MIAMI UNIVERSITY The Graduate School
Certificate for Approving the Dissertation
We hereby approve the Dissertation
of
Crystal Phillips
Candidate for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
______Denise Taliaferro Baszile, Director
______Thomas Poetter, Reader
______Brittany Aronson, Reader
______Sheri Leafgren, Graduate School Representative ABSTRACT
HER FIRE WITHIN: THE LEADERSHIP JOURNEY OF A SCHOOL GIRL! by
Crystal Phillips
I am a Black girl who experienced school as a place where my rhizome of Blackness began. School helped me to find and develop my voice through disappointments, accolades, and transgressions. My inner consciousness grew within me, like a fire that started with only a spark, ultimately forming me into a Critical Black Feminist Leader. The spewing of my testimony throughout this work will ignite a fire within all Black women and girls to help them realize their own radical fire within. One of the things that emerged from my self –reflection was my leadership style to meet the needs of my 6th grade self and others like me. During my journey, I begin to make sense of my being as a Black woman, while simultaneously, interrogating my radical self as a student, mother, educator, and researcher who critically reflects on my lived experiences and practices with embodied values that recognize the need for inclusive leadership.
I use Black Feminist Theory to explain the microaggressions that I have experienced in school as a Black female student, mother, and educator. This systematic bias led me to my leadership style and disrupts the negative encounters that could have destroyed my inner being. “Self-definitions of Black womanhood were designed to resist the negative controlling images of Black womanhood advanced by Whites as well as the discriminatory social practices that these controlling images supported” (Collins, 2000, p.10). My leading research question in this study is: How have my educational experiences, as a Black female student, mother, and educator emerged into my leadership style? This work is significant to all Black educators especially principals and women in schools working to produce a culturally enriching school environment. I charge them to recall the missing components or hurts from their own educational experiences in order to create a better experience for their own students while healing themselves.
HER FIRE WITHIN: THE LEADERSHIP JOURNEY OF A SCHOOL GIRL!
A DISSERTATION
Presented to the Faculty of
Miami University in partial
fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Educational Leadership
by
Crystal Phillips
The Graduate School Miami University Oxford, Ohio
2019
Dissertation Director: Denise Taliaferro Baszile, PhD
©
Crystal Phillips
2019
Contents
DEAR GOD ...... 1 My Dissertation Journey ...... 3 Chapter 1 – Friction: An Introduction ...... 6 Testimony! ...... 6 Background Information ...... 9 Significance of My Journey ...... 10 Cultural Deficiencies ...... 11 The Mission ...... 11 Black Girl Positionality ...... 12 Historical Narrative of Black Women ...... 13 Black Female Principal/ Outsider ...... 14 Making Our Own Way ...... 14 Black Feminist Principalship ...... 15 Changing Our Schools ...... 16 The Importance of My Journey ...... 16 Why school? ...... 17 Chapter 2 – Heat: A Literature Review ...... 19 Beyond Desegregation ...... 20 A Consistent Record of Black Achievement ...... 23 Black Women Educators and Uplift ...... 24 Exemplary Historical Models of Black Female Educational Leadership ...... 26 Cultural Relevance ...... 28 Black Feminist Perspective ...... 30 Conclusion ...... 37 Chapter 3 – Smoke: Methodology ...... 39 The Misconception of My Birth ...... 39 My Critical Black Female Testimony ...... 40 Theoretical Lens ...... 40 Other Mothering and Fictive Kinship ...... 43 Chapter 4 – Fire: Critical Black Feminist Leadership ...... 51 What does Critical Black Feminist Leadership look like? ...... 53 The Pearl of the Nurturer: ...... 54 What does Critical Black Feminist Leadership feel like? ...... 56 The Pearl of the Advocate: ...... 57 What does Critical Black Feminist Leadership smell like? ...... 58 The Pearl of the Leader: ...... 58 My Challenges as a Student ...... 59 What does Critical Black Feminist Leadership sound like? ...... 60 The Pearl of the Community Builder: ...... 61 Frustrations as a Principal ...... 61 What does Critical Black Feminist Leadership taste like? ...... 63 The Pearl of the Storyteller: ...... 63 Trials of a Black Mother ...... 64
iii
Chapter 5 – Ashes: Results of CBF Leadership ...... 67 Storyteller ...... 67 Nurturer ...... 68 Community Builder ...... 70 Leader ...... 72 Advocate ...... 74 A Home for Tyrone ...... 74 Chapter 6 – Conclusion ...... 77 Year One ...... 87 BGL Mission ...... 87 BGL Doctoral Pledge ...... 88 References ...... 90
iv
DEDICATION
To the reason I wake up each day, my son, Ryan Alexander Reese. As I think back on your life, I realize that I have not always been right, but please know that every decision I have made was with your best interest at heart. God is not through with you yet! I love you more than words could ever say. The soul of a Black women reaches back through decades of hard work, traditions, disappointments, victories, and pain. The revolution of who I am as a Black woman and who I want to become is rooted in the Black women that have been influential in life—the most influential being my mother Lisa Phillips-Reese. Every sacrifice you have made did not go unnoticed; I appreciate EVERYTHING that you have done for me. Every child needs one person who will always be in their corner! Granny (Lulabell Phillips), my first teacher, my first friend, and my biggest supporter, I’m everything I am because you loved me! Some folks tried to count me out, but you never did! Grandma Ruby Scott, thanks for showing me the path to Everlasting Life! William Reese (my daddy by choice!), If no one else understands you, I do! Keith Lamar Everett Sr. (My Mr. Big), you are and will always be the Love of my life! To the wind beneath my wings, I am thankful to God for placing you in my life! To every student of mine who is incarcerated, deceased, or just trying to BE! I love you forever and always know that you will always live inside me.
v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To my family, if I’ve never told you before, please know that I cherish each relationship, and what you represent is a symbolic bond of legacy that will never die. I am biologically an only child, but God has given me sisters! We have been through the fire, the storm, the good, and bad. Thank you for staying on my team. I love and appreciate you all more than any words could ever say. Michelle, Tiffany, Chandra, Dionne, Khadeesha, Kim, Nell, Verletta, and (RIH) Angelina! To whom much is given, much is required. To my children, grandchildren, God daughters, nieces and nephews, I take the role I play in your lives quite seriously. Know that I want the best for you, and I will go to the end of the Earth for you. On my walk to figure out who I was as a Black Girl in the world there have been several women that have walked with me and believed in my every step of the way Shirley Cooper, Antoinette Adkins, Shirley A. L. Porter and Dora Carson thank you for your mentorship, love and leadership. I cannot put into words what you mean to me. To my Dream Team! My Committee: Dr. Denise, you personify what is means to be a black woman who has it all. Thanks for your wisdom. Dr. Poetter, I would not have made it through this program without you! I appreciate your continued encouragement. Dr. Brittany, thank you for exposing me to what Positionality means, which has helped me to identify mine. Dr. Lisa Weems, my personal cheerleader, you introduced me to my love, auto-ethnography! Dr. Sheri, our educational paths are similar; you represent the fact that all my dreams are tangible. Collectively, you all are a powerful group of minds; I appreciate being under the tutelage of such great scholars. It is amazing to meet people and they instantly become family! Johnny Jackson you are the little brother I never had; keep tapping into your genius. I believe in you! Dr. Tiffany Williams, the sky is the limit for you my sister. The three of us together makes my heart smile! Watch out world, here we come. My Miami sisters Genesis, Chasity, Priscilla, and Loveness. You all are Black Girls that Rock! I bubble over with pride when I think about Black Girl Leadership. This is my way to give back to God what he has placed within me. To all the women and girls, I have touched, fellowship with, or mentor, keep pressing toward the mark. Each of us possess a unique gift, use yours to make the world a better place. Thanks for making my life worth living again.
vi DEAR GOD
DEAR GOD, IT’S ME, POOTER!
I NEED YOUR HELP!
I CAN’T FIGURE OUT HOW TO STAY OUT OF TROUBLE.
EVERY DAY AT SCHOOL I TRY TO FOLLOW THE RULES,
KEEP MY MOUTH CLOSED AND DO MY ASSIGNMENTS.
THINGS NEVER QUITE WORK OUT THOUGH,
IT’S AS IF I HAVE AN ANGEL ON ONE SIDE AND THE DEVIL ON THE OTHER!
I FEEL THEM BOTH TUGGING AT ME.
DEAR GOD, IT’S ME, POOTER!
IN CLASS TODAY I COMPLETED ALL MY WORK FIRST AS USUAL,
THERE WAS NOTHING LEFT FOR ME TO DO BUT TALK TO MY FRIENDS
SO ONCE AGAIN MY NAME IS PUT ON THE BOARD!
NO SKATING PARTY FOR ME!
MRS. BELL DIDN’T WANT ME TO GO ANYWAY,
SHE SAYS, “I CONTROL THE CLASS AND WHATEVER I DO SO WILL EVERYONE ELSE”.
BUT I DON’T UNDERSTAND SHE IS THE TEACHER WHY CAN’T SHE CONTROL THE CLASS?
DEAR GOD, IT’S ME, 6TH GRADE CRYSTAL!
AS I PREPARE TO LEAVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL,
PLEASE SEND ME TO A MIDDLE SCHOOL WHERE THE TEACHERS LIKE ME,
AND ACCEPT ME FOR WHO I AM.
ALLOW MY LIGHT TO SHINE SO THAT I CAN WALK INTO MY DESTINY.
DEAR GOD, IT’S ME, CRYSTAL!
HELP ME TO SEE MY SELF- WORTH.
TO VIEW MY INTELLIGENCE AS AN ASSET NOT A HINDRANCE.
REPLACE ALL MY PAST “SCHOOL HURTS” WITH POSITIVE SCHOOL EXPERIENCES.
EVOKE WITHIN ME, AN UNDERSTANDING
1 TO APPRECIATE THE LEADERSHIP GIFT YOU PLACED INSIDE ME.
DEAR GOD, IT’S ME, MS. PHILLIPS
REINTRODUCE ME TO THE LOVE OF SCHOOL AND EDUCATION,
SO THAT I AM ABLE TO PASS IT ON TO MY STUDENTS.
CONTINUALLY REMIND ME OF THE PAINS AND STRUGGLES I HAVE OVERCOME.
TO ENSURE THAT I DON’T CAUSE MY STUDENTS THE SAME PAIN.
CONNECT ME WITH FAMILIES THAT NEED THE COMFORT OF A TEACHER THAT CARES,
BECAUSE THEY HAVE EXPERIENCED THE ONES THAT DON’T.
DEAR GOD, IT’S ME, PRINCIPAL PHILLIPS
CREATE WITHIN ME THE INSIGHT TO PROVIDE A SCHOOL CULTURE
THAT PARENTS AND STUDENTS FEEL SAFE ENTERING.
DESTROY THE NEGATIVITY FROM COMMUNITY MEMBERS SO THEY
CAN BECOME COLLABORATORS AND RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS AND PARENTS.
STRENGTHEN ME, SO WHEN THE WORLD DOESN’T SEE THE IMPORTANCE
OF SAVING THE LIVES OF BLACK CHILDREN I CAN STAND UP FOR THEM.
HELP ME TO USE MY EXPERIENCES AND MY VOICE
TO HEAL THE WOUNDS FROM PREVIOUS HEARTBREAKS.
ALLOW ME TO ALWAYS LEAD WITH DIGNITY, INTEGRITY, AND LOVE.
DEAR GOD, IT’S ME, DR. PHILLIPS
PRODUCE FRUIT THAT WILL CONTINUE MY DREAM OF
CRITICAL BLACK FEMINIST LEADERSHIP!
UTILIZE MY MISSION TO CAST A NET WIDER THAN I COULD EVER IMAGINE.
MAKE SURE I ALWAYS REMEMBER MY JOURNEY.
DEAR GOD, PLEASE DON’T EVER LET MY FIRE DIE!
