"Perspectives on the ways Black scholarship has been devalued in the academy and how White hegemony undervalues Black scholarship"--

Examines the experience of Black scholarship and faculty in predominantly White academic spaces. While research has emphasized the importance of a diverse faculty, higher education has done little to bring this goal to fruition. The hidden politics at play during the traditional tenure and promotion process represent a significant obstacle to the advancement of Black faculty. While research productivity is the cornerstone of a successful tenure and promotion case at most universities and colleges, Black faculty are more likely to be tasked with extra service activities, which constrains time for research. Many Black faculty are also community-conscious scholars dedicated to conducting research to help uplift their communities, which may not be seen as credible or as valuable in the tenure and promotion process. Edited by Robert T. Palmer, Alonzo M. Flowers III, and Sosanya Jones, Black Scholarship in a White Academy offers important perspectives on how Black faculty and their scholarship have been historically devalued within the academy, particularly in predominantly White academic spaces. Using anti-Blackness theory as a framework, contributors discuss how White hegemony operates to undervalue and obstruct Black scholarship and faculty. Covering such diverse topics as navigating the tenure process, building Black spaces for inclusion, and exploring the intersection of Blackness and disability in higher education, this book presents ways Black faculty can navigate and challenge systemic racism and racist toxicity within their institutions. Contributors: Fred A. Bonner II, NiCole T. Buchanan, Sheron Fraser-Burgess, Beverly-Jean M. Daniel, Kristie Dotson, Antonio L. Ellis, Edward C. Fletcher Jr., Alonzo M. Flowers III, Donna Y. Ford, H. Bernard Hall, Erik M. Hines, Martinque K. Jones, Sosanya Jones, Nicole Johnson, Chad E. Kee, aretha f. marbley, James L. Moore III, Robert T. Palmer, Stella L. Smith, Isis H. Settles, Terrell L. Strayhorn, Katrina Struloeff, Blanca Elizabeth Vega, Larry J. Walker, Brian L. Wright

Provides information on thousands of scholarships that are geared specifically for African American college students.

He couldn’t listen to music or talk on the phone without her jumping all over him about what they listened to up in Maine, or how they talked up in Maine, or how he better not go up to Maine and start acting ghetto. Maine. Anthony’s mother didn’t even know where it was until he’d shown it to her on a map, but that still didn’t stop her from acting like she was born there. Anthony “Ant” Jones has never been outside his rough East Cleveland neighborhood when he’s given a scholarship to Belton Academy, an elite prep school in Maine.But at Belton things are far from perfect. Everyone calls him “Tony,” assumes he’s from Brooklyn, expects him to play basketball, and yet acts shocked when he fights back. As Anthony tries to adapt to a world that will never fully accept him, he’s in for a rude awakening: Home is becoming a place where he no longer belongs. In debut author Brian F. Walker’s hard-hitting novel about staying true to yourself, Anthony might find a way to survive at Belton, but what will it cost him?

What makes someone an authority? What makes one person's knowledge more credible than another's? In the ongoing debates over racial authenticity, some attest that we can know each other's experiences simply because we are all "human," while others assume a more skeptical stance, insisting that racial differences create unbridgeable gaps in knowledge. Bringing new perspectives to these perennial debates, the essays in this collection explore the many difficulties created by the fact that white scholars greatly outnumber black scholars in the study and teaching of African American literature. Contributors, including some of the most prominent theorists in the field as well as younger scholars, examine who is speaking, what is being spoken and what is not, and why framing African American literature in terms of an exclusive black/white racial divide is problematic and limiting. In highlighting the "whiteness" of some African Americanists, the collection does not imply that the teaching or understanding of black literature by white scholars is definitively impossible. Indeed such work is not only possible, but imperative. Instead, the essays aim to open a much needed public conversation about the real and pressing challenges that white scholars face in this type of work, as well as the implications of how these challenges are met.

The Ivory Tower is and can often be a lonely place for faculty of color. Social injustices run deep and are entrenched within academia. Faculty of color (FOC), more specifically Black and Hispanic, often lament about the ‘Black/Brown’ tax that frequently takes its toll both personally and professionally, and pushes them out of the academy. Similar to trends in P?12 settings, educators of color in postsecondary contexts represent less than 10% of the profession. In essence, we are an anomaly and the implications of this are clear and dire, as evidenced by persistent achievement, access, and expectation gaps within the academy. Scholars of color (SOC), at all stages, but particularly during doctoral training, frequently struggle to not just survive, but to thrive, in the academy. Too many fail to earn their doctoral degree, with many wearing the All But Dissertation (ABD) as a badge of honor. Although ABD is not a degree, many scholars of color receive inadequate mentoring, often substandard in comparison to the hand?holding White students receive, which leaves far too many doctoral students of color lost, bewildered, angry, indignant, and defeated. This righteous indignation is justified, but excused away using the myth of meritocracy and colorblind notions of success; followed by a myriad of problems steeped with victim blaming, as noted in the classic Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia (Gutiérrez y Muhs, Niemann, González, & Harris, 2012). The aforementioned work was not the first treatise on higher education and how the non?status quo, along with those grappling with oppression and double standards, experience the profession called higher education. Moreover, The Chilly Climate (Sandler, Silverberg, & Hall, 1996) report, which focused on females, was also telling, but not enough was addressed and disclosed about females of color, until version two. But these issues do not stop with females of color, but instead, extend to all faculty of color. R.A.C.E. Mentoring, a social media Facebook group, with several subgroups (see Figures 1 and 2) was created by Donna Y. Ford, Michelle Trotman Scott, and Malik S. Henfield in 2013, to tackle the numerous thorny and contentious issues and challenges in higher education. We began by intentionally attending to the needs of students enrolled at mostly White universities, as well as those who attended historically Black colleges and universities, while keeping the unique nuances and challenges of each setting in mind. We wanted scholars of color to thrive in both. Fondly and affectionately called RM, our charge and challenge is to affirm the dignity and worth of scholars of color. Additionally, we recognize that there are scholars outside of academe, and their contributions as well to impact and affect change for Black and Brown people inside and outside of academe need to be acknowledged. These scholars are community organizers, activists, P?12 teachers, and families. It truly takes a village...

Never before in American history have we seen the number of African Americans teaching at Christian Colleges as we see today. Black Scholars in White Space highlights the recent research and scholarly contributions to various academic disciplines by some of America's history-making African American scholars working in Christian Higher Education. Many are the first African Americans or only African Americans teaching at their respective institutions. Moreover, never before have this many African American female scholars in Christian Higher Education had their research presented in a single, cross-disciplinary volume. The scholars in this book, spanning the humanities and social sciences, examine the issues in public policy, church/state relations, health care, women's issues in higher education, theological anthropology, affirmative action, and black history that need to be addressed in America as we move forward in the 21st century. For these reasons and more Black Scholars in White Space offers timely and historic contributions to the discourse about making the black community a place where men and women thrive and make contributions to the common good.