Part III - For us, by us: finding one another amid the storm

Summary

The collection of essays in this part speaks to the void created by the absence of established support networks existing within higher education institutions to empower and retain Black talent. This void has forced Black students and scholars to step in and create their own spaces of empowerment and encouragement. Black doctoral students, as seen in earlier essays, have already had to overcome great obstacles to reach the point of undertaking their research. Once they enter these hallowed halls they must now combat the experiences of isolation and segregation from both their academic peers and Black community – all against the backdrop of pursuing their passions.

It is hard to find a place where one has to undergo so much maltreatment for the simple pursuit of knowledge. Yet, as is expressed in most of the essays you are about to read, it is an inevitability as a Black person existing in academia.

Madina and De- Shaine's essays both speak to the experience of disillusionment at certain points in their educational journeys where they could no longer ignore the active discouragement and prejudicial treatment by senior White academics. It was this disillusionment that led them to seek out and create spaces where they could find community where there once was none.

The act of creating one's own community is a beautiful and often bittersweet circumstance. Beautiful, because there is nothing quite like being surrounded and empowered by a community of shared experiences; bittersweet, because this almost always comes at the cost of experiencing serious solitude and detachment. It has long been discoursed that individualism is not a native African ideology (Odimegwu, 2007). Take the African proverb ‘it takes a village’ as an example – widely used to impart the fact that community and togetherness are essential pillars of an effective society. This theme of community is seen in Paulette's essay, where she recounts how her mother's encouragement to maintain a connection to her culture and heritage was foundational to her starting the organisation Leading Routes.