2 My Dissertation Journey My journey starts with the introduction of a new theory, Critical Black Feminist Leadership that emerges from my transition through my unresolved school traumas as a student, parent and educator. I wanted to have a career in education that allowed me to change a system that does not always meet the needs of all children. Central to this idea was my willingness to recognize the need for me to deal with my own baggage of school hurts and disappointments in order to be a school leader that does not perpetuate the same murderous practices while healing students, families and communities. On this journey I examined my schooling experiences and unpack how, throughout my life as a student, mother, and educator, school has been a place in which I found my voice, fought with internal struggles, and recognized my call to leadership. I present this Testimony by recalling my past, present and future in order to build and connect my journey, my leadership, and my legacy. Woodson (1933), declared, “real education means to inspire people to live more abundantly, to learn to begin with life as they find it and make it better” (p. 17). My life’s work personifies Woodson’s premise as I work to inspire and change the lives of students, families, and community. In Chapter 1, entitled Friction, I reveal some of the damage and hurt I experienced during elementary school as well as the beginning of my internal fire to identify oppression and rebuke it. The background information reviews Woodson’s (1933) work on the mis-education of Black children. He insists that historically U.S. schooling has taught Black children that they are inferior. Woodrow’s conclusions on the educational system helped me to realize that my needs as a student, along with my son’s experiences, surmounted by the needs of the students I have worked with over the past two decades are still not being met in traditional school structures. As a tool to change schooling for my 6th grade self and Black children, Critical Black Feminist Leadership emerged as the prescriptive antidote that heals the trauma and hurt suffered by students in school. The educational system has abandoned the need for human connection leaving behind decades of students trying to put their broken pieces of themselves back together. Chapter 2, entitled Heat, begins with my personal story of my grandmothers and how they still live on inside me as a way to infuse the lineage of power that Black women of the past, present, and future possess and represent. This chapter also provides the review of literature and the why, as a 6th grader, I was racialized and exposed to systematic bias. The journey of Black women in leadership and mothering within communities allows me to connect to the need to
3 continue mothering and protecting the 6th grade Crystal. I have infused storying within the literature review as a way to help the reader hear the thoughts of 6th grade Crystal and how she views the literature. This Leadership Journey is grounded by Patricia Collins’ Black Feminist Theory. This theory has served as a mechanism to help me to place theory within the structures, barriers, and oppression faced by women of color, especially in our pursuit of leadership. This process consists of my journey through conformity, deformity, and transformation using Black Feminist Thought and ways in which I work to change, disrupt, and intervene on the behalf of Black children. I chose to tell my story through Testimony, as I feel as though, Testimony is a much more intimate way to unravel my journey rather than the traditional narrative. Testimony stems from Black Feminist Theory and creates the perfect marriage for my journey. Chapter 3, entitled Smoke the Methodology, explains the use of Black Feminist Thought as the theory used to deliver my Testimony. I connect and explain my methods to discover Critical Black Feminist Leadership as I seek to address the needs of my 6th grade self, I am able to identify the same needs to help students that have been constructed in the same way due to the traditional educational system and school norms. Consequently, my son dealt with similar struggles. Black Feminist Leadership emerges out of all these experiences and my attempts to deal with these unresolved school traumas in order to be the type of school leader needed for the children who are most underserved in our school. My Testimony is the data used to provide a more intimate view of the emergence of Critical Black Feminist Leadership. Chapter 4, entitled Fire, explicates Critical Black Feminist Leadership and presents the rationale, background information, and the Pearls: Nurture, Advocate, Community Builder, Storyteller, and Leader that encompass CBF Leadership. This chapter provides insight into how the pearls fit together to make a cohesive leadership style. This section also includes a timeline of my life that links each pearl to my personal life experiences and my leadership. Chapter 5, entitled Ashes, is a collection of acknowledgements from persons touched by CBF Leadership. 6th grade Crystal will be healing herself through changing the way students are seen through the eyes of Principal Phillips providing silent reminders of past hurts. Scenarios are introduced that reveal the operation of Critical Black Feminist Leadership. These scenarios present the practices used in my CBF Leadership on a daily basis within school. Chapter 6, entitled Soot, highlights other Black leaders who have inspired me to pursue non-traditional methods to educate urban children that have been systematically underserved. In
4 the course of my work as a student, mother, and educator I begin to understand that the love I have for myself and my own willingness to heal has enabled me to heal others. In my discovery I find that even when wounds are healed the scars that are left behind are reminders of what we have gone through. The Testimony I have presented allows others to witness that after my storm the sun comes out revealing a beautiful rainbow, CBFL is my rainbow! The introduction of the Black Girl Leadership Program, the ending of my principalship and the conclusion of my Critical Black Feminist Testimony.
5 Chapter 1 – Friction: An Introduction Testimony! I am giving birth to my deepest testimony as a way to use my Voice to articulate my lived school experiences as a student, mother, and educator. My experiences are a reflection of my perceptions, memories, and life changing encounters. I remember attending Testimony Service at my church, where members would stand up and share intimate stories about the things that were happening or had happened to them. The stories would end with folks thanking God because they believed that the sharing of the testimony was an opportunity to express their deliverance from the illness, death, or past situations with which they had been struggling. The singer Fred Hammond says in one of his songs that we are overcome by our testimony. In other words, sharing our testimony is a way to declare in front of everyone that our problem has been fixed, that we are no longer dealing with the issue, and that we want to thank God for the deliverance. My research will be used to inform leadership techniques within urban schools for principals, to push urban schools to recognize the importance of inclusive practices, and to permanently heal the school hurts that I have experienced. This process has increased my internal fire to cultivate a culture within schools that provides Black students with the experiences and support necessary for them to obtain the social, intellectual, and emotional tools to move forward through life valuing themselves and their existence in the world. Therefore, it is imperative that I liberate myself through my Critical Black Feminist Testimony. My first memories of school place me in elementary school where I was seen by my teachers as a menace. My desk was always close to the teacher’s desk, and I was not allowed to go outside for recess, nor was I allowed to attend school field trips. I went to school each day hearing the negative comments made by teachers about me—seeing the ugly looks and the occasional shaking of the head by adults who were supposed to care for me. On most school days, I felt alone and isolated, but I didn’t blame the teachers or the principal. I blamed myself, because it was my own fault, or so I thought. I judged myself harshly for misbehaviors that I wanted to change, but it was like a snowball rolling downhill that I couldn’t stop. It was bigger than me. At a parent teacher conference, the principal said I carried myself in a very ugly manner, and my mother finished his sentence, “just uncouth,” and he replied, “Yes.” In that moment, not only was I hurt, but I felt betrayed by my mother who I felt should have protected or stood up for me.
6 Each morning, I would give myself a pep talk and say, “I am going to be quiet all day and stay out of trouble.” In the classroom, I was always first to complete my assignments, and according to my teacher, once I was done, I was a disruption to the rest of the class. There was a small, White boy named Scott in my class who everybody would pick on but not around me. I wouldn’t stand for it, because he never bothered anybody. He also was low and needed help with his work, so I would let him copy off my paper. The morning that I gave the final speech to myself on making it a good day, I was in 5th grade. During class, some students in the class were messing with Scott, and I went and confronted the students and caused a ruckus in the classroom. I was sent to the office where I was paddled and made to stay in the office for the remainder of the day. While I was sitting there, I decided that I was not going to try to be good anymore! The teachers always blamed me regardless, so in that moment, I felt powerless over my situation. I could no longer walk into a school and be upset by the actions of others, especially my teachers. I established a philosophy of—I don’t care anymore! I tried to be big and bad on the outside, but I was dying on the inside, wishing that I was treated like my classmates. In 6th grade, I ran for class president thinking that it would be a way to change my image, still seeking approval of the adults in the school, even from the White, male principal who nicknamed me Crystal Pistol and publicly humiliated me every time he said it. Excitingly, I won the election to be class president. I was ready to start my transformation to conform to be the student all the adults in my life wanted me to become. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take the position because the teachers and principal felt that I didn’t have the character necessary to represent my 6th grade class. I was heartbroken, but I shrugged my shoulders and walked away saying that I didn’t want the position anyway. I began to believe that I was a bad person, my mother communicated to my family all the trouble I was having in school, so I then became a pariah at home as well. On the last day of elementary school, my principal told me that my behavior would not be tolerated in middle school, so I probably would be suspended or expelled. I remembered his words for the rest of my school career. I wanted to prove him wrong and never was suspended or expelled! Amid all the turmoil, hurt, and degradation I faced, my love for school continued to grow. It was in these moments that Black Feminist Leadership began to flicker inside of me, catching fire from the heat of the racist, sexist, oppressive views plaguing my mind, body, and spirit.
7 Introduction to my Journey I am what some may call a lifelong student. I have spent most of my life in schools. It is for that reason that I situate my research around my schooling experiences. As a Black Female Principal who works in an urban school, I recognize that not all school experiences have been positive. In fact, I call these experiences “school hurts.” These are occurrences in school; when we recall them now, they often evoke severe emotions that have never been resolved. There are also events in which a teacher or principal showed compassion, support, or maybe a few words of encouragement. These moments are memorable as well as life changing. I believe it is my job to heal these past schools hurts for parents and students while replacing them with positive experiences that will affect students, parents, and our community in a positive way. Kirsten Olson (2009), in the foreword of her book, Wounded by School suggest, school wounds are those events that take the joy of learning from students. I introduce school hurts to say that these hurt go much deeper than just disrupting learning and I insist that these events damage the overall psyche of the student. The infractions I suffered in elementary school play into the insecurities that I still deal with on a regular basis. In my role as a school principal I still hear 6th grade Crystal reliving hurts which create emotions within me that differ from those of my colleagues. They may agree with me that a situation may appear to be a terrible event, but I see it as a life changing event for my students and their families. It is my belief that repairing these hurts have the ability to change the lives of students, therefore impacting the learning mentioned by Olson. When I became a parent, I tried to ensure that my son had a different school experience than I had, but through my own ignorance, I perpetuated some of the same ideals as my former teachers, creating the same pitfalls that I dealt with as a student. Looking through my lens as a teacher, I began to get a glimpse of the inequities that Black children face in schools all over the United States. My lack of knowledge on the hegemonic structures within a White dominated educational system gave me a false sense of belief that I could change this structure as soon as I became a principal. I first needed a deeper understanding of the problem. The dedication I have to students, parents, and my community led me to pursue my doctoral degree. My program exposed me to the theories and doctrine I needed in order to learn how to support Black students and better understand the root cause of the appearance of poor achievement. It became so clear to me: our children are struggling in our schools due to the absence of cultural relevance. I began to employ strategies to build a positive school culture and school climate, nurturing students and
8 parents while advocating for them within my school district and community. My Critical Black Feminist Testimony emerges from my own personal experiences both positive and negative as a storyteller to influence student behaviors, connect to teachers, and build relationships. These practices helped me form the five pearls or tenets: Nurturer, Leader, Advocate, Storyteller, and Community Builder that emerge into Critical Black Feminist Leadership. This leadership relies on making a human connection with students, families, and our community. Background Information Dr. Carter G. Woodson argued in 1933 that Blacks cannot allow their oppressors to dictate their destiny and/or future endeavors within society and the educative process. Woodson believed that the Black community should educate its own people without intrusion from the White and/or European identity of socialization and assimilation. The pedagogical and curricular practices of Blacks should not, according to Woodson, be limited to the epistemological framework of European or American cultural norms, because Blacks had their own way of understanding the world. Woodson declared that Blacks did not need to receive a White man’s education, but that their education must be rooted in the mores, customs, and practices of the Black psyche. Woodson (1933), declared that, “real education means to inspire people to live more abundantly, to learn to begin with life as they find it and make it better” (p. 17). Woodson’s argument was that educational leaders must consider the historical and cultural referents of a given community. Woodson (1933) notes, Looking over the courses of study of the public schools, one finds little to show that the Negro figures in these curricula. In supplementary matter a good deed of some Negro is occasionally referred to, but oftener the race is mentioned only to be held up to ridicule. (p. 134) Woodson’s (1933) argument was that Black students cannot understand their value and worth until they understand the essence of who they are in a place where they are not yet perceived as equals by a White dominated society. Woodson (1933) further stated that “the thought of the inferiority of the Negro is drilled into him in almost every class he enters and in almost every book he studies” (p. 2). Although many believed that desegregation might be the path to reconciling the issues, it unfortunately was not. In fact, desegregation in many ways compromised the quality of schooling for Black children. Before desegregation, Black schools were controlled by the
9 community, by Black principals, staff, and faculty who worked in the communities in which they lived (Horsford, 2011; Irvine, 1990). These all Black contexts often allowed for strong “communal bonds, collective work, and caring that characterize the type of safe, supportive, learning environment” enjoyed by Black children pre-Brown (Horsford, 2011). Moreover, Black, segregated schools had four valued aspects: “exemplary teachers, curriculum and extracurricular activities, parental support, and leadership of the school principal” (Walker in Horsford, 2011, p. 38). Black teachers may have more of an impact on Black students because they oft times develop meaningful relationships, empower the students, and share in the struggle of trying to overcome a hegemonic society (Irvine, 1990). Many Black teachers push their students to excel, meaning they will not settle for mediocrity. When desegregation was enacted in the U.S., the Black community relinquished its social, political, economic, and educational capital to the White power structure. Unfortunately, Blacks did not understand the lasting effects that desegregation would have on their communities: the closure of Black schools, demotions and firing of their educators, and the acknowledgement of and subscribing to the White way of educating young Black students (Dempsey & Noblit, 1996; Haney, 1978; Irvine, 1990). According to some scholars, one devastating result of Brown was the loss of employment for many African American teachers and principals (Alston, 2005; Karpiniski, 2006; Loder, 2005; Tillman, 2004; Walker, 2000). Ladson-Billings (2004), for instance, reported that, as desegregation occurred, school boards and state legislatures began campaigns against African American educators in order to save the jobs of White teachers and administrators by reassigning them to predominately Black schools (Alston, 2005; Karpiniski, 2006; Ladson-Billings, 2004). Significance of My Journey Today’s school systems continue to struggle with creating culturally enriching schools that employ leaders who display an ethic of care and develop a culture and climate of excellence for all students while maintaining a disciplined, structured environment. This kind of leadership also develops a familial culture within the school and is driven by a greater purpose or higher calling. This is necessary to serve the needs of Black students, their families, and their surrounding communities. The lack of Black adults and the lack of diverse teaching practices within urban school districts leads to an inability to provide students with the safe, inclusive, and challenging environment they need to succeed. As a Black female principal, the use of other-
10 mothering leadership style allows students to dismiss their negative school experiences, to become open to new outlooks, and to begin to see themselves as capable learners. Parents begin to view their children’s school experiences much differently from their own and become advocates and partners in their children’s educations. Community members and organizations become extended family that serve as a village to foster social-emotional and educational support to students and their families. This nurturing can change the lives of Black students within an urban school. I work to create for my students the pieces of a strong school environment that I felt as though I needed but that I didn’t get from most of my teachers. Cultural Deficiencies I challenge and critique the dominant ideological framework that exists within the American Educational System. Moving schools or districts towards having inclusive environments begins with critical self-reflection that may lead all educators within urban schools to explore their personal biases and beliefs. School districts have never recovered from the loss of Black teachers and school leaders that occurred during desegregation. Due to desegregation, White flight occurred because they did not want their children going to school with Black children. Middle Class Black people followed, fleeing their neighborhoods to join the “better community” within the suburbs. Black children are now growing up in neighborhoods where there are fewer professional adults who cultivate the idea of community and self-love. The words of Woodson still are true. We have not created a system that serves the best interest of Black children. “As a result of ‘racial smog’ many of our children have internalized all of the negative stereotypes inherent in our society’s views of Black people” (Delpit, 2012, p. 14). Within urban schools, the inequitable teaching practices, lack of culturally enriching curricula, disproportionate number of White staff members, and the hidden belief systems of all the adults within the school community demonstrate that Woodson’s argument in 1933 is still valid, and his concerns are my current nightmares! The Mission The mission of this testimony is to present my educative journey as my life history. In addressing the culturally disempowering nature of schools and school leadership, my lived experiences will serve as research to support the need for culturally enriching leadership that is, in most cases, absent from urban schools. I am creating a change of discourse within educational leadership. In so doing, I am engaged in constructing meaning from my own lived experiences
11 through memory, testimonials, narratives, and creative ways of recalling my past and present epiphanies as a student, teacher, mother, principal, and researcher. My methodological approach is qualitative and focuses on my life history, critical reflections, and inward-out observations of my past and present, enabling me to inform future leadership practices. It is my hope that my leadership strategies will create a conversation among urban principals that will impact their leadership. This change should translate into a culture within school settings to meet the diverse needs of the student population, even when it requires more than what most view as the school- home boundary. This type of courageous leadership is Critical Black Feminist Leadership. Black Girl Positionality When one thinks of a high school principal, the typical image that comes to mind is that of a White male who has been in his position from 10 to 15 years (Priorities & Barriers, 2001). Although women have made progress in attaining administrative positions in schools, few women have been able to obtain positions as high school principals (Boris-Schacter & Lager, 2006; Fennell, 2005; Grogan, 1999; Gupton & Slick, 2004; Loder, 2005; Thurman, 2004). According to Gupton and Slick (2004), the decision to hire women as a principal is “often made within a social context that women are inferior in status, are objects of negative stereotypes, and though a majority of the population, are considered minority because they lack access to power” (p. 29). When I was given the opportunity to be a high school principal it was made clear to me that I was not seen as equal to the White male principal hired at the same time but given a higher salary than me. Collins (1990) challenged White feminist ideology by theorizing the notion of Black feminism, in which the experiences of Black women are positioned at the center, along with other scholars who held pro-female beliefs of equality, equity, and fairness that could be recognized as having a Black feminist perspective. This may include other women of color, Black men, White women, and White men. She acknowledged the complexity of a Black feminist scholarship and determined that its ideology rested in many intersections that ultimately challenged racism, sexism, and oppression. Black feminist theory gives a voice to the struggles and experiences of women of color and centers intersections of Black-ness and female-ness in justification for liberation. Black feminist scholars push back against questions of loyalty to the feminist movement made by White feminists who sought to silence them and to Black Nationalist politics made by Black men who challenged their equality (Collins, 1990; hooks 2000a).
