(2022). Leaning on Our Academic Shields of Gendered Support. Journal of Education Human Resources, v40 n1 p29-57 Win. Intersectionality reminds us that women of color face a particular kind of marginalization due to both gendered and racial oppression and underrepresentation. As such, they are more often "presumed incompetent" and may not feel as innately supported in social and professional structures as their white male and female counterparts. Additionally, the silencing effect of being one of very few women of color in academic departments puts us at risk for further marginalization, requiring that we engage in significant invisible labor that is neither recognized nor compensated. Grounded on our intersectionalities, we discuss our respective trajectories within our own fields and research, beginning with research that emphatically perpetuates the cycle of gender inequity in the academy. The discussion is then supported by analyzing the theoretical research on the salience of race, gender, and other axes of identity for the experiences of women of color. As authors, we present these… [Direct]
(2020). Whiteness in Higher Education: Using Autoethnography to Develop Critical Race Cognizant Leadership. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Idaho State University. The purpose of this research was to provide insight into how the discourses of Whiteness influence the behaviors of White leaders to maintain systems of oppression and dominance that exacerbate racism and inequity in higher education. Using critical Whiteness theory as a framework and critical autoethnography as the methodology, I used my lived experience as a White, upper-middle class woman working in higher education leadership as the source of data collection and analysis to better understand how to effectively model anti-racist leadership that builds equity and inclusion. This study developed using foundational concepts of autoethnography including an emergent design, the documentation of an epiphany and the use of reflexive writing to collect and analyze data. Specifically, this research focused on my experiences at NCORE 2018 and NCORE 2019, and the process I went through learning the truth about my family history, which is directly tied to White supremacy. The key findings of… [Direct]
(2023). My Body Is Not an Apology: Black Critical Agency as Sense of Belonging. Journal of College Student Development, v64 n1 p1-15 Jan-Feb. In the wake of highly visible institutionalized anti-Black violence, this study examined how sense of belonging manifests among Black students at historically white colleges. The findings speak to the need to expand upon the conceptualization of sense of belonging for Black students, particularly considering the history of racial trauma in the United States. The analysis draws from a lineage of critical race and afro-pessimist discourse to make connections between the participants' experiences and the people who preceded them. Implications for practice are introduced that consider how institutions can support the critical agency of Black students…. [Direct]
(2023). Counterstorying as Shining a Light: Teaching about Slavery through Narratives. Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, v96 n3 p104-110. The article critiques schools' current reification and overreliance on teaching slavery as a history of exceptional individuals and unbroken progress toward freedom. The authors explore how the counterstorying of narratives of formerly enslaved individuals in both preservice and inservice education coursework complicates and engages the histories and legacies of slavery. Thomas' frame for critical race counterstorying (2020) and critical literacy (Janks 2013) form the theoretical lens for countering curricular violence. The authors focus on The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano as representative of the current canonical frame, then introduce interviews with formerly enslaved African Americans from the Federal Writers Project, Zora Neale Hurston's Barracoon, and the graphic novel Abina and the Important Men by Trevor Getz and Liz Clarke to demonstrate how counterstorying slavery shines a light on power and resistance…. [Direct]
(2023). Placing Youth in the "Spatial Turn": An Intersectional Analysis of Youth Experiences in a Changing Neighborhood. Urban Review: Issues and Ideas in Public Education, v55 n1 p70-93 Mar. This study examines often-overlooked youth perspectives on the sociospatial changes happening in a community experiencing Black displacement, mass Latinx immigration, and impending gentrification. To date, studies of complex urban change rarely consider the ways in which young people perceive and produce place differently from adults. Drawing on Critical Race Spatial Analysis and related literature, this critical phenomenological study centers the experiences youth of color living and learning in South Central Los Angeles. In doing so, this article draws on walking interview data from a larger place sensitive study. This study found that youth of color in South Central derive keen, intersectional insights into the dialectical relationship between the social and the spatial just by living their lives. They learn to "read the world" around them and in doing so, develop complex understandings of the sociospatial phenomena that surrounds them. The article concludes with a call… [Direct]
