching and Consulting, where she helps adults with ADHD focus on their strengths to empower themselves to make desired changes.

Dr Celeste Hawkins is an Associate Professor at Eastern Michigan University in the School of Social Work. Dr Hawkins has a diverse range of experiences in the areas of juvenile justice, homelessness, literacy, family services, and education. Her areas of research interest include marginalized youth, educational equity in K-12 public schools, engaging student voice, culturally responsive pedagogical practices, and interrupting the school-to-prison pipeline.

Dr Hawkins professional career has been dedicated to working with vulnerable, oppressed, and underserved populations and has been a tireless advocate for children and families, particularly those gripped by poverty and social injustice. In addition to her role as professor at EMU and volunteer service as President for the Ypsilanti Community Schools Board of Education, she further contributes to the community through advocacy and volunteerism in various programs and agencies in Washtenaw County.

Jimmy L. Howard, PhD, currently serves as the Assistant Dean of Student for Prevention and Response at the University of Oregon. In this position, he leads multiple teams in the areas of sexual violence prevention, substance abuse prevention, sexual violence support services, and crisis response. Jimmy earned his PhD in Educational Leadership from Clemson University. His scholarship and publications focus on critical issues of race and gender in higher education, equity in assessment practices, and sexual violence policy and protocol.

Iheoma U. Iruka, PhD, is a Research Professor in the Department of Public Policy, a Fellow at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG), and the Founding Director of the Equity Research Action Coalition at FPG at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr Iruka works at the intersection of research, program, and policies to ensure health and education equity for racially minoritized children and children from low wealth households and communities. Her work focuses on family engagement and economic stability, quality rating and improvement systems and initiatives, and the early care and education system and programs. She serves on numerous national and local boards and committees, including the Brady Education Foundation, Trust for Learning, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and the American Psychological Association's Board of Educational Affairs Racial Disparities in PreK-12 Education.

Maureen J. Ito, PhD, earned her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Miami and both her MA and PhD in School Psychology from the Ohio State University. Dr Ito has conducted multiple local and national presentations on cultural considerations in the identification and placement of minority students in special education. Her research interest primarily focuses on family involvement across early childhood and the implications of children’s development for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. As a practicing school psychologist, Dr Ito works closely with school personnel in promoting equitable family engagement practices, particularly for diverse families.

David J. Johns is a doctoral student in Sociology and Education Policy at Teachers College, Columbia University. His research explores race, sexual identity, and relationships between teachers and students. Known for his passion, public policy acumen and fierce advocacy for youth, David is an enthusiast about equity, specifically addressing the needs of individuals and communities often neglected and ignored. A recognized thought leader and social justice champion, his career has focused on improving life outcomes and opportunities for Black people. Mr. Johns is currently the executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), a civil rights organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black LGBTQ and same gender loving people. NBJC's mission is to end racism, homophobia, and LGBTQ+ bias and stigma. Under President Barack H. Obama's administration, he was appointed as the first executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans.

Cierra Kaler-Jones, PhD, is the Director of Storytelling at the Communities for Just Schools Fund. Dr Kaler-Jones received her PhD in minority and urban education in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her work examines how Black girls use arts-based practices, such as movement and music, as mechanisms of expression, resistance, and identity development. As a dance teacher and choreographer, with over eight years of experience teaching in community-based spaces, Dr Kaler-Jones develops and delivers culturally affirming visual and performing arts curriculum and coconstructs learning spaces with Black girls to discuss self-esteem, leadership, and social justice.

Abigail Amoako Kayser, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Elementary and Bilingual Education at California State University, Fullerton. She was previously a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Virginia. Her research interests include equitable education of culturally and linguistically diverse students, preparing teachers to practice culturally sustaining pedagogies and linguistically responsive teaching, the impact of culturally and linguistically responsive professional development on teacher and student learning and the positive development of Black girls in the United States and Ghana.

Renae D. Mayes, PhD, NCC, is an Associate Professor in the Counseling Program in the College of Education at the University of Arizona. Her research agenda focuses on the academic success and postsecondary readiness for gifted Black students with dis/abilities and Black girls while providing recommendations for dismantling systems of oppression through policy and practice. As an extension of her work, Dr Mayes has worked with faculty in educational leadership to support the research and training of culturally responsive practices and school and nonschool partnerships among preservice and inservice school counselors and administrators.

Lauren C. Mims, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology at Ball State University. She received her undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia and her MA in Child Development at Tufts University. Dr Mims received her PhD in Educational Psychology at the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education. Broadly, Dr Mims' work focuses on promoting the well-being and development of Black students, with a particular focus on Black girls. Dr Mims was appointed Assistant Director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans by President Barack H. Obama.

Antoinette Halsell Miranda, PhD, earned her Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and her MEd and PhD in School Psychology from the University of Cincinnati. She is currently the Chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning and a Professor in the School Psychology Program at the Ohio State University. Her research interests include developing effective interventions with at-risk children in urban settings, consultation services in urban settings, and system level change that include practices that work to close the achievement gap. Dr Miranda was elected to the State Board of Education in November 2016 and was reelected in November 2020. She is a champion of public education and has worked to promote practices that provide equitable services to the children of Ohio.

Ashley N. Patterson, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at Penn State University, specializing in the study of educational equity through a literacy lens. Through teaching, she seeks to contribute to the development of social justice-minded educators, professionals, and advocates. Her research work focuses on observing and/or measuring patterns of (in)equity in a variety of educational settings and literacy venues to facilitate the transformation of existing spaces and the creation of new spaces within which students can maximally learn and thrive. Across her efforts, Dr Patterson centralizes the coconstruction of meaningful relationships while considering how identity markers and self-understandings impact lived experiences.