12 Historical Narrative of Black Women Black feminist scholarship speaks to the historical narratives that positioned Black women as benevolent, selfless, and not in need of care. Collins (2000) asserted that Black women have generated alternative practices and knowledge tied to their lived experiences that are designed to foster empowerment and better those experiences. Black women not only experience gender bias that stems from the false premise that males are better suited to hold leadership positions (Bell & Chase, 1993; Coleman, 2005), but are also confronted by racial bias (Valverde, 2003) historically embedded in the power structures of organizations. Black women find themselves in a position of “double jeopardy,” since either their gender or race may evoke negative responses from employers (Dardaine-Raggeut, 1994; Doughty, 1980). As a Black female in leadership, I have been met with much resistance from colleagues and supervisors, as well as the hegemonic structures that exist within urban school systems. The principalship of Black females is intersected by a unique set of challenges associated with race, gender, attitudes, organizational structures, and policies. While the literature offers insight into the barriers faced and strategies utilized by women, it “rarely presents detailed portraits of the lives, work, vision, and impact of women on the school, community, and student achievement or practices that affect their work” (Tillman, 2004, p. 126). Narratives of strong Black women, angry Black women, and super women prevail in the Black community (Dodson, 2011; Gordon, 1996; Reynolds et al., 2008). Black female bodies, as they are situated within those macro systems of oppression, domination, and control are cast as anti-citizens and anti-human to their White, middle-class, male counterparts (Gordon, 2008, Hawkins, 2005). As a result, these negative, dehumanizing, and demonic narratives, as they have been embedded in the U.S. psyche, were created to control Black female bodies in microsystems of self, family, and community (Collins, 2004, Crenshaw, 1991, hooks, 1984). Therefore, reimagining, recreating, renaming, and retelling one’s own narrative is an act of love and self- preservation, as well as an act of resistance to mental and emotional transgression and socio- political and cultural revolution. To know can also be interpreted in some spaces of the African American community as what one experiences, senses, or lives out in the body or in the mind. For some, what is known and what is expressed are often generated from a place of being or in the body and the psyche. To know is to be, and to be known is the very essence of the Black human existence, particularly
13 for some Black women. It can be argued that memories are fragmented and partial interpretations of actual lived events where those memories can have multiple interpretations. For this study, my recollections and interpretations as they are recalled serve not only as memory, but also as voice and testimony. In this way, memory serves to name and retell those moments, not to replay them as they occurred. Black Female Principal/ Outsider As a Black, female principal in an urban school district, working to create culturally enriching leadership amid the discourse Black women face in a system created by systematic racism builds a conflicted psyche within me. These challenges exist within the workplace, as Collins (1986) has explained in Black Feminist Theory as Outsider Within. As a Black woman in education, I view myself as truly an outsider as a student, mother, teacher, and principal. Quantz (2014) suggests that “the dominant cultures have penetrated the consciousness of the disempowered and given them a voice that leads them to participate in their own oppression” (p. 63). Racism that exists in the United States is “a normal fact of daily life in U.S. society” (Taylor, 2009, p. 5). This ideology and the attendant assumptions of White supremacy are ingrained in the political, legal, and educational structures in ways that make them hard to recognize. The “structure of White supremacy” has “a profound effect on the world” and is an ‘all-encompassing and omnipresent’ system of privilege, power, and opportunity that are often invisible to its own beneficiaries” (Taylor, 2009, as cited in Jennings, 2014, p. 216). It is also within schools that students begin to learn about racism and begin to have feelings of misplacement. As I walk through the halls and advocate for my students, the 6th grade Crystal walks alongside me seeking justice for herself and others. I try to make school a place where all students feel valued, accepted, and loved. Making Our Own Way Harmony between women was a theme in feminist literature in the 70s and 80s, but women of color insisted that differences in history, culture, experiences of oppression, and political agenda be acknowledged and that the work of women of color be afforded scholarly attention and respect (hooks, 1989). These sentiments were also expressed by Harris (2004), who added that gender and existence within a patriarchal system are commonalities between Black feminist thought and feminist theory; however, it is race that divides them. Women from different racial groupings may have similar gendered interpretations of an experience, yet their
14 diverse racial standpoints create differences. Black feminist thought (BFT) is distinctive from feminist perspectives in that it acknowledges the effects of race, gender, and class on the lives of women of color. Since Black women have access to both the Afrocentric and feminist standpoints, an alternative epistemology used to rearticulate a Black woman’s standpoint reflects elements in both traditions (Collins, 2000). BFT aims to empower Black women by viewing the occurrences of their daily lives, which is an essential step toward understanding their perceived and lived experiences in a society where the interlocking systems of race, class, and gender determine opportunity and status. BFT rejects negative stereotypes and assumptions about Black women and seeks to replace this misinformation with authentic knowledge. It provides insight into how and why Black women interpret the world as they do. Collins (2000) maintained that Black women do not identify with the majority group; therefore, they have different life experiences and views of reality. BFT encourages Black women to articulate their experiences and create new definitions about themselves that validate their own standpoints (Collins, 2000). This validation is the key to bringing about change. hooks (1989) noted, “even when Black women are able to advance professionally and acquire a degree of economic self-sufficiency, it is in the social realm that racist and gendered stereotypes are continually used as ways of defining Black women’s identity and behavior” (p. 194). Taylor (2004) suggested “the politics of BFT provides a critical approach that describes the suppression and oppression of Black women” (p. 23-24). Emerging from feminist and critical race theories, BFT asserts that the experiences of Black women are framed within these contexts (hooks, 1989). Black Feminist Principalship The leadership of Black women in the high school principalship was examined through the lens of Black feminist thought (Collins, 2000). According to Collins (2000), one of the purposes of BFT is to give voice to Black women who are stereotyped, misrepresented, and excluded from top positions in educational leadership. BFT was an appropriate lens to examine the experiences of Black women in educational leadership within their historical, social, and political contexts. The focus of this study is on the ways in which the dual oppressions of race and gender intersect with the leadership experiences of Black women. BFT acknowledges this “double jeopardy” that renders Black women invisible in the social structure. This metaphorical invisibility diminishes the contributions of Black women in all facets of society. The voices of
15 Black women have been silenced, and thus, they must be given opportunities to “express a self- defined Black woman’s standpoint” (Collins, 2000, p. 91). An important aspect of school diversification is the preparation and placement of Black school leaders (Brown, 2005). Enomoto (2000) noted that for women’s experiences to become a part of the main body of knowledge on leadership, they must be studied on their own terms. Grogan (1999) asserted that the overriding culture in educational leadership is dominated with norms that are defined as White and male. Understanding the experiences of Black women in school leadership is to understand the “multiplicative impact” of race and gender (Collins, 2000, p. 91) and the challenges that continue to impact our opportunities. Tied to a Black woman’s lived experiences, BFT facilitates the understanding of the challenges and triumphs of female, Black, high school principals and the influence of race and gender on their leadership. Collins (2000) maintained that BFT provides knowledge that enables Black women to survive, cope with, and resist differential treatment. This knowledge allows subordinate groups to define their own realities and empower themselves to negotiate the “intersecting oppressions of race and gender which have most profoundly affected Black women” (Collins, 2000, p. 66). Changing Our Schools Problem: The lack of human connection and inclusion, left me as a student feeling discouraged, me as a mother disregarded, me as a teacher frustrated, and me as a principal determined to fix the wrongs done in the absence of culturally enriching schools. During my journey I have identified characteristics of a school leader that emerged in order to undo the wrongs done to 6th grade Crystal and other Black students who have been silenced. These characteristics have evolved into the pearls of my leadership style. Critical Black Feminist Leadership that changes the schooling experiences for students, families, and the community. The Importance of My Journey My journey is important to identify different ways to practice inclusive leadership, but also to identify factors that helped to shape my practices. This is significant to Black women in education. I want them to know that being a woman in leadership is not a barrier, but matriarchal leadership should be seen as an asset. Principals who may desire to work in school environments with a diverse student population must understand the cultural differences of the school and community in order to create a culture of success within the schools. The theoretical foundation for my journey is Black feminist thought as defined by Patricia Hill Collins. Black feminist
16 thought focuses on the marginalized status of Black women and places their experiences at the center of the discourse. In examining my testimony three themes emerged: 1) legacy of struggle, 2) desire to nurture through mothering, and 3) Black women in leadership. My question is: How have my educational experiences, as a Black female student, mother, and educator emerged into my leadership style?
Why school? What do I have to gain? When the classroom is full and my teacher starts the same ol’ bull! School has been in for weeks and he still doesn’t speak! Assignment placed on the board. He allows us all to snore. He thinks I can’t read but who am I to disagree? Class is over and I’m on my way. I don’t know why I continue to come here every day! It’s kind of sad that he treats us all like strays. What happened to Black schooling the old segregated way? C. Phillips
Conclusion As a student, mother, teacher, and principal, culturally enriching schools that provide a human connection was the missing piece to the educational puzzle for this student of color. The losses we suffered since Brown have never been recovered. The role of the Black female principal is difficult, but we are effective leaders when given the opportunities to serve. Black female leaders are aware of and sympathetic to the difficulties that confront Black students (Foster, 2005; Loder, 2005; Reed & Evans, 2008). Research suggests that Black educators are more inclined than White teachers and principals to involve parents and community members in the daily operations of the school (Echols, 2006). Loder (2005) revealed that Black female school leaders identify with and see themselves as working on behalf of their community. The leadership that Black females provide is nurturing and maternal (Reed & Evans, 2008). Female school administrators have been shown to bring to the job interests and skills that are consistent
17 with current school reform efforts focusing on leadership and instructional improvement (Grogan, 1996; Normore & JeanMarie, 2007; Riehl & Byrd, 1997). Smulyan (2000) suggests that both male and female teachers tended to be more satisfied with the working conditions in schools that were under the leadership of female principals. Female principals interact more frequently and regularly with students and teachers. They also involve teachers in the decision- making process more often than male administrators. Findings from this research suggest that teacher satisfaction resulted from the female principals’ close personal relationships with their teachers, as well as the concern that these principals have for the well-being of the whole educational community. My life history through testimony is being revealed as leadership that will transform urban schools by promoting inclusive practices for urban school students and the implementation of culturally enriching practices. The Black community, as well as urban school districts, may not realize and should be enlightened to the role the Black female principal plays in schools as instructional leaders, social workers, and mothers, while connecting to community supports, simultaneously filling in the gaps, advocating, and being a change agent within their communities. There is a human connection (other-mothering) and familiarity of Black women to Black students within their families that help to build relationships, provide a positive school climate. This lack of cultural relevance has been the missing piece for Black students since the Brown decision in 1954.
