#NotYourMammyStudy

I explored the ways Black women are expected to engage in affective work – the production of feelings or affects that ameliorate the needs/expectations of others – with a consideration of how such expectations are shaped by dimensions of racism and sexism specifically in the larger socio-historical context of higher education.

​

I am proud to offer work that is not a polemical diatribe rooted in identity politics, but an incisive critique of the structures of exploitation within American academia and an interrogation of how Black women graduate students enact their own agency throughout the process of degree completion.

 

As these institutions constantly measure us against the colonial archetype of the conciliatory mammy figure - the "normative yardstick" that dictates who and what a palatable Black woman should be - I leaned into a politic of refusal in stating that Black women, as emerging and seasoned intellectuals, are not our institution's mammies (Collins, 1990, p. 71).

Through heavy social media recruitment, I connected with other Black women graduate students (18 + yrs. old) enrolled in a terminal advanced degree program OR recent graduates (within the last three yrs.) at a White Serving Institution (WSI) in the United States of America.

 

A terminal advanced degree includes, but are not limited to, a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), Juris Doctorate (J.D.), Master of Divinity (MDiv), Master of Fine Arts (MFA), and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), etc.

There is no one all-encompassing definition of Blackness or womanhood. My framing of inclusion criteria meant that participants must self-identify as “Black” (which is inclusive of monoracial, multiracial, biracial, non-White/Anglo-Saxon community members who identify as "Black” or “African American”). 

 

This spectrum of non-Anglo Saxon "Black” honors the richness of Pan-African identities as "Black" is not synonymous with "African American".

 

Participants must also identify along the spectrum of “woman” as their gender identity. I referred to my target community as "Black women graduate students" and refrained from "female" to also honor the varied and multifaceted dimensions of what it means to identify as a woman and experience the pressures of misogyny.

I truly believe that there is no one definition of womanhood or gender - which in and of itself, is a social construct. Our sex chromosomes do not hold a causal relationship to how we experience gender and gender norms.

 

I am deeply grateful to have connected with participants who self-identified as a “woman” and/or with the myriad of ways misogyny impacts women and non-binary folks. My framing of Black womanhood is inclusive of folks who identify along the gender expansive spectrum of “woman” or “femme” regardless of sex assigned at birth. #TransWomenAreWomen.

Interested participants were asked to engage in one (1) virtual conversational interview and one (1) virtual talk back session - both of which were ranged from one (1) hour to two (2) hours. 

​

After completing all initial interviews with participants, I hosted virtual "talk back" sessions (one hour) to share initial findings, catch up/connect, as well as explore creative resources and activities. Participants also received access to the #NotYourMammyStudy private Discord (invitation only).

 

Talk back sessions are inspired by bell hook's Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black - as a figurative space to  talk back to the web of misogynoir that permeates  our education journeys as siblings in the struggle; I hope talk back sessions help "to define and determine alternative standards, to decide on the nature and extent of compromise" as we work towards crossing the graduation stage (hooks, 1989, p. 80). 

Thank you for your interest in my dissertation research! I facilitated this project during the uncertain and tenuous times if the (ongoing) COVID-19 global health pandemic. Given my interest in working with folks across the United States of America, I relied heavily on social media platforms to recruit interested participants. Huge shoutouts to Facebook pages, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok (the latter of which came in during the end of the writing phase and offered opportunities to form friendships with other Black women who stumbled upon my random short-form videos on my work!)

 

If you'd like to learn about how this project is progressing, initial findings, or anything in between, check out 'The Threads' page under 'The Dissertation' tab.

​

If you have any questions, you can always reach out to me via email at kristian@beyondmarginality.com

​

​