(Re)membering How We Liberate: Black Women Educators’ Identities, Educational Praxis, and Influence

Dear Colleagues,

The recent focus on racially diversifying the teaching profession in the U.S. has highlighted the known positive impact Black educators, in general, and Black women educators, specifically, have on educational and schooling experiences of all students. Black women educators often are cited as exemplars of engaging culturally responsive, relevant, and sustaining pedagogies; as “warm demanders”; as those who honor and develop students’ genius; as educators whose pedagogies, praxis, and lived experiences demonstrate authentic investments in students’ academic, socio-emotional, and developmental wellness; as participators in community and cultural uplift; and so much more (Gay, 2002; Ladson-Billings, 1995, Paris, 2017, Delpit, 2012, Muhammad, 2020). While research on Black women educators’ importance has only recently received recognition or even been acknowledged, members of the global Black community have always known Black women educators to “educate as the practice of freedom” (hooks, 1994). In this call, we center Black women because they “have always marshaled and (re)membered the legacy of Black people in relation to our spirits, and those (re)membering have required us to lean on the “substance of things unseen” - on our spirituality” (Dillard, 2021, p. 2).

But from where does Black women educators’ propensity for liberatory pedagogy and praxis come? How is it developed and nurtured? How does it impact the work we do in schools? What happens when this propensity is not developed and nurtured, or is intentionally denied? These and similar questions are the focus of this Special Issue, specifically through the lens of Black women educators’ predisposition for liberation or “the spirit of our work” (Dillard, 2021). 

This Special Issue of Education Sciences centers “(re)membering” (Dillard, 2021) and encourages Black women educators to (re)member how education, identity, and ancestral history have nurtured their understanding of education as liberation. Contributors will explore how they engaged in (re)membering as an endarkened feminist epistemology (Dillard, 2000) and take up, in part or whole, the five processes of endarkened feminist praxis aligned with (re)membering: (Re)searching; (Re)visioning; (Re)cognizing; (Re)presenting; and (Re)claiming. 

We invite contributors to consider questions such as:

• How does the process of (re)searching, (re)visioning, (re)cognizing, (re)presenting, and (re)claiming influence your work as a Black woman educating for liberation?
• How has (re)searching Black heritage, identity, and culture changed, influenced, or enhanced your work as a Black woman educator?
• How has (re)visioning the “evidence of things unseen” (Dillard, year) expanded your worldview of Black people? How has your expanded worldview changed, influenced, or enhanced your work as a Black woman educator?
• How has (re)cognizing the beauty, brilliance, and excellence of Black people across the Diaspora changed your heart and feelings around Black heritage, identity, and culture? How have these new feelings influenced your work as a Black woman educator?
• How has (re)presenting Black womanhood, heritage, culture, and identity through your body, mind, and spirit acted as a way to correct historical inaccuracies? What form does (re)presenting take in your teaching or research?
• How has your practice of (re)claiming to acknowledge the legacy of Black people impacted your teaching and/or research?

We also are interested in how Black women educators apply the process of (re)searching, (re)visioning, (re)cognizing, (re)presenting, and (re)claiming in their work across various content areas and geographic locations. As such, we welcome contributions from preK-12 and postsecondary educators; those from a diverse academic and creative background, including sciences, technology, engineering, English and literature, mathematics, and the arts; and educators from rural, suburban, and urban areas across the globe. 

Dr. Shanyce L. Campbell
Dr. Qiana Cutts
Guest Editors

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• (re)membering
• Black women educators
• identity
• educational praxis
• ancestral history