18 Chapter 2 – Heat: A Literature Review
Due to the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision, the Black community has suffered the loss of Black teachers, administrators, and community unification. The biggest issue with desegregation was the dismantling of the Black school community. The positions for Black teachers, principals, and other Blacks employed within the school disappeared. I am convinced that the decision to dismantle Black schools had to be initiated by those not concerned with what was best for Black schools or students. This cultural obliviousness has led to a loss of important narratives, stability, and the loss of strong Black communities. Black women in leadership were left to construct their own paths to educate themselves, while influencing their children and other-mothering communities, to restore the losses being imposed. Both my grandmothers, Lulabell and Ruby, are matriarchal figures within my life who resonate inside of me. Our birthdays are within a nine-day span of each other, so my soul possesses a deep likeness and connection to both my grandmothers. When I am unsure of myself, I hear the voice of my maternal grandmother and her words of how smart of a person I am and have always been. She created in me a fire (flame) that continues to burn inside the pit of my belly and drives me to push myself beyond the surface level of situations. I am conqueror! I am strong! Never quit! Fight back! Push harder through; ignore naysayers including family members if they are in your way. My grandmother believed in family first, that we should block out all other people and distractions. She never went to college, but she was by nature a teacher. I am sure that her ability to teach spilled over into me through our soul connection. Throughout my life, she would remind me of how much we were alike. It has made me feel that, even though she took her own life, she still lives inside of me. She used buttons and other household items to help teach her children concepts that they didn’t understand from school. She had a mean streak that would rear its ugly head when lines were crossed or family rules were broken. She never had to discipline me. I never wanted to disappoint her or feel as though I let her down. She was my life’s cheerleader. All my achievements are due to my need to make her proud. My paternal grandmother introduced me to spirituality and the importance of having a relationship with God. One of the first things I do each morning is pray and turn on my gospel music, both traits I learned from her. She would make sure that my cousins and I not only attended church, but also participated in church activities. She was entrenched in Southern
19 culture and tradition and worked to pass it down to her grandchildren, especially the girls. Saturday was filled with chores and preparing Sunday dinner. Everything was made except for the cornbread, because it needed to be fresh and hot on for Sunday dinner! No washing, ironing or any other chores were done on Sunday, which was the Lord’s Day, so we went to church, came home for a good dinner, and went back to church. One of her favorite songs was played at her funeral, “Cooling Water” by the Williams Brothers. The song discusses the trials that happen in life, but once he began a relationship with God, he felt much better. The chorus describes the new relationship with God as feeling like cooling water from grandma’s well. A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging or drilling access to groundwater in underground aquifers. The Bible speaks about a thirst that only God can quench, and I believe my Grandmother’s cooling water represents the underbelly of my strength and determination that has formed in me to have the resilience necessary to persevere. When I wake up each day to pray and have my morning devotion, that’s my cooling water for the day straight from my grandma’s well. Some folks can’t make it without their coffee in the morning, but my lineage has left me with cooling water and an angel on both of my shoulders. Beyond Desegregation Whites terrorized African Americans and White controlled school boards engaged in relentless subterfuge as part of resistance to the implementation of desegregation. Whites began to create a backlash to school desegregation that would ultimately lead to White dominance being reasserted. In the first book-length manuscript describing the “good” in segregated schools, Faustine Jones provides a portrait of one of the two well-known Dunbar High Schools. According to her survey results, teachers didn’t give students a choice between “learning and not learning”; failure to learn was “unacceptable to teachers, family, peers, and the community. The choice was how much one would learn, and what subjects would be mastered.” Moreover, in these and other later descriptions, the segregated school is most often compared with a “family” where teachers and principal, with parent like authority, exercised almost complete autonomy in shaping student learning and insuring student discipline. Parents played an active role also: they are remembered for the monetary and nonmonetary contributions they made to the education of their Black children. The segregated Black school was thus, according to Irvine and Irvine, an educational
20 institution that “addressed the deeper psychological and sociological needs of [its] clients.” (Siddle-Walker, 1996, pp. 3-4) Prior to the Brown v. Board of Education (1954) decision, most administrators supervised segregated public schools. Black schools served as the instruments through which professional educators discharged their responsibility to their community. Black principals were honored by their Black communities for meritorious service in education, civic, and religious affairs. They relished their roles as principals, teachers, and community activists (Echols, 2006; Gaskins, 2006). Roles also included motivating parents to provide resources for schools, being active in church, acting as financial advisors and marital counselors, and providing leadership for community initiatives (Brown & Beckett, 2007). Black schools in the segregated South faced enormous obstacles in educating their students. But, some of these schools succeeded in providing nurturing educational environments despite the injustices of segregation. My father was born in 1940 and was raised in Calhoun, Georgia, where he attended segregated schools throughout K-12. He explained to me that his elementary school was a shack type building with four rooms. There were multiple grades housed in each room. He stayed at that school until he completed 9th grade and then went to the high school. All four teachers at his elementary school were Black women who lived within his community. He recalled that it felt like a safe environment where all the families within the community supported one another. My father understood that his family of ten was quite poor, but he was never made to be embarrassed by others in the community because of his families’ economic status. He had his first male, Black teacher in high school, and when he graduated, he attended college for one year, majoring in Physical Education. Overall, my father believes that the support and the communal environment were beneficial for him and his siblings, parents, and his community. The teachers were a godmother to certain students; other teachers lived in the Black community and knew the “parents and grandparents on a personal basis,” thus, making them “comfortable calling or visiting the families” if a student acted up at school. Siddle -Walker, “talks about interpersonal caring, a school ethos of caring, and caring about students’ success. She talks about multiple intelligences and different ways of understanding students’ ability, and how different students benefited from the different activities and ways in which they could present their knowledge to teachers.” Most important, Walker writes that Black students lost the opportunity for democratic
21 participation in their schools and teachers who had “used those schools to reconstruct the messages that Black students were receiving outside of the schools.” Walker writes that the Black experience in newly desegregated schools “had a way of entering their hearts, minds, [and] stole from the Negro children the motivation that makes them feel good,” and that Black children lost “the possibility and a positive message about who they were and who they could become.” In today’s re-segregated classrooms and schools, students of color are more likely than Whites to be concentrated in non-diverse, poorly resourced schools in communities lacking political support for public education…. Even those who attend diverse schools are more likely than Whites to be disciplined, punished or expelled, assigned to less-challenging or special education classes, or denied bilingual educational services. These are symptoms of the re-segregation since the early 1980s that has eroded the academic and social benefits to White and students of color that resulted from Brown. (Wells, as quoted by Teachers College Columbia University, 2016 p. 2) Whites engaged in massive resistance early and continue to resist desegregation to this day, as indicated by North Carolina’s Wake County School District’s recent political upheaval over how to diversify school populations. Whites simply worked against and continue to work against schools serving all students well. Whites also engaged in considerable subterfuge, trying to undercut the Supreme Court’s order with lawsuit and after lawsuit, with desegregation implementation plans called “freedom of choice,” which, in the end, denied the choices of African American students and parents, implementing tracking in such a way that academic tracks segregated the student body and so on (Collins & Noblit, 1978). Finally, Whites created a backlash to school desegregation that undercut its purposes, decrying the poor quality of schools once they had Black students in them, which, in the long term, led to State and Federal efforts to reestablish White dominance over the schools, all under the guise of school reform and even when the evidence seemed to indicate that things were, in fact, improving before the state of crisis was politically declared (Berliner & Biddle, 1995). The assault on American schools today fully is about White dominance. White resistance, subterfuge, and backlash has also had devastating consequences for people of color well beyond the state of industrialized, rote learning in classrooms designed to fit children into a racialized testing industry (Steele & Aronson, 1995) and increasingly stratified society.
22 6th grade Crystal wanted and needed teachers and principals that looked like her and a school closer to home for the additional connection. The need for a circle of love and support from all those within her community would have helped her self – love. Crystal also deserved a school that had all the benefits that her White counterparts were being provided in their White schools! A Consistent Record of Black Achievement As early as the 1970s, economist Thomas Sowell, wrote about “patterns of Black excellence” at segregated schools like Atlanta’s Booker T. Washington, which produced Martin Luther King Jr.; Frederick Douglass in Baltimore, which produced Thurgood Marshall; McDonough 35 in New Orleans, which produced the first Black state superintendent of schools (California’s Wilson Riles); and Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. Dunbar, the first Black high school in America, produced the first Black Cabinet member (Robert C. Weaver); the first Black general (Benjamin O. Davis); the discoverer of blood plasma (Charles R. Drew); the first Black senator since Reconstruction (Edward W. Brooke, R-Mass.); Charles Hamilton Houston, the first special counsel to the NAACP and chief architect of the assault on Jim Crow that led to Brown; and Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Columbia delegate to Congress. In 1899, students at Dunbar—then called the M Street School—scored higher on citywide tests than White students in Washington (Sowell, 1993). Brown’s most profound irony may be that answers to closing the achievement gap lie buried in the history of the schools that Brown’s implementation destroyed. What are the answers? Dedicated teachers. Strong principals. Order. Discipline. High expectations. Community and parental support. It is astonishing how many Black children attended schools during segregation that delivered on these objectives and how few so do now. I’m not saying the 1954 Supreme Court decision is solely to blame for the significant decline in Black student achievement. There’s no question that it had tremendous strengths. It clarified the harm caused by state-sponsored segregation. It articulated the central role education would play in modern life and that the opportunity for all to receive a quality education required an end to racial segregation in education. It also highlighted the human suffering caused by racial segregation. Unfortunately, there was not a strong emphasis within school on the achievements of the Blacks within our history. Crystal was never truly exposed to the past success’ of those before that paved the way for her. Interestingly enough she had a passion for standing up for
23 the rights of her classmates. She instinctively believed in equality without really being taught the history of struggle and fighting done on her behalf. Black Women Educators and Uplift School changed utterly with racial integration. Gone was the messianic zeal to transform our minds and beings that had characterized teachers and their pedagogical practices in our all-Black schools. Knowledge was suddenly about information only. It had no relation to how one lived, behaved. It was no longer connected to antiracist struggle. Bussed to White schools, we soon learned that obedience, and not a zealous will to learn, was what was expected of us. Too much eagerness to learn could easily be a threat to White authority. When we entered racist, desegregated, White schools we left a world where teachers believed that to educate Black children rightly would require a political commitment. Now, we were mainly taught by White teachers whose lessons reinforced racist stereotypes. For Black children, education was no longer about the practice of freedom. Realizing this, I lost my love of school. The classroom was no longer a place of pleasure or ecstasy. School was still a political place, since we always had to counter White racist assumptions that we were genetically inferior, never as capable as White peers, even unable to learn. Yet, the politics were no longer counter-hegemonic. We were always and only responding and reacting to White folks. (hooks, 1994) An unintended consequence of the Brown vs. Board of Education decision and its impact on education today was the demise of the Black teacher and principal (Karpinski, 2006). “Brown” had a tragic consequence: the displacement, dismissal, and demotion of thousands of African American educators, in particular principals, in the South. Although the lack of diversity in today’s teaching force has multiple origins, a reexamination of one of its roots deepens our understanding of the past, illuminates the present, and bears on the future. (Karpinski, 2006, p. 237) Historically, Black principals headed all Black schools. After the decision in 1954, the number of community Black schools decreased, and few principals survived the transition (Siddle-Walker, 2003; Tillman, 2004). School desegregation contributed to the decreased number of African American principals (Long, 2005). Post-Brown statistics show that, during 1963-1970, drastic decreases in the number of Black principals occurred across the South (Karpinski, 2006; McCray, 2007). Black principals who were retained were given positions as
24 coaches, teachers, central office staff, or assistant principals (Karpinski, 2006). Although the goal of the Brown vs. Board of Education decision was “to remedy educational inequities” in schools (Tillman, 2004, p. 102), it became the catalyst to fire and demote thousands of Black principals. Tillman (2004) asserted that Black principals were being threatened with extinction because of desegregation. While there have been modest increases in the number of Black principals since the 1970s, we are still underrepresented relative to the number of Black students in the population (Karpinski, 2006; McCray, 2007). The literature characterized the work of Black principals prior to the Brown decision. Tillman (2004) indicated that the Black principals were “transformers, translators, and cultivators” (p. 133). Black principals were “idols” and were called “professor” or “fessor,” which were signs of reverence and respect (Brown & Beckett, 2007, p. 17). Murtadha and Watts (2005) noted that “Black educational leaders created schools where none existed, struggled against the perpetuation of unequal educational environments, or built viable alternative schools” (p. 591). They added that Black leadership was based on the moral imperative to overcome the social barriers of poverty and racism. After the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, these same principals sought to eradicate segregation and educate African American children while facing resistance and hostility. It was the African American principal who was one of the most powerful influences in both the schools and the community (Brown & Beckett, 2007; Echols, 2006; Gaskins, 2006; Karpinski, 2006). African American principals were role models and respected community leaders. They developed resources through the acquisition of money and other materials, introduced new curricula, and instilled in African American children resiliency, self-reliance, self-respect, and racial pride (Korcheck & Reese, 2002; Tillman, 2004). Principals were also given the autonomy to manage their schools without interference from all-White school boards and superintendents. They hired and fired personnel and understood how to operate within the power structure (Karpinski, 2006; Murtadha & Watts, 2005; Siddle-Walker, 2003). A few Black teachers had joined us in the desegregation process. And, although it was more difficult, they continued to nurture Black students even as their efforts were constrained by the suspicion, they were favoring their own race. Despite intensely negative experiences, I graduated from school still believing that education was enabling, that it enhanced our capacity to be free. (hooks, 1994)
25 In the post-Brown era, Black principals face challenges that are more complex (Brown & Beckett, 2007; Gaskins, 2006; Karpinski, 2006). The schools serve as a microcosm for the communities surrounding them and are characterized by low test scores, locations in decaying neighborhoods, lack of parental support, and discipline problems (Murtadha & Watts, 2005; Siddle-Walker, 2003). An emphasis is now placed on the leadership of Black principals and how they can influence the academic achievement of students. According to Brown and Beckett (2007), research on contemporary, Black principals demonstrates that they share a commitment to the education of all students and a compassion for and understanding of their students and of the communities in which they work. Crystal Pistol would have wanted to disrupt the release of the Black principals and teachers she would desperately need to save her from herself! The fact that Crystal is the product of teen pregnancy increases her need for role models that look like her and her need for school connections. Exemplary Historical Models of Black Female Educational Leadership Murtadha and Watts (2005) conducted an historical analysis of Black female leadership and found that, in every period of U.S. history, they had been agents of change who believed strongly that education, social justice, and their moral imperative were all intertwined. Through service in churches, service organizations, and women’s clubs, these leaders emerged as dominant forces in improving the lives of their people and became increasingly recognized as educational leaders as they built schools that responded to the needs of Black children, families, and communities. One of the earliest vehicles that provided leadership opportunities for African American women was the Jeanes Supervisors (Green-Powell, 1993), which began in 1907 with a million- dollar endowment from wealthy Philadelphia Quaker, Anna T. Jeanes, to provide education for African American students in the rural South. Jeanes Supervisors were women who served in the dual capacity of teacher and principal. The program began in Georgia with six women and grew to fifty-three by 1939 (Green-Powell, 1993). Although this role was explicitly defined by guidelines established by the General Education Boards, Black women used this role to enhance historical ties between Blacks and social institutions in order to improve educational equality (Green-Powell, 1993; Tillman, 2004). Jeanes Supervisors were viewed as leaders in their communities. Duties included introducing new teaching methods and curricula, organizing