Robin Phelps-Ward, EdD, is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education and Director of the Student Affairs Administration and Higher Education's Master of Arts Program at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. She also holds a Faculty Fellowship for Inclusive Excellence in the Graduate School at the university, leading The Pathways Project focused on mentoring initiatives in graduate education for minoritized students. Her research is dedicated to cultivating equitable, just, and liberatory environments for people of color across educational contexts through mentoring, equity-minded practices, and critical-consciousness raising pedagogy.

Maima Chea Simmons, PhD, received her PhD in Language and Literacy at Georgia State University. She is an experienced education professional skilled in literacy curriculum development, training and development, teacher coaching, and digital learning. Her research interests include African American literacies, critical media literacy, and multimodal literacies. She taught English Language Arts before earning her doctoral degree and currently leads equity-focused literacy initiatives for a national curriculum and professional services organization.

Cynthia M. Sims, PhD, is an Associate Professor and Program Coordinator of the Master of Human Resource Development in the Department of Educational and Organizational Leadership within the College of Education at Clemson University. Her research focuses on the ways gender and diversity influences the enactment of leadership in the workplace. She was recognized with an Emerald Literati Award, Highly Commended 2019 for a research publication. Dr Sims is the founder director and colead of Clemson's gender equity leadership development and mentoring program for faculty an ADVANCE initiative. She has a Bachelor's Degree from Lake Forest College, a Master's from the College of Education at Harvard University, and a doctorate in Organizational Leadership from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Prior to her academic career, Dr Sims was employed with a US fortune 100 company, serving as the Director of Staff Operations, Director of Learning and Performance Improvement, and Director of Human Resources.

Desireé Vega, PhD, NCSP, is an Associate Professor in the School Psychology program at the University of Arizona. She previously worked as an Assistant Professor in the School Psychology program at Texas State University. She completed her doctoral studies at the Ohio State University and her predoctoral internship with the Omaha Public Schools. Dr Vega's research, teaching, and service intersect to focus on advancing the academic outcomes of culturally and linguistically diverse students and preparing future school psychologists and researchers to engage in advocacy and implement culturally responsive practices. Further, her research focuses on three main areas: (1) fostering the academic success of African American and Latinx youth; (2) resilience in higher education among African American, Latinx, and first-generation college students; and (3) preparing culturally competent school psychologists.

List of Contributors

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, I would like to thank God, without whom none of this would have been possible. I'm grateful for His everlasting love that has guided me into spaces to meet and collaborate with so many people on impactful projects. I would also like to acknowledge my husband, Dr Benjamin Kearl, who has added so much joy, love, and encouragement to my life. I am also grateful for my parents, Alvin and Sonya Mayes, and my siblings, Jay, Shayla, Marcus, and their families for being a constant inspiration in all my endeavors. I would also like to thank Drs Erik M. Hines, Desireé Vega, and Paul C. Harris for being my squad as we navigate academia and life together. This edited volume would not have been possible without the leadership of my coeditors, Drs Marjorie C. Shavers and James L. Moore III. I'm beyond grateful for our collaboration. Finally, I would like to thank the authors for contributing to this volume. Each chapter is beautiful, reflecting the different ways of impacting Black girls and women in their respective communities.

Renae D. Mayes

I could not do anything without God, so I want to start by acknowledging Him. I also want to acknowledge and thank my husband, Josh, for the consistent joy, love, and support that he provides every day. Further, I am extremely grateful that I have him as a partner in this unpredictable life. I also want to thank my son, Matthew, for his unconditional love and the joy that radiates from him and that always inspires me. Additionally, I want to thank my parents, M. C. Adams Jr. and Crystal Giles, and my brother, Marcus Adams, for laying the initial foundation for my life. To my friends, colleagues, and extended family, thank you for continuing to pour into both my personal and professional life. To my coeditors, Drs Renae D. Mayes and James L. Moore III, thank you for your collaboration and friendship. It is an honor to work with the two of you. Finally, I would like to thank the authors who contributed to this volume. Thank you for your words, your nuggets of wisdom, and your dedication to Black girls and women. I feel extremely blessed to be a part of such an important work.

Marjorie C. Shavers

I could not have completed this edited volume without the help, support, and inspiration of others. First, I take this opportunity to acknowledge my beloved wife, Stephanie, and four kids, James IV, Sienna, Savanna, and Sannai, for extending me the needed space and time to devote to completing this edited volume. With the many professional and personal things that I must juggle, your support gave me the motivation to get this edited volume to the finish line. Second, I want to acknowledge my brother, Marcus T. Moore, and sister, Dr S. Rochelle Sullivan, for their steadfast encouragement and tireless support throughout my life. Third, I want to extend a hearty thanks to my close friends, colleagues, students (current and former), and staff, such as Barbara Carter, Grace Johnson, and Deloris Bosley. Fourth, I want to recognize and thank Dr Robert “Bob” Weiler and his late lovely wife, Missy, for their unwavering support and for embracing me as an honorary member of their family. Fifth, I want to recognize my two coeditors and former doctoral students, Drs Renae D. Mayes and Marjorie C. Shavers, for allowing me to work with them on this very important edited volume. Sixth, I want to thank the authors for contributing to this edited volume, and thank the Emerald Press team for including this important book in its portfolio of published works. Finally, yet most importantly, I want to thank my Creator for always extending me opportunities to both contribute and advance my dreams and aspirations.

James L. Moore III