(2023). "I Feel Your Fear": (Counter)stories of East Asian International Doctoral Students about Awakening, Resistance, and Healing. Equity & Excellence in Education, v56 n1-2 p240-254. As an extension of the personal and intellectual conversations that took place in the sister-scholar group consisting of four East Asian international doctoral students from China and South Korea, in this article, we narrate and examine our (counter)stories traversing between different spaces and across time. These narratives center our racial, linguistic, social, and academic experiences and illustrate our processes of awakening, resistance, and collective healing. We used transnationalism and Asian Critical Theory as our theoretical guide, and collaborative autoethnography as our methodology. Through the canvas of (counter)stories, we (a) refuse dominant views and definitions of what it means to be Asian in the United States, (b) resist the simplistic and monolithic ways of understanding our existence and experiences as international students, and (c) challenge the academic community and broader society to develop more complex and critical social praxis regarding race, culture, and… [Direct]
(2023). DACA Funds of Knowledge: Testimonios of Access to and Success in Higher Education. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, v22 n1 p76-93 Jan. Using "testimonios," we highlight six current university Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students' funds of knowledge, or the lived experiences and culturally developed skills, specific to being DACA recipients, that these students leveraged in the past, currently lean on now for continued success, and learn what resources are lacking at university. Sharing these students' "DACA funds of knowledge," of navigating public education to successfully attend institutions of higher education, provides insight into equitable educational paths for those who follow…. [Direct]
(2023). Cloak of Racial Oppression Theory in Education. Educational Foundations, v36 p99-114. The more immediate concern of social injustice should explore the significant barriers Black men face in society. Although White America would like you to believe that things have improved, the current climate proves otherwise. The amount of hate toward people of color has been made obvious because of the Donald Trump administration. And one can even make the argument that most whites have ignored the enormity of racial tension escalating right before their eyes. It is easier for them to ignore the reality of racism, than to address it openly and honestly. But the barriers that Black men face are pushed even further to the outskirts of the minds of society to completely devalue their existence. These barriers may be more challenging to uphold if there's a framework like the cloak of racial oppression theory to identify the systemic barriers that exist in educational institutions. The cloak of racial oppression theory will likely generate discussions to encourage White America to… [PDF]
(2023). Moving beyond Numbers: Using DisCrit to Examine Policy. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Judson University. Decades of research about students of color with dis/abilities has left but one fact clear: these students are not treated equitably within our school systems. The purpose of this qualitative document analysis was to identify how Disability Critical Race Studies is represented within federal inclusion policies. The research question was "How are the seven tenets of Disability Critical Race Studies represented within federal inclusion policies?" Disability Critical Race Studies (DisCrit) is a theory that highlights the intersection of race and dis/ability. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act and the Every Student Succeeds Act were analyzed for this study. The two policies were examined for keywords derived from the seven tenets of DisCrit. Data were then coded using a priori and process codes. Several themes emerged upon analysis of the data. Results show that several tenets of DisCrit are present within federal inclusion policies. However, their… [Direct]
(2007). Integrating Black Consciousness and Critical Race Feminism into Family Studies Research. Journal of Family Issues, v28 n4 p452-473. The author examines the advantages and challenges of using Black feminist theory and critical race feminist theory to study the lives of Black women and families in family studies. The author addresses the ways in which these perspectives, both of which are intentional in their analyses of intersectionality and the politics of location, are also distinct. She provides empirical examples from how family researchers have used Black feminist theory or a critical race feminist lens to examine the lives of Black women and families, and suggests ways for colleagues to embrace an explicit integration of Black consciousness and critical race feminist perspectives in family studies…. [Direct]
