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The chapter engages in womanist musings to critically examine the intertwining of race, class, and gender within the realm of motherhood. Employing the rhetorical tool of “snips” to “read” intersectional experiences, the author underscores the significance of the public library and motherhood as institutions of meaning-making in the realm of knowledge production, which is essential to womanist work. The chapter illuminates the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the complexities of navigating public spaces within private realms and vice versa. Overall, this chapter offers an insightful examination of the interplay between race, class, and gender, within motherhood, emphasizing the pivotal role of public libraries in supporting mothers in pursuit of knowledge production, meaning-making, and empowerment.

Several African American educators served as an inspiration in the development and scholarship of an African American female who teaches at a Predominantly White Institution (PWI) of higher learning. This chapter shares the author's foundational beginnings and persistence in academe while teaching and leading in a race-conscious society. She shares some of her upbringing, education, and early teaching experiences. She also shares her motivation to learn and serve (Bethune, 1950, 1963), while walking in circles. Sizemore (1973, 2008) to provide a roadmap of her journey to support new and developing African American female professors. She uses poetry and the dimensions of African American culture (Boykin, 1983) to guide her sharing. The author uses her exploration of identity development as an African American womanist who advocates as an African American first, to share how she has developed as a scholar whose renewal of purpose targets becoming a full professor.

The aim of this research was to explore and gain an understanding of the lived experiences of Black females transitioning from social work practice into academia and the support and barriers they experienced.

To achieve this an adaptation of Wengraf (2004) Biographical Narrative Interview Model (BNIM) was employed alongside Braun and Clarke (2006) thematic analysis as foundation of the methodology employed in this study. Whilst the adverse issues relating to Black female academics is not new, the paper is original in the manner in which data was gathered.

The study identified four themes: (1) significance of early life, (2) passion for learning, (3) overcoming obstacles and (4) navigating academia. The case studies highlighted the various examples of resistance, rebellion and activism the Black female academics employed within UK universities. The paper concluded that despite the positive messaging from families and communities, about pursuing education, and the need for having a strong work ethic, the progress that can be achieved by Black female academics is limited due to the pervasive nature of racism, therefore dispelling the myth of meritocracy.

The research sample was small and therefore not easily generalisable to the whole population. The findings of the paper will need to be considered as a contribution of knowledge to the issue of structural racism.

Whilst the adverse issues relating to Black female academics is sadly not new, the paper is original in the manner in which data was gathered. Namely, the academics were both researchers and the participants, therefore simultaneously providing and analysing the data.

Black women faculty are experiencing multiple marginalities within their intersectional identities (Thomas & Hollenshead, 2001). The overwhelming obstacles that they face in academia regarding racism, lack of mentorship, and its impact on productivity are well documented (Allen, Huggins-Hoyt, Holosko, & Briggs, 2018). However, through a raced and gendered intersection centering Black women, these workplace obstacles can transform into something far more insidious (Young & Hines, 2018). Black women academics do not enter academic environments that have been liberated from racism, sexism, or misogynoir; instead, the environment itself is a microcosm of the world in which they reside (Thompson, 2020). Black women academics are double minorities and face issues such as isolation from collegial networks; lack of institutional/departmental support; forced positionality into the role of mentorship for students of color; and increased visibility and bodily presentation concerns (Allen et al., 2018; Pittman, 2010). Further still, the workplace dynamics and needs of students of color can collide within the work of Black women academics, increasing the prevalence of othermothering and a racialized and gendered racial uplift (Griffin, 2013; Mawhinney, 2011). Though previous studies have demonstrated positive effects of university diversification, women, ethnic minorities, sexual minorities, and religious minorities continue to face antagonistic environments (Cunningham, 2009; Hughes & Howard-Hamilton, 2003). Rooted within Black Feminist Thought and Critical Race Theory, this chapter aims to highlight the intersectional identities of Black women academics and identifies mechanisms to address how Black women are experiencing multiple marginalities within their intersectional identities (Hirshfield & Joseph, 2012).

This qualitative study investigated the relationship between beauty standards and identity in the United States from the perspective of 20 self-identified millennial Black women. During semi-structured virtual interviews, participants defined Black, American, and millennial beauty standards distinctly. American beauty was associated with Eurocentrism and mainstream media representation. Interpretations of a millennial beauty standard were aligned with perceptions of the generation as tolerant and politically conscious. Black American beauty standards embraced the range of hair textures and skin tones present in the African diaspora. While participants were cognizant of the different beauty ideals present, their interaction with beauty standards was ambivalent. Interviewees found beauty knowledge accessible through social media. However, they remain confined to a restrictive beauty standard due to workplace expectations around professionalism. Participants negotiated where and when to express their intracultural beauty ideals but participated in the beauty industry through processes of learning how to care for their hair in its natural state. Even though they have autonomy and flexibility in expressing their cultural styles, personal and professional repercussions are still plausible. Future studies can expand on these findings by exploring perceptions of American beauty standards from a different generation, region, or identity.