26 training sessions for professional development, and serving as assistants to the superintendents (Green-Powell, 1993; Tillman, 2004). They were professional leaders who used their experience to develop strategies that would improve other Black schools. Jeanes Supervisors were also heavily involved in the communities in which they lived and worked. They worked with churches and other community groups to improve sanitation, health, and communities in general (Green-Powell, 1993; Tillman, 2004). At the turn of the century, several African American women served as exemplary models of school leadership. Mary McLeod Bethune is credited “in the entire history of Blacks, [to have] set a record of influence that no one has yet approached” (Berry, 1982, p. 290). Bethune developed a strong desire to build her own educational institution despite her lack of experience and financial resources. With only $1.50, she started her own school in Daytona, Florida, in 1904, which later became Bethune-Cookman College. Through her hard work and dedication, the school served as the “rallying point” for Blacks. Community meetings, conferences, and forums were held on the campus to improve the lives of the Black community. Her reputation as an educator facilitated her appointment to the advisory board of the National Youth Administration by President Franklin Roosevelt. Under her leadership, thousands of Black students went to high school and college (Murtadha & Watts, 2005). Anna Julia Cooper served as principal of the well-established M-Street School in Washington, D. C., which was the city’s only high school for Black students. Cooper worked to strengthen the curriculum, especially in the classical subjects, even though this view was in opposition to the vocational and industrial education that Booker T. Washington proposed for Blacks (Tillman, 2004). Because of her initiatives, the number of Black students attending Ivy League schools dramatically increased. Heavily influenced by Anna Julia Cooper, educator, civil rights advocate, and religious leader, Nannie Helen Burroughs expressed the discontent of Black women in church who were “once enslaved by White men and were now suppressed by Black men” (Murtadha & Watts, 2005, p. 602). Like many female leaders of the time, Burroughs found great opposition to her school by the male leadership of the National Baptist Conference who eventually withdrew support for her institution because of objections to her leadership style. Following Cooper’s example, Burroughs opened the National Training School for Women and Girls in 1909 in Washington, D.C. The curriculum placed importance on vocational education and racial pride. The importance of history was also stressed as each student was required to take
27 a course in Black history. While the school began with a meager 31 students, some twenty-five years later, over 2000, students had attended the high school (Murtadha &Watts, 2005). Fanny Jackson Coppin was “one of the most influential Black educators of the late 19th century and the first Black female principal and superintendent in the United States” (Tillman, 2004, p. 108). She served as principal of the Philadelphia Institute for Colored Youth, which was the highest educational appointment for any woman in the nation at that time. A former slave and domestic worker, Coppin first gained national recognition for opening evening schools for newly freed slaves at Oberlin College. The school became a beacon of Black achievement and was considered one of the best secondary schools in the country. High academic standards, a rigorous science curriculum, and a classical college preparatory curriculum contributed to the school’s national and international student body (Murtadha & Watts, 2005). The school was one of the earliest examples of the connection between Black leadership and student achievement (Tillman, 2004). In Georgia, after teaching for ten years in cities such as Macon, Savannah, Milledgeville, and Augusta, Lucy Laney began a school in a church basement in Augusta. This school became known as the Haines Normal and Industrial Institute in Augusta, which was the first school for Black children. Laney solicited money to expand her school and developed a rigorous liberal arts curriculum. More than 900 students were enrolled at the school during its peak, and today, Laney High School now stands at the site in tribute to her contributions to education. The legacy of all these women remind me of the changes I can make within my community through my leadership, nurturing, and willingness to use my body to represent the struggles Black women endure for the betterment of others and the education of Black children. Crystal’s behavior made her crave for a black female teacher within the school to step up and take her under their wing. This did not occur leaving her vulnerable to the punishments and ridicule of the white principal and teachers. The few black staff members were not willing to step out their comfort zone to change her school experiences. Cultural Relevance That shift from beloved, all-Black schools to White schools where Black students were always seen as interlopers, as not really belonging, taught me the difference between education as the practice of freedom and education that merely strives to reinforce domination. The rare White teacher who dared to resist, who would not allow racist
28 biases to determine how we were taught, sustained the belief that learning at its most powerful could indeed liberate. (hooks,1994) It seemed that Brown would forever equalize educational opportunities for Black students. Unfortunately, Brown had the opposite effect on Black children and their schools. Blacks “desired help from the White community, but they did not want to give up control over their educational endeavors” (Anderson, 1988, as cited in Vaughn, 2013, p.122. Dempsey and Noblit (1996) argue that it was through ignorance of self and culture that the Black community succumbed to desegregation. Moreover, the community exhibited a cultural ignorance that caused an implosion within the Black educational structure. Dempsey and Noblit (1996) express further that “cultural ignorance is presumptive in that it devalues aspects of what is known so that we act as if it is not known” (p.182). Attempting to be more sensitive to the culture of Black people, some may have “reconsidered desegregation and fashioned a remedy that was less destructive” to Blacks’ beliefs (p. 182). As Black people, we have struggled with several issues: we are enclosed within multiple cultural experiences; we must deal with the hegemonic structures within American society; and we must face our “self-contradictory socialization processes,” while fighting against being socialized into a Eurocentric frame of thought (Boykin, 1986, as cited by Pinder, 2012, p.119). Kharem (2006) suggests that American historian and intellectual Arthur Schlesinger’s argument was that “the core values derived from Anglo Protestant Americanism be reinforced in schools and Black culture be excluded [because] it is not worth learning” (p. 40). Kharem (2006) also states, that: some scientists and scholars have been obsessed with a mission to demonstrate that Black people, Hispanics, indigenous people of the Americas, poor Whites, certain foreigners, and women are innately inferior to upper class Anglo/Nordic White males who descended from the regions of Northern Europe and therefore should receive a basic elementary education and nothing else. (p. 35) Due to these intentional road-blocks in the way of educating Black children, it is imperative that educational leaders, like me, develop leadership styles that allow us to reach students of all cultural backgrounds. This agenda can be difficult to accomplish in an educational structure that is rife with inconsistencies and inequities. The issue with this argument is that, in American society, schools are still segregated for the most part in urban and suburban locales.
29 Ladson-Billings (2009) addresses the question of whether Black students need separate schools, and her response is that Black students need better schools. Furthermore, it is important that Black students see an ethnic and socioeconomic representation within the makeup of their school and district administrative team. Recent educational reform efforts have focused on creating effective school cultures as a means of improving student achievement. My role as the principal is seen as being pivotal to the successful implementation of these efforts. Demands on school leaders have continuously increased. Culturally enriching schools would have helped 6th grade Crystal be in an environment that was more inclusive. She’d have a good memory of being voted the class president and all the fun things that come along with that position. This experience may have inspired her to run for office again during the remaining years of school. Black Feminist Perspective Almost all our teachers at Booker T. Washington were Black women. They were committed to nurturing intellect so that we could become scholars, thinkers, and cultural workers-Black folks who used our “minds.” We learned early that our devotion to learning, to a life of the mind, was a counter-hegemonic act, a fundamental way to resist every strategy of White racist colonization. Though they did not define or articulate these practices in theoretical terms, my teachers were enacting a revolutionary pedagogy of resistance that was profoundly anticolonial. (hooks, 1994, p. 2) Gaining my Black Feminist Perspective has helped to provide me with the tools, consciousness, and direction necessary to find a love for myself that says I am good enough! To remove the pressure I placed on myself and the mental anguish it caused me to attempt to squeeze into the cookie cutter image I felt I had to become. Gift wrapped in a box called the American Dream. I needed opportunities to express the feelings of doubt and mistrust in a system that was not built for me or others that look like me. The time we have spent in classrooms as Black women and girls with white female teachers judging our hair, our words, and the way we looked brings me pause as I reflect back on these moments; that still occur at work, in the grocery store, or the mall. The difference today is that I use my voice, my body, and sometimes silence to disturb these negative attitudes and bias’. I refuse to allow others to harm me or others within my influence
30 especially children to have to exist in environments where they are not shown their beauty and their unique gifts given to them by God. Black women and girls continue to be considered the least important commodity among the chain of human beings. Crenshaw (1991) questions the callous and blind eye taken with regard to violence towards women of color—the degradation Black women endure through pop culture, social media, and in their everyday workplaces. Individual Black women engaged in feminist movement, writing feminist theory, have persisted in our efforts to deconstruct the category “woman,” and argued that gender is not the sole determinant of a woman’s identity. That this effort has succeeded can be measured not only by the extent to which feminist scholars have confronted questions of race and racism but by the emerging scholarship that looks at the intertwining of race and gender. (hooks, 1994, p. 77) During my leadership as a high school principal, I instructed the football coach not to play a student, and he ignored my instructions and heeded the advice of the male Athletic Director. His failure to listen to me cost the football team an opportunity to play in the playoffs. If I were a male principal, he would have listened, but he believed his male counterpart was more knowledgeable than his female supervisor. This may appear to be a small example, but I use it to point out that intersectionality can be used as a tool to be biased towards another group in some cases intentionally, but also unintentionally due to social norms. The critical race theory movement is a collection of activists and scholars interested in studying and transforming the relationship among race, racism, and power. The movement considers many of the same issues that conventional civil rights and ethnic studies discourses take up but places them in a broader perspective that includes economics, history, context group and self interest, and even feelings and the conscious. (Delgado & Stefanic, 2012, p. 3) As Black women, we operate alternatively and implement transformative leadership that positively impacts schools and communities. Dominant practices, which further marginalizes the leadership of Black women and opportunities for Black youth. Alternative practices are necessary for: disciplinary practices that disproportionately incriminate youth of color; dealing with the lack of recreational space in disadvantaged communities; segregation within and outside of schools; mental and socio-emotional health; and attaining necessary resources. Changing the
31 institutional nature of disparate outcomes is a cause taken up by Black women educational leaders, like myself, who are often silenced and remain unrewarded for critical strategizing that one undergoes to advocate, serve, and practice justly. It is a perpetually exhausting space within which to operate, where marginalized people are brought to the center of decision making through individual leadership style, yet the same populations remain at the margins of institutions and society. Creating a sustainable infrastructure that does not render non-assimilated populations as deficient is an everyday struggle and simultaneously hinders the well-being of Black women leaders. Similarly, other leaders who represent marginalized populations and advocate for bureaucratic social change also experience lack of concern from others. Black women’s historical position envelopes a nuanced understanding of oppression that is spiritual, emotional, physical, and psychological and situated at the intersection of race, sex, and economic class, which fundamentally dictates how society deems Black women should be treated and the subordinate role we should maintain. An intersectionality approach sheds light on the cumulative impact of oppression. In addition to formal exclusionary practices and procedures, how we feel about people dictates policy and frames the implementation of policy. Many Black women within leadership experience push back by gendered and raced counterparts, and even fellow Black women, because of the social value of Black women. This allows Black women who are seeking to enact change to be labeled as “angry” or “subversive,” rather than transformative, skilled, and informed. Slavery and segregation took Black women out of their homes to care for and nurture the needs of White families and/or plow in the fields alongside men. Oppression forced Black women into a livelihood where their sacrifices were negated and work devalued. The traditional depiction of a mammy is a domestic laborer within a White home who, despite being exploited, remained jolly and content with leaving her own family, which was living in poverty and experiencing malnutrition, in order to nurse White children. She even remained happy as she worked to prepare White children for school, even though her children were denied education. Today, the “professional mammy” is put forth to disclose the fluidity in power relationships, mechanisms of oppression, contemporary ramifications for Black women in educational leadership, and the ironies of being a change agent. Specifically, the conceptualization of the mammy exhibits how the Black woman is utilized for labor and prevented from owning her
32 labor. Often her work within the institution of education is measured by how well she can train Black, “at risk” students and serve White students, while the system of schooling remains unchanged. Today, as we see Black women come into leadership, we must ask what real opportunities exist for Black women to labor in the public sphere and sustainably and systemically increase the life opportunity of Black children. When do we get to care for our womb? Currently, to serve Black children, foster inclusion, and meet the needs of underserved students, we must go above and beyond our jobs, because the institutionalization of patriarchy and racism necessitates a constant war between the oppressed and oppressors. There is little compensation for the multiple jeopardies (taxes), because Black women and Black children are socially construed as problematic. There is a need for well-qualified female candidates in educational leadership. Research suggests that the characteristics of female leadership are essential for leading effective schools (Aburdene & Naisbitt, 1992; Fennell, 1999; Growe & Montgomery, 2003; Kropiewnick, 2001). Women have unique ways of leading and place emphasis on personal relationships, interpersonal harmony, and working in egalitarian teams (Eby, 2004; Enomoto, 2000; Shakeshaft, 1990). The perspective of the women of diverse cultural backgrounds is essential to increase the knowledge-base on women in educational leadership. Benham and Cooper (1998) proposed that the “voiceless” (p. 3) must be heard and the lives and contributions of diverse leaders in educational leadership must be included in any discussion relating to educational leadership. Taylor (2004) noted, “today’s schools make matters worse by the exclusion of valuable voices and the allowance of inappropriate stereotypes related to race and gender to impede school performance” (p. 2). I hope this testimony will give aspiring, female, Black principals valuable insight into the ways race and gender impact the leadership experience of Black high school principals. The findings in this study may also raise new questions and challenge traditional leadership theory regarding Black women in educational leadership. Critical Black Female Leadership considers the work of Black high school principals equally important in mainstream literature on educational leadership. The journey of the slave woman and mother has always been a fight to own her mind, body, and soul. Perhaps the ultimate place of anguish is the loss of her births, whether by the physical kidnapping or the inability to provide for her children. We are forever indebted to the