(2024). "It Scared the Crap out of Me": Taking Risks and Talking about Race in a Principal Preparation Course. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, v19 n4 p433-457. University faculty have fixated on ways to adequately prepare social justice-oriented school leaders for quite some time. This teacher action research project documents the experiences of 14 aspiring school leaders in a principal preparation course focused on a critical race pedagogy curriculum. Using interview data, this qualitative study examines how white and Latinx students experience coursework grounded in the notion of risk-taking rather than safety. Findings from this study illustrate the following: (A) participants most resistant to the curriculum entered coursework having internalized dominant ideologies regarding merit and achievement; (B) these same students had adverse views regarding their critically conscious classmates and instructor; and lastly (C) all participants in this study demonstrated growth in their thinking regarding racial justice and educational equity. The discussion and implications address the nuances and complexities of promoting a pedagogy framed as… [Direct]
(2024). Examining Chinese American Teachers' Diasporic Lives through Empire and AsianCrit. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, v18 n4 p270-283. Few studies examined Chinese American teachers' diasporic lives in U.S. K-12 schools and society, even as research on teachers of Color increases. In responding to such scarcity, the author connects tenets of empire and AsianCrit to illustrate how the legacies of imperialism and geopolitics of race have influenced three Chinese American teachers' diasporic trajectories and teaching practices. Implications include how scholars can use these theoretical orientations to historicize research on Chinese American teachers, apply Asian Diaspora as a framework in researching Asian American teachers, and prepare Asian American teachers to unsettle racism and imperialism in schools…. [Direct]
(2024). Disorderly to Whom? A Critical Analysis of School-Based Disorderly Conduct Referrals. Journal of School Violence, v23 n4 p582-596. The criminalization of school discipline and its resulting consequences for students, particularly students of color, has been widely studied. While results from previous research have shown racial and gender differences in punitive school experiences like suspension, school-based arrest, and school-based referrals to juvenile justice systems, existing literature has primarily focused on the experience of Black boys or used aggregate data to examine school-level correlates of referral-rates and has been limited in its examination of referrals for more subjective offenses like disorderly conduct. Informed by Critical Race Feminism, this study sought to examine whether Black girls experience increased odds of referral to the juvenile justice system for disorderly conduct involving school-based offenses in Florida. Our findings suggest that Black girls experience a higher risk of referral for school-based disorderly conduct as compared to other youth referred to the juvenile justice… [Direct]
(2024). "Who Raised You?": Black Women's Indispensable Conceptualizations of Mothering for Theorizing and Researching DisCrit. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), v37 n9 p2521-2539. Traditionally, the academic field of special education has resisted critical perspectives. Despite their advanced skills, epistemological approaches, and ways of knowing, special education scholars enacting qualitative inquiry have often described inadequate support from their academic community. In a parallel manner, Black mothering in historical and contemporary spaces, especially in mothering disabled children, has often been dismissed for its valued expertise. This essay is a methodological, theoretical, spiritual, epistemological, and deeply philosophical intervention on the roles of Black mothers in all spaces who grapple with the tensions in the field of special education. The authors build upon Black Feminist epistemology and use Disability Critical Theory as a framework, documenting the journeys of two Black women mother and scholars through duoethnographic storytelling. Realizing that people who are mothering have their own agency and choose what they want to build with the… [Direct]
(2024). Comparing the Efficacy of Fixed-Effects and MAIHDA Models in Predicting Outcomes for Intersectional Social Strata. Sociology of Education, v97 n4 p342-362. This investigation examines the efficacy of multilevel analysis of individual heterogeneity and discriminatory accuracy (MAIHDA) over fixed-effects models when performing intersectional studies. The research questions are as follows: (1) What are typical strata representation rates and outcomes on physics research-based assessments? (2) To what extent do MAIHDA models create more accurate predicted strata outcomes than fixed-effects models? and (3) To what extent do MAIHDA models allow the modeling of smaller strata sample sizes? We simulated 3,000 data sets based on real-world data from 5,955 students on the LASSO platform. We found that MAIHDA created more accurate and precise predictions than fixed-effects models. We also found that using MAIHDA could allow researchers to disaggregate their data further, creating smaller group sample sizes while maintaining more accurate findings than fixed-effects models. We recommend using MAIHDA over fixed-effects models for intersectional… [Direct]