The purpose of this study is to determine the perceived effectiveness of the professional mentoring which female African American school administrators and other school administrators have received from their school district, examining the cross-racial and cross-gender pairings of mentors and mentees. After an extensive review of the literature, a…

There is a paucity of historical discourse on the distinct contributions of African American women serving as deans of women at historically Black colleges and universities. Using historical research and the case study approach, the analysis focused on three deans of women: Lucy Diggs Slowe--Howard University, Owena Hunter Davis--Johnson C. Smith…

This narrative study explored the personal and professional experiences of eight African American women vice presidents for student affairs (VPSA) employed at predominately White institutions (PWIs) and the persistence strategies they used while working at a PWI. Through the use of narrative inquiry methods, I utilized a purposeful sample of eight…

"Wish To Live: The Hip-hop Feminism Pedagogy Reader" moves beyond the traditional understanding of the four elements of hip-hop culture--rapping, breakdancing, graffiti art, and deejaying--to articulate how hip-hop feminist scholarship can inform educational practices and spark, transform, encourage, and sustain local and global youth…

This study examines aspects of Dr. Howard W Thurman's (1900-1982) career in higher education through the lenses of Black spirituality and critical race theory. The experiences of Howard Thurman offers distinct perspectives through which to interrogate the Black experience in American higher education and the intersections of race, religion and…

The purpose of this study is to document the segregated schooling reflections of Black school superintendents and explore how those experiences informed their educational philosophies in the post-desegregation era. Critical race theory is used as a methodological and analytical framework to present participants' reflections of living in segregated…

As the operational center of the Civil Rights Movement, the Black church fostered community, functioned as an educative space, and promoted collaborative efforts among churches. Similarly, the modern Black church has the opportunity to invest in educating, organizing, and mobilizing people within the church and the local community. By investing in…

There's some good news in the academy regarding Black women: They occupy a number of high-profile executive posts in higher education. But whether Black women scholars want to follow in their footsteps or continue in a teaching or research capacity, the bad news is that many feel they are left to navigate the personal and professional politics of…

Current literature on public school superintendents of color emphasize how these leaders leverage personal characteristics of resiliency, networking, and a commitment to equity to overcome obstacles to entry and retention in the superintendency. However, this literature fails to address with detail the nature of the resistance these administrators…

This article examines the educational leadership of the first African American female principal in Richmond, Virginia: Mrs. Ethel Thompson Overby. It seeks to ascertain, through a historical framework utilizing critical race theory, how this particular educational and instructional leader conceptualized academic achievement given the context of…

The qualitative ethnographic study involved exploring the educational, background, and professional experiences of senior-level African American administrators in higher education. The following research question guided the exploration of the experiences and perceptions of African American administrators in higher education from the Mid-Atlantic…

When one listens to Southside Family Charter School kids articulate the lessons they've learned from the school's civil rights curriculum, it's clear that demographic descriptors often lead to low expectations. These kids are articulate, knowledgeable, and deeply engaged in their study of the civil rights movement. They bring the same competence…

The community college is one of the most diverse institutions of higher learning in regards to the make-up of its student population. However, with such a large representation of diversity within its student population, the community college has not been as successful in diversifying the community college presidency. The purpose of this…

This interpretive review draws on a number of Asa G. Hilliard's Kemetic (ancient Egyptian) writings to examine his conception of educational excellence in ancient Kemet and for African American education today. The review offers an interpretation of Hilliard's lifelong quest for excellence in education, which is especially revealed in his analysis…

Anna Julia Cooper and W.E.B. Du Bois were two of the most prominent African-American educators of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During this period, they both envisioned a broad education tailored specifically to the critical intellectual and vocational needs of the entire black community. In this essay, the author examines common themes…