33 slave woman. Black men, White men, and White women are privileged through her subjugation. The exploitation of Black women in education leadership surfaces through services rendered and devalued, lack of concern for the well-being of Black women, lack of power among Black women meaningfully to inform processes that directly impact their quality of life, incomparable pay to counterparts of other races and genders, the invisibility and silencing experienced in efforts to change policies that govern schools, and the absence of an infrastructure to meet the needs of underserved youth that persist beyond individual leaders’ alternative practices. It is my belief that each generation should aspire to achieve more than the last. My mother worked hard doing manual labor to ensure that I had everything I wanted and needed. I saw the toll that hard work took on her mind, body, and spirit. It was then that I realized that acquiring knowledge would allow me the opportunity to provide a new path for my family and myself as a first-generation college graduate. I began my career in the same urban school system that I had attended. My first year of teaching helped me realize quickly that I was in the right place to help children who looked like me. Many White teachers sent students to my classroom because they were unable to handle them or unclear on how to relate to them and requested that I lay down the law to them. I thought I was helping my colleagues; I had no idea that this type of schooling practice existed amongst Black female teachers within schools. My career has been spent advocating for students amid these sexist and racist hegemonic thoughts and practices. In the teacher’s lounge, I overheard a White female teacher stating that a second-grade student would be pregnant before she was in the fifth grade. I was repulsed by this comment and challenged the teacher for her derogatory statement. I did not realize that my stance would be just the beginning of a career in which I continually would be pushed into situations where I am asked to be the “School Mammy”. My colleagues began to ask me to sit in on conferences with parents who had been viewed as irate or with students with severe behavior concerns. Black students are often stereotyped as “problem kids”. The damage control approach that some administrators impose on Black colleagues can often signify a lack of political will to create fundamental changes in existing school relations and institutional structures as well as lack of political will to examine the structural and political dimensions that cause Black students to fail, drop out and become discouraged or angry. (Henry, 2000, p. 96)
34 The opportunity to move into leadership the following year as facility council chairperson and lead teacher began to expose some of the heaviness of being a Black female in leadership. I was too young and eager to realize that giving me the opportunity to move into leadership served as “interest convergence” for my colleagues. I assumed that being voted into this position was due to the hard work and dedication I showed for students. Looking back, I’m not sure if I was an effective school leader or just seen as a way for my White counterparts to further disconnect themselves from their students knowing that I would work to create ways to fill in those gaps. According to Pecora (2006), “fit” is considered the extent to which a leader appropriately and effectively performs in a situation. It is used as a tool to ensure successful leadership by focusing on the special traits or training a candidate may have. However, it is often used to keep certain individuals from getting positions, and care should be taken make sure it is not justification for discriminatory and illegal hiring practices (Simmons, 2007). My journey as a Black woman in leadership has allowed me to witness and feel the oppression that Black women have had to endure in their quest to be courageous leaders. As a Black woman in leadership, I have experienced physical, emotional, and economic oppression throughout my career and in some cases been made to feel like a professional mammy. To oppress is to hold down and deny a social group full access and potential given to society. It describes a set of policies, practices, traditions, norms, definitions and explanations (discourse), which function to systematically exploit one social group to the benefit of another social group. (Sensoy & Diangelo, 2012, p. 39) Critical Black Feminist Leadership was no longer a burning in my womb. The birth had finally taken place, but the pressure and pain of this process left me feeling like the 6th grader not allowed to be class president. The physical abuse our bodies face as Black women in leadership has left exceptional female leaders with no choice but to walk away from their careers because the pressures have left them sick and dying! Racial discrimination is a chronic stressor that has negatively impacted the cardiovascular health of Blacks through pathogenic processes associated with serious negative reactive changes in blood pressure and heart rate. Black women report more frequent encounters with everyday unfair treatment than White women, therefore, causing Black women to suffer from heart attacks and strokes. As I concluded my first year as a high school principal, it was brought to my attention, by my beautician, that my hair was falling out, and she could tell that
35 the breakage in the top of my head was due to stress. As Black women attempt to pursue careers, personal relationships, and the needs of parenting, we still must be kept intact. The pressure to ensure that everything else is taken care of at work and at home leaves little time for scheduling routine healthcare visits. The bodies of Black women should be pillars of strength and the connection from our past into our future. Instead, we are using chemicals in our hair that cause us to suffer with fibroids in a quest to prove to the dominant group that we can look like them and work in their world. This is just a small look into the physical costs Black women must pay in order to fit into the workplace. When the character Mammy was presented to society, it was to convince the world that the only type of work Black women could do is cook, clean, and breast feed babies with their big, dark bodies. This type of view and stereotype of Black women continues to be perpetuated within pop culture, schools, and society. The emotional pressures Black women face within leadership contribute to the previously discussed physical body breakdown of Black women but also create a sense of urgency to use their level of influence to change current conditions. When I began to unravel the issues of poverty, neglect, and nomadic living my students faced within their daily lives, I was consumed with anger and fear for my students and their chances of survival in this White dominated society. It is never enough for me to provide food for the day for a student when I know that the same issue will exist tomorrow. There are nights where concerns for students keep me from sleeping, which causes fatigue and sometimes exhaustion. In my job as a school leader, I am road-blocked constantly by teachers’ unwillingness to give up their middle-class values and their lack of understanding of the cultural background of their students. A career of being the mammy of schools in an urban district has had both positive and negative effects on me physically, emotionally, and economically. The primary goal of mammies was to care for the needs of the colonizer. The “‘romance of resistance’ models ‘agency’ on the side of the colonized, and the inert structural weight of institutions on the side of the colonizer” (Stoler, 2006, p. 19). I rebuke the stereotype of what a mammy was originally created to represent, as an attempt to reclaim Black women’s bodies in a way that stratifies all the existing norms of what it means to be a Black woman in leadership. Creating a society that can be judged favorably by the way it treats the women of its darkest race need not be the work of Black women alone, nor will Black women be the exclusive or primary beneficiaries of such a society. Such work can be engaged in by all
36 who are willing to take seriously the everyday acts engaged in by Black women and others to resist racism and sexism and to use these acts as the basis to develop theories designed to end race and gender subordination. (Henry, 2000, p. 93) According to Shakeshaft (1998), when compared to their male counterparts, the following profile emerged regarding women in educational leadership: a) Women principals tended to attain the principalship at an older age than men: over 40 years old as compared to early 30s for men. b) Women principals taught longer than men before entering administration: 15 years versus 5. c) Women were more likely to continue graduate education while serving as principals than men. d) Women principals often had higher levels of preparedness but were paid less than men. Four years later, contemporary literature corroborated these facts. For women to be leaders in their field, they must have more credentials than male counterparts, be better prepared, and be more knowledgeable (Harris et al., 2002; Holtkamp, 2002). 6th Grade Crystal was a “tomboy” she played outside with them every day and she believed that she could do anything that boys could do. She would have never understood Black women being belittled or mistreated. In fact, she had already decided she was not going to be a subservient wife like her mother. She was going to take care of herself and be the Boss. Conclusion This Literature Review is a reminder of what schooling started out being for Black students and the women who worked and labored to continue to tear down the oppression created by desegregation of schools. The magnitude of loss that Black communities felt after the desegregation of schools continues to rear its ugly head today. When I was in first grade, I was bused 10 miles to a school that my family had never heard of, and none of us had any idea where it was located. My grandmother called the Board of Education to ask if I could attend the school on our neighborhood, but she was told no. The school in my neighborhood was closed and torn down a couple of years later; however, the school that I was bused to is still open today. The worst part about being bused is that all the teachers at my neighborhood school new my whole family, but instead, I was sent to a school where no one new me or my family. The nurturing and
37 cultural relevance I needed was missing. Very few anticipated the damage desegregating school would cause Black students, parents, and our community. The Black women highlighted throughout this review began to recognize their power, create groundbreaking structures, and focused on the importance of other mothering and community mothering. These Black women have worked to establish themselves as leaders, knocking down the oppressive structures, such as gender bias, within leadership. The leadership styles and the variety of examples of ways women are effective in leadership really don’t matter because the opportunities for Black women principals, especially within high school, are very rare. We are then placed in schools or structures in which none of our counterparts want to work. As a Black female principal in an urban school, my students, families, and community relate to me because the human connections I have built within my leadership practices are familiar to them. Mothering and advocacy have been the responsibility of women within most Black communities. This level of respect is not taken lightly or for granted because it comes with a high level of commitment and responsibility.
38 Chapter 3 – Smoke: Methodology
This Critical Black Feminist Testimony allows me and others to see my educational journey as a mechanism to identify the events within my life that have shaped my leadership style. I am drawing upon my lived experiences to support this curriculum. These lived experiences have served as a catalyst to awaken the leader within and allow me to show radical love for my students. I work here to establish a cultural blueprint to reveal my leadership approach that values Black students and that can be indoctrinated into the educational system of beliefs and social norms that defy the way in which schooling currently works. The Misconception of My Birth A young 15-year-old girl with a few insecurities like most teenage girls live in a family of six kids where she sometimes feels invisible and has a need to please others and to feel special. She has her first embrace at a party with a popular senior changing the trajectory of her life. This would serve as a one night stand. She begins to feel her body change and the revelation that a one-night stand in the back of a car has led to a natural part of (evolution) beginning of life. She is totally unsure of who to trust so she chooses to hide the pregnancy that is taking place within her womb. The growing baby begins to outgrow her body. The gestation period had ended, her time was up! The pressure and pain of a 9-month secret had to be told. As her water breaks, she confesses to her parents that she is having a baby Right Now! The baby is born two weeks later with a caesarian section that leaves a large scar and reminder of the birth of this illegitimate baby girl, a beautiful baby born with a unicorn-like quality and very different from others within the family. Her fiery spirit and quick wit formed within the womb, energized by the ambitions, dreams, and fears of a young Negro mother. Like Jesus, no crib had been purchased, no manger for a bed but a chest drawer made into the perfect sleeping quarters for this newborn princess. The shock of her entrance into the world and her family caused whispers and bred disappointments. The night before her first day of kindergarten her mother sat her down and told her for the first time what her father’s name was and the she had an older sister. Before that moment, she had never been faced with the fact that she didn’t have a father. Where is this man, she wondered, and why are he and his daughter hiding from her? Is something wrong with her? Why is she invisible to them? Her first memory of school makes her realize that her family is not
39 like others. In fact, she is being left out of her family, making me painfully recognize that I am the result of a Missed Conception. My Critical Black Female Testimony My qualitative inquiry a form of life history. Glesne, (2006) classified testimony life history as a form of critical research paradigm (p. 12). The term testimonio was developed in Latin America and used to tell a story of social marginalization or oppression (Tierney, 2000). I chose to use testimonials as a form of life history to shed light on my lived experiences both positive and negative and to provide the background knowledge used to create Critical Black Feminist Leadership. “This form of testimony is developed by the one who testifies in hope that her life’s story will move the reader to action” (Glesne, 2006, p. 12). My life story is critical of the American Educational System and the lack of culturally enriching schools and leadership. Everyone’s testimony is powerful because it is a story about moving from death to life. Giving my personal testimony is a way to share with others by explaining my personal salvation experiences. My testimony is linked to my schooling experiences. It is being told by me in the form of recall, retelling, and by my perspective within the age and time events had taken place. My testimony throughout this study reveals my personal and professional lived experiences as a way to explain the need for Critical Black Feminist Leadership and to heal the personal scars I faced in school environments. In order to heal my scars, I had to look deep into what I felt was missing for me as a student through journaling, talking with colleagues, and reviewing the notes from a researcher that had done a complete review of my leadership style. I was able to realize that I create othermothering and community mothering as the foundation to build my leadership style and answer my research question. My use of Black Feminist Thought, Other Mothering, and my personal narratives to form the triangulation necessary to encompass all the parts needed to form my Testimony. The stories used throughout the dissertation were selected to provide a comprehensive link to support the tenants created to meet the needs of 6th grade Crystal and others like her. Theoretical Lens The utilization of Black Feminist Thought serves as the epistemological view point that I am speaking from as I work to understand the emerging leadership style. BFT includes five dimensions: (a) the presentation of an alternative social construct based on Black women’s lived
40 experience; (b) a commitment to fighting against race and gender inequality; (c) recognition of women’s legacy of struggle; (d) the promotion of empowerment through voice, visibility, and self-definition; and (e) a belief in the interdependence of thought and action (Collins, 2000). From these dimensions, three key themes in BFT are identified: 1. The framework is shaped and produced by the experiences Black women have encountered in their lives. 2. The stories and experiences of each woman are unique; there are intersections of experiences between and among women. 3. Commonalities do exist among Black women; the diversity of their lives as a group are multiple contexts from which their experiences can be revealed and understood. A broader explanation of these themes provides further insight into my testimonial approach. These themes imply that other people, often through erroneous or stereotypical images, shape the identities of Black women. These “oppressive images” have been reinforced over a long period of time and are difficult to eliminate. It is important that self-evaluation, self- definition, and knowledge validation replace these negative images. The acknowledgement of the “multifaceted identities” of Black women are immersed in oppression and subordinate their status. The oppression stems from the legacy of struggle for Black women in society. Present day struggles include fighting negative stereotypes that limit opportunities and degrade self-concept, as well as fighting to obtain access to employment (Collins, 2000). These themes exist to encourage Black women to develop, redefine, and explain their stories. While all Black women may share experiences of racism and sexism, each individual woman is likely to have a unique response to these experiences (Taylor, 2004). By studying this marginalized group, a void in mainstream educational leadership can be filled. It is crucial to understand the perspective of female, Black principals considering the impact of both race and gender in our professional lives. The goal of BFT is to bring about change in the condition of all women of color. This Critical Black Feminist Testimony seeks to strike a match that will set fire to the oppressive and systematic structures and microaggressions that disrupt the education of Black children. Problem: The lack of culturally enriching school environments that provide a human connection for students, left me as a student feeling hopeless, me as a mother lost, me as a teacher frustrated, and me as a principal determined to fix the wrongs done in the absence of these important school pieces. This radical love on the inside of me (fire) made me determined to
41 create a school culture that would have made school a better place for me and children like me that struggle under traditional education structures. According to Denzin and Lincoln (2000), “the field of qualitative research is defined primarily by a series of essential tensions, contradictions, and hesitations” (p. xi). Denzin and Lincoln (2000) broadly define qualitative research as involving an “interpretive, naturalistic approach” (p. 3) to its subject matter. This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of or interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them…. Accordingly, qualitative research deploys wide range of interconnected methods, hoping always to get a better understanding of the subject matter at hand. (pp. 3-4) Qualitative inquiry describes social phenomena as they occur naturally. No attempt is made to manipulate the situation under study. Qualitative research focuses on understanding the meaning people have constructed based on lived experience. Qualitative research generates knowledge through inductive inquiry by seeking theory that explains the data. Researchers focus on the emic perspective that is the perspective of the participants in the study. Qualitative research design is emergent, flexible, and responsive to the changing conditions of the study. Results are descriptive and narrative and expressed in words, pictures, charts, or diagrams. Denzin and Lincoln (2000) say that qualitative research is inherently “multi-method in focus,” which “reflects an attempt to secure an in depth understanding of the phenomenon in question…that adds rigor, breadth, complexity, richness, and depth to any inquiry” (p. 5). Denzin and Lincoln (2000) outlined five phases in which research is conducted. Olesen (2000) asserts that “qualitative feminist research in its many variants, whether or not self-consciously defined as feminist, centers and makes problematic women’s diverse situations as well as the institutions that frame those situations” (p. 333). Qualitative Feminist studies can present new ideas generated in the research regarding oppressive situations for women (Olesen, 2000). The West African trait of other-mothering and community other-mothering has emerged in Black communities within the U.S. because of the increasing need for sharing in the task of nurturing children and communities. James (1993) defines other-mothers as “those who assist blood mothers in the responsibilities of child care for short- to long-term periods, in informal to formal arrangements” (p. 45). Critical Black Feminist Leadership was created to address the missing supports that I was never provided as a student and that were never offered for my son or
42 for me as a parent and to create a human connection for my students and families while addressing the diverse needs of the student population. I have continued to see this growing need within the Black community for human connections within schools. Black families are largely run by women, so students are familiar with mothers being in charge versus the television version of Leave it to Beaver, “Wait till your father gets home!” Collins (1990) states, Black women’s work and family experiences and grounding in traditional Black culture suggests that Black women as a group experience a world different from that of those who are not Black and female. Moreover, these concrete experiences can stimulate a distinctive Black Feminist consciousness concerning that material reality. (p. 24) Other Mothering and Fictive Kinship Family consists of people who look after us, play an essential role in bringing us up, and teach us the lessons in life that can never be learned through any school or text book. For this reason, it is rightly said that knowing, understanding, and learning the meaning and significance of a family becomes highly crucial for personal growth. Families constitute various members, wherein each of the members assimilates his/her responsibility of learning the true values of family, such as patience, care, understanding and commitment, thereby differentiating an individual from the rest. This Eurocentric meaning of family does not always apply in Black families. Black families have created a network built to sustain the same principles of the contemporary family but created to cope with the separation caused by slavery. Fictive kinship is the gap-closing way Black families have tried to rebound from the horrible loss due to the slave trade, Jim Crow, and, more recently, drugs and incarceration. In the historical examinations of fictive kinship relations among Black families, there is considerable evidence that the practice of establishing fictive kinship ties and status among African Americans pre-dates the period of slavery. Persons from various West African cultures viewed kinship as the normal idiom of social relations (Guttman, 1976; Patterson, 1967). During transport to the Americas on slave ships (Patterson, 1967) and later plantations (Guttman, 1976), parents and other adults taught children to address older persons who were unrelated to them by either blood or marriage by the title “Aunt” or “Uncle” Guttman (1976) argues that the practice of instructing children to address all adult Blacks as “aunt” or “uncle” served two important functions. First, it helped to
43 socialize children into the slave community and, second, it acted to bind unrelated individuals to each other through reciprocal fictive kinship relations. (Chatters, Taylor, & Jayakody, p. 298) In my sister circle of friends, all their children refer to me as aunt; we have constructed our own family unit. My son has made connections with their children, and they have all grown up together and consider themselves as cousins. Within our fictive kin relationship, our children have been blessed with additional love and support but also a greater sense of family that my son may not otherwise have gotten because I am an only child. Perhaps this type of bond has been so natural for us because of the kinship connections we made during slavery. Kinship obligations were extended beyond customary adult-child relationships to encompass both unrelated adults and unrelated children within slave communities. These fictive kin relationships functioned to integrate adults in informal supportive networks that surpassed formal kin obligations conventionally prescribed by blood or marriage. Actual or genuine kinship bonds served as the models for affective obligations among non-kin; these responsibilities were then transferred into broader social and communal obligations. The practice of informal adoption of Black children (orphaned by the sale or deaths of their parents, parental desertion, and wartime dislocation) during and after the Civil War, speaks to the salience of fictive kinship relations (Guttman, 1976). Southern Whites commonly used kin terms to address slaves and this practice was patterned after Black usage. Prior to 1800, there is no evidence that Southern Whites used these terms, or that they used kin terms or fictive kin relations with respect to one another (Guttman, 1976). The social meaning behind the use of these kin expressions by Whites about Blacks, however, was quite different (Guttman, 1976). (Chatters, Taylor, & Jayakody, 1994, p. 298) As a school leader I work to create and preserve kinship relationships to build community within the school. Students would hear me say, “we are all one family at this school,” to appeal to the students’ background knowledge of family and to create within them a level of love, respect, and understanding for their classmates and teachers. It also allowed me to repair hurts for children who had negative experiences or events that may have been caused by their blood family members. I felt like it was a reminder for some students and restoration for others.
44 Black feminist theorists, particularly Collins and James, discuss Black mothering in a way that diverges from dominant group depictions. These theorists elaborate in their work on the traditions of other-mothering and community other-mothering in American Black communities. Collins foregrounds these traditions while examining the connection between “the meaning of motherhood in African-American culture and Black mother- daughter relationships” (Scott, 1993, p.42). As for James, she employs the traditions of other-mothering to argue that these models of mothering could function as a significant link through which new patterns for social transformation are developed. (Sahyoun, 2016, p.11) It is not uncommon for students to refer to me as their mom, aunt, or cousin within the school and community. Many teachers would stop me to say, “I have your niece in my class,” and begin to tell me something the student had done. My response would always be, “Which one?” I never wanted a teacher to go back to a student and say, “Ms. Phillips said she is not your aunt!” That would hurt the student’s feelings and ruin the trust that had been built between me and the student, in some cases the parents and family as well. Relationships have been key in getting students to buy into what I am selling, and that is education and self- love. While other- mothers usually take charge of looking after children, community other-mothers assume responsibility for caring for the community. James explains that only women who are more than forty years old could attain the rank of a community other-mother due to two reasons. (Sahyoun, 2016, p. 9) Community other-mothers must display over time that they have the virtue of care, a virtue very important to the welfare and continuity of their communities. By the age of 40, Black women would be old enough to have assimilated the tradition and culture of their communities, which is necessary for a Black woman who is a community other-mother. Being respected in the community due to her wisdom and exemplary way of behaving as a mother and/or other-mother, the community other-mother could evaluate the behavior of community members, counsel them on how to behave appropriately as well as appraise the situations that could have a harmful influence on the welfare of the community. She is a person who prompts the progress and carrying out of plans contrived to counteract these adverse conditions. James argues that the practice of other-mothering originated from the custom of communal lifestyles and the mutual dependence of community members, which characterized West African communities (Sahyoun,
45 2016, p.10). I feel that I am viewed as a community other-mother because of the experiences I have endured raising my son within the community and understanding the behaviors of my students has allowed me the ability to relate to parents. I am able to share my stories with parents, creating the opportunity for them to let down their guard so that I can help them deal with the situation that has brought them to my office. My vulnerability is seen by students and parents as refreshing and builds trust between them and me as the school principal. When speaking with parents about their children or their personal struggles, I attempt to build a positive rapport with them. I make sure to share positive attributes that I have noticed within their child so that they won’t become defensive. It also expresses a level of care for their child while also showing parents that I have gotten to know their child on an individual basis. When this engagement occurs, I can see the weight lifted off the parents who are embarrassed about the mere thought of being in the principal’s office. These interactions build the framework for a bond between me, my students, and their families. My approach to other-mothering and community mothering are a large part of my Critical Black Feminist Leadership style, because the connections or bonds that are built turn our interactions from just being a punitive and negative interaction into a family get-together to discuss a family concern. This relationship lasts longer than just for the school year. We become a network that endures through job transitions, college- to- work, and even to changing other-mothering to grand-mothering, which I view as the highest level of love from students and families. “The development of an understanding of other-mothering and community other- mothering is useful and helpful in dispelling feelings of impotence through illustrating historical non-traditional patterns of empowerment for Black women” (James, 1993, p. 45). Two exemplar women of community other-mothering that I admire, Black women who courageously worked to nurture others within their community, are Ella Baker and Daisy Bates. Baker’s role as a community mother began in 1938 when she joined the NAACP and traveled the South to recruit members which a very dangerous undertaking at the time. Later, she served as a political midwife at the births of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the 1950s and 1960s (James, 1993, p. 49). “It was Baker who insisted that the spirit and momentum of the Montgomery Bus Boycott could not be allowed to dissipate” (James, 1993, p.48). Daisy Bates allowed the Little Rock Nine utilize her home as a daily meeting place. In the morning, the parents bought them to her home,
46 so they could prepare for the mobs surrounding North Central High School. They returned at the end of the day to discuss the daily events, do their homework, develop coping strategies, and eat snacks. Mr. and Mrs. Bates’ home became a haven in which the “psychological and emotional nurturance” of the children could occur (James, 1993, p. 48). This was “critical to their survival and to the success of the struggle” taking place within her mothering safety net (James, 1993, p. 49). Her community mothering caused her to receive death threats, crosses being burned in her yard, three arrests, and the loss of her weekly newspaper the State Press (James, 1983). The status of community other-mother is bestowed upon women who are often over 40 years of age not only because over time they have exhibited the ethic of care critical to the survival and well-being of their communities, but also because they have lived long enough to have a sense of the community’s tradition and culture. The reputation of being a principal who cares has followed me because students and parents share their positive school experiences with others in the community. The moments when a parent shares the information that they were referred to me by a previous family are humbling, and I immediately am reminded of the importance of the student-family-school connection. It is equally humbling when new students and families suggest that they heard great things and that I am bringing back old traditions that had taken place when they or their parents attended our school. The woman’s behavior as a mother and/or other-mother has been exemplary and she is wise. Commanding a powerful position of respect as a result of these characteristics, the community other-mother was/can successfully critique behavior of individual members of the community and to provide them with direction on appropriate behavior(s). Based upon her knowledge and her respected position, a community other-mother is also able to provide analysis and/or critiques of conditions or situations that may affect the well-being of her community (James, 1993, p. 47-48). In the description of community other-mothering, I identify with the description of community other-mothering especially when James says, “Whenever necessary she serves as a catalyst in the development and implementation of strategies designed to remedy the harmful conditions within her community” (James, 1983, p. 48). I have worked to be the catalyst within my school. The West African role of other-mothering and community other-mothering has emerged in Black communities within the U.S. because of the increasing need for sharing in the task of
47 nurturing children and communities. James (1993) defines other-mothers as “those who assist blood mothers in the responsibilities of child care for short- to long-term periods, in informal to formal arrangements” (p. 45). Critical Black Feminist Leadership was created to address the missing supports that I was never provided as a student and that were never offered for my son or for me as a parent and to create a human connection for my students and families while addressing the culturally diverse needs of the student population. This leadership style challenges and dismantles the dominant ideological school leadership framework that exists within the American Educational System. I have continued to see this growing need within the Black community for human connections within schools. Black families are largely run by women, so students are familiar with mothers being in charge versus the television version of Leave it to Beaver, “Wait till your father gets home!” Collins (1990) states, Black women’s work and family experiences and grounding in traditional Black culture suggests that Black women as a group experience a world different from that of those who are not Black and female. Moreover, these concrete experiences can stimulate a distinctive Black Feminist consciousness concerning that material reality. (p. 24) Research Design I am presenting a new theory that emerges out of my experiences moving through unresolved school trauma. The process of dealing with my own trauma is important so that I am able to function as an effective school leader. My Critical Black Feminist Testimony is a critical self-reflection of my schooling experiences told from my point-of view. I attempt to look back on my own biases and perspectives about urban education and the impact schooling has played in my life as a student, mother, and educator. Critical self-narratives analyze social structures and relations of power (Burdell & Swadner, 1999) and represent an activity that is academic in nature and repels the act of othering (hooks, 1989). Like critical self-narratives, testimony is about lived experiences and serves as a basis from which to theorize. The sums of all my school experiences serve as my new theory. This emerging theory is used as the foundation for my leadership style. I recognize that the learning has not stopped, and more chapters will be added. Ladson- Billings (1998) asserts that naming one’s own reality serves many purposes in qualitative research. First, naming one’s own reality demonstrates how political and moral analysis has been traditionally conducted in scholarship. Naming one’s reality preserves marginalized groups in American society. And, naming one’s own reality with stories can affect the oppressor by self-examination
48 of their individual actions towards the marginalized group. Storytelling in qualitative research provides an approach for communicating the same phenomenon using varied approaches (Ladson-Billings, 1998). In Critical Black Feminist Leadership, I work to tear down barriers that keep students from reaching their potential. Parents rely on the school to shape values and goals and to provide experiences that will build the character and develop the morals of their children. This may not have been the goal of former school leaders, but the need has grown for a human connection between students and schools. Gilkes’ (1980) characterization of other-mothering relates to community-based activism. She stresses the need for community mothering which further intertwines individuals’ involvement in their community activities, schools, and political events. Collins (2000) acknowledges the complexity of a designation for Black feminist scholarship and determined its ideology rested in many intersections that ultimately challenged racism, sexism, and oppression. In my role as principal, I supported Black females in the raising of their children. I work as a surrogate mother/sister/friend and community supporter to advocate the needs of their children (my students). Conclusion The methodological approach to my research is my Critical Black Feminist Testimony used to reflect my personal lived experiences and the emergence of my leadership style, Critical Black Feminist Leadership. The principalship of Black females is intersected by a unique set of challenges associated with race, gender, attitudes, organizational structures, and policies. My personal and professional journey has helped me recognize that dealing with my traumas has enabled me to be an effective school leader. This section is dedicated to the 6th grade Crystal who lives inside of me. As a little Black girl, I needed to find a flicker of light or hope to help me believe I was a good person and not this terrible depiction being shaped about me within the world around me. I desired time to grow and figure out who I was destined to become. I had moments of feeling alone, consequently, I began to have this uprising welling up inside me. I refused to quit I wanted to be educated but schooling was in my way. I did not have the words to articulate the dark place that I almost fell in, But the fire within me came pouring out like vomit changing my mind, body and spirit forever. “We find ourselves in a constant vigilant move between smooth and striated spaces. It is in this intermezzo between the smooth and striated that I am situating the rhizomatic process of
49 becoming: this complex complicated forever process” (Ibrahim, 2014, p.52). Radical Black female subjectivity is having the power of self-identification, self-definition, and self-expression that leads to self-liberation.
