Black Female Faculty, Resilient Grit, and Determined Grace or "Just because everything is different doesn't mean anything has changed" 1

• Published in: The Journal of Negro education Vol. 85; no. 3; pp. 365 - 379
• Main Author: Griffin, Rachel Alicia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington Howard University, School of Divinity 01.07.2016
• Subjects: African Americans; Bisexuality; Citizen Participation; College faculty; College professors; Collegiality; Communication; Communication (Thought Transfer); Consciousness; Critical race theory; Education; Educational Experience; Faculty Promotion; Family work relationship; Females; Femininity; Feminism; Grace, Eva; Identity politics; Literary characters; Lorde, Audre; Marginality; Multiracial people; Multiracial Persons; Oppression; Politics; Power structure; Predominantly White Institutions; Race; Racism; Sexism; Sexual Orientation; Storytelling; Students; Tenure; Women; Women Faculty; Working hours; New York; United States > US
• ISSN: 0022-2984; 2167-6437

This essay centers the lived experiences of protagonist Dr. Eva Grace as a bisexual Black female Assistant Professor navigating identity politics and power dynamics at a traditionally and predominantly White institution. Theoretically anchored by Black feminist thought coupled with critical race theory 's composite counter-storytelling as method, Dr. Grace 's pre-tenure experiences reflect the mundane nature of systemic oppressions in the everyday lives of multiplicatively, marginalized faculty. Accompanying Dr. Grace during an ordinary work week reveals the complexity of: resisting the imposition of domination; experiencing uncertainty, fear, and frustration; establishing work/life balance; and exhaustion-all in the context of working in academia and pursuing promotion and tenure as a first-generation degree earner in her family.