50 Chapter 4 – Fire: Critical Black Feminist Leadership
51 In those moments in life when the sky appears to be dark and there is no way to see the path right in front of us, we distinctly begin to use our other senses. What do we hear? What smells are familiar? We begin to stretch out our arms out as far as they will go. There is nothing but air and saliva in our mouths. In those moments, we realize that we are lost. We must rely on God to carry us to a safe space or to just open our eyes in order that we may see more clearly His plans for us. It is imperative that we start a fire that will light the way for all the Black girls and boys within a system that is failing them. Critical Black Feminist Leadership Education is “the institution used in America to distribute social status and economic power, and to facilitate how society functions, it has not accepted or provided equal opportunity to all members of this society” (Gordon, Iwamoto, Ward, Potts, & Boyd, 2009, p. 277). As a principal, I have the capacity to transform and shift the culture within my building, and Critical Black Feminist Leadership is the framework that celebrates, recognizes, and honors Black students’ heritage and ancestry through curriculum, pedagogy, and instruction. When I imagine a world in which Black children are placed in schools and classrooms with teachers who love them, have high expectations, and expose them to opportunities, I become overwhelmed. How has something that seems so attainable continue to elude us? Schools should be places where all of the adults work to create a community that recognizes that it is not about the adult agendas or motivations but about building a relationship or connection with students that opens their minds to allow them to have academic success. My reality says that, even though these things appear small, they may be non-existent for Black students within in school. There are times when personal experience keeps us from reaching the mountain top and so we let it go because the weight of it is too heavy. And sometimes the mountain top is difficult to reach with all our resources, factual and confessional, so we are just there, collectively grasping, feeling the limitations of knowledge, longing together, yearning for a way to reach that highest point. Even this yearning is a way to know. (hooks, 1994 p. 92) I had begun to feel the weight of my students not graduating, dying, and the trauma of their daily lives with very little empathy from staff, bureaucracy, or the community. For these reasons, I decided to use my influence as a school leader to impact a change within the schools I lead, because of my own personal schooling experiences and the lack of human connection
52 within leadership that is paralyzing students. Critical Black Feminist Leadership has emerged and has helped to shape the many roles and experiences in school as a Black female student, mother, teacher, and principal. Through the Pearls, I articulate the five areas that I feel work to help students, their families, and the community respect and identify with me as a community and school leader. These five areas of support would have been beneficial if they were visible within my educative path. Critical Black Feminist Leadership is created, defined, and developed with five pearls to serve as the tenants to address what our students and schools need from their leaders. The Pearls are The Nurturer, The Advocate, The Leader, The Community Builder, and The Storyteller, they symbolize wisdom, purity, generosity, integrity, and loyalty. These pearls hold the embodiment of mothering, with power, knowledge, and resilience that exists within community other-mothering to fulfill the needs of all students, families, and the community.
What does Critical Black Feminist Leadership look like? Each morning as students enter the school motivational music is being played as they make their way to homeroom, followed by a positive quote of the day with announcements with congratulatory information on student successes. Reminders are given on expected student behaviors such as uniform, getting to class on time and being prepared to learn. Announcements are finished then I began my morning rounds of salutations and good morning to students and staff members within the hallway. This is an important part of the day because it sets the tone and provides consistency. Through my walk I get to have conversations with students about
53 grades, behavior and their own personal needs or concerns as well as the building gossip. This includes things that may have occurred outside of school that may affect the school culture such as student fights, break ups, and tragedies. After my rounds I began parent meeting or return phone calls until the bell rings to switch classes. I re-enter the hallways to push students to class while monitoring teachers that should be at their doors welcoming students as they enter their classroom. I repeat this practice throughout the day. One of my goals every school year is to learn the names of every student in the school before we go home for Thanksgiving Break. I use lunch duty as my opportunity to learn the names and to get to know my students in an informal way before there has been an issue. I would start by walking up to groups of students and asking their names and I introduce myself as well. There are usually a few I already know from other buildings I have worked in or through a family member or sibling that I previously have had as a student. I also played a name game with the students at lunch. I would call the students names that I know first to get in line and each day I would target a different table to learn all the names until I just knew every table in the cafeteria. When new students enroll, I would introduce myself right away and have a quick tell me about yourself and give my official welcome to our school and do a quick interest inventory. The blessing of this process is that students feel special because I cared enough to learn their name but when things happened in the school staff would come to me and ask me to identify students for them. I would here students say Ms. Phillips know everybody’s name! I met my goal of learning students names every school year and I was always done way before Thanksgiving Break! I have worked with many educators over the years on creating a positive school and classroom culture and knowing the names of students is at the essence of nurturing students a Pearl of Critical Black Feminist Leadership. The Pearl of the Nurturer: ● Supports and encourages students while fostering motherly, unconditional love through words, actions, and training students to become thinkers and providing them with emotional stability. An excellent principal is one who makes the school not only an effective place where students may learn, but also a place where they are nurtured. Principals should understand it is their responsibility to facilitate that encouraging environment and act as a nurturer. Rigsbee (2009) suggests that nurturing principal create, “a community of caring” (n.p.). Teachers and
54 parents talk about the school leader being accessible and school being a place where students feel at home and are aware that the principal cares about them. One teacher said, “If I needed him, I could talk to him right now, no matter what he’s doing” (Rigsbee, 2009, n.p.). In schools, nurturing plays a vital role in the students’ education. It requires a person to pay attention to the human side of learning, which can be implemented through a teaching structure that acknowledges the individual and social characteristics of each person. “Nurturing those within the school community are the skills of a servant leader which include the following:” (Marzano, Walters, & Mcnulty, 2005, p. 17). ● Understanding the personal needs of others in the organization (schools) ● Healing wounds caused by conflict within the organizations (schools) ● Being a steward of the resources ● Developing the skills of others in the school ● Being an effective listener A nurturer offers personalized support and coaching through the education process. Nurturing school leaders provide encouragement and care. They help others realize their capacity to grow and improve. The true role of a nurturer lies in understanding the human aspect that goes along with education and developing a school structure that supports personalized and effective learning. One of the ways we attempted to provide a nurturing environment in my high school was by creating Motivational Monday, monthly Convocation, and my open door policy. All three of these activities became immersed within our school culture and the students seemed to enjoy them but there was always a percentage of teachers that were not willing to comply, displayed an unwillingness to show vulnerability, or worked really hard to make it a success. This always meant that only a third of the student population was getting the nurturing they may have needed. I tried to over compensate for my teacher’s resistance trying complement, encourage, and support teachers on a regular basis because I came to realize that teachers and other staff members need nurturing as well. On Motivational Mondays after attendance was taken the entire class would form a circle to discuss topics, feelings, and whatever else that came from their discussion. The ground rules were set at the beginning of the year, one person speaks at a time, the discussions were to remain in the room and not discussed with others, and lastly it was not mandatory to speak out or share. I held the first circle with staff during the first day of school for staff and continued by beginning each staff meeting, the purpose was to model for teachers the
55 expectations for the classroom. The teachers that complied and took Motivational Mondays seriously had classrooms with nurturing environments, less disruptions, and fewer behavior problems. Those teachers that didn’t see it as valuable and just went through the motions did not reap the same benefits as their colleagues. Monthly Convocation was our way to infuse pride, knowledge, and tradition into the school culture and nurture a positive belief of one’s self and their culture. Each month there was a work shared written by the school’s namesake as well as the school history. Acknowledgment of student achievement and a motivational speaker. The convocation was 45 minutes which is one class period and rotated every month so that students wouldn’t miss too much instructional time from the same class. Lastly, my open policy that existed for students, parents, and community members. My theory was if you can wait no longer than ten minutes then I can see you. My door was literally always open so even when my staff would say I’m busy because they knew I was working on something I would say no I can see them for just a moment. I nurtured relationships and made all my stakeholders feel valued in those moments. The whole purpose of these exercises in nurturing I developed within my school were implemented to create a culture of unity, love, and family. I would always say to students we are family we and don’t mistreat our family! Nurturing within a school has a way of teaching students how to care for themselves as well as others. What does Critical Black Feminist Leadership feel like? In my senior year of high school, I told my father that I was going to major in education. He cautioned me against it and stated that he made more than my principal. He worked at General Motors and had only received his high school diploma. What my father didn’t understand was how the Black women I met during high school had changed my life and my view on education. They saw past the little Black girl who was standing in front of them, spoiled and with an attitude. They had begun to restore the brokenness that the 6th grade-me thought had died due to heinous school hurts; I suffered at the hands of adults during elementary school. In 9th grade, my math teacher saw my potential and imposed higher expectations for me than others within the class. I felt like I was being picked on, and I resented the pressure I felt at times. As my high school years went on, I began to watch how the Black teachers dressed, how they carried themselves, and the way they treated all their Black students. I had a small fire starting to burn inside of me that began to change me. I returned to school my sophomore year with a
56 briefcase and slightly better attitude. My high school experience was filled with a very rocky road that consisted of highs and lows, even moments when I thought I should just drop out. My senior year, I faced the realization that high school was ending. So, what next? This led me to keep a 4.0 my entire senior year and apply to some Historically Black Colleges with the guidance of my coach. My coach was from Montgomery, Alabama and he explained to me that the tuition was cheaper at Historically Black Colleges. I knew that I didn’t have a scholarship to college, and I wanted to find the cheapest way for me to get there. He attended Alabama A&M, so I applied to both Alabama A&M and State. I was accepted on probation status to both schools, but I decided to attend Alabama State. I was given probation status because my grade point average was low. My 12th grade language arts teacher said of me, “It was just like the light came on!” I guess she was right. I graduated Cum Laude from Alabama State University in 4 years. The Pearl of the Advocate: ● Ensures teachers are fair to students and allow students to get a new start each school day, provides programming and opportunities to every group of students, and speaks out when a student, staff member, or the school at large is being treated unjustly. Principals must advocate on behalf of their students for the things they need in order to improve student learning. Not every school is provided with the conditions, resources, or support required to successfully operate, and if they do not have an environment that that is conducive for students, their efforts to be a good leader will go to waste (Lynch, 2015). Being an advocate for my families does not stop within the school buildings. I have attended community meetings in which I had to speak up about public housing or the fact that my school is in a food desert. It creates allies with some in the community but friction with those political entities that don’t want my parents’ and students’ views to be voiced. “Many of the decisions about the conditions and allocation of resources are made by the state or district in which the school sits and are not in the hands of the principal” (Lynch, 2015 p. 1). Staffing disparities among schools within my school district has been an issue for me as an instructional leader throughout my tenure as principal. “This presents principals with difficulty implementing solutions for many of their problems because they are not in control. In order for change to be made, decision making must be shared” (Lynch, 2015 p. 1). This is where the principal must act as an advocate. In order to create a better situation for their school, they must understand what their students need and try to obtain it. A great advocate is student centered, so
57 a good principal’s actions, decisions, and policies show that they are committed to helping each student be their best. When they adopt ideas, it is done for the student’s best interest and with their perspective in mind. This involves principals standing up for students’ rights in the face of administration or impending educational initiatives. What does Critical Black Feminist Leadership smell like? I had a parent that was an alcoholic and was still grieving the loss of her daughter’s father from 4 years previous. She enabled her daughter and her misbehavior at every turn. She had allowed her traumatic experience to take over her common sense of what she knows is best for child. I began to build a rapport with her by explaining to her my goals and expectations for her daughter and my genuine concern for her well- being. When she would enter the school building cussing and fussing, she always requested to see me because she knew that I would fix her problems. Most principals would have turned her away or called the police due to the smell of alcohol on her breath. I understood that she was suffering from a traumatic experience and the smell of alcohol was a symptom of her attempting to exist within her trauma. She once told me and my assistant that we were like the sisters she never had because she had 3 brothers. In my mind that was her way of apologizing for all her antics over the years. Her daughter in a senior in the Class of 2019. Unfortunately, she will not get to see her graduate. She was killed in a drive by shooting a few months ago. At her funeral her mother thanked me for always looking out for her daughter and granddaughter. I will never lose sight of the that Critical Black Feminist Leadership smells like love and support minus judgement no matter what your nose is telling you! The Pearl of the Leader: ● Works to provide a curriculum, hiring a highly qualified teaching staff that is willing to throw away their middle-class values to embrace the curriculum and build relationships with students to ensure the academic rigor, instructional support, and guidance are in place. Educational leaders play a pivotal role in affecting the climate, attitude, and reputation of their schools. They are the cornerstones on which learning community’s function and grow. They are the foundation on which schools build and operate because they are the instructional leaders of their building. Leadership is a defining aspect of how successful any school will be. Poor or nonexistent leadership works against the goals of the educational system. “To succeed,
58 leaders must carefully select, severely limit, and then persistently clarify the work to be done by those they lead. They must also reject anything that distracts them from their focus” (Schmoker, 2016, p.11). A school without a leader will fail, and a principal who is not a leader will not be prosperous in her position. Successful leaders create schools that have effective environments for learning. If there is no strong direction, learning is compromised, and students suffer. The leadership role is about helping students succeed academically and as citizens in their communities and helping faculty grow as professionals under a common mission pertaining to school and student success. As a school leader, I attempt to support teachers through professional development and shared leadership responsibility. Leaders set goals, create plans to achieve those goals, and assess whether the goals have been addressed during the school year. My Challenges as a Student As a student I struggled to find an adult in my school who would take the time to see past my behaviors and nurture the little girl who was seeking attention. The academic part of school was never a problem for me, but my teachers made no attempt to utilize my intelligence to build a relationship with me. Ladson-Billings’ (1995) work focuses primarily on pedagogy and instruction. Her study examined teachers’ ability to increase the academic achievement of Black students and students of color. This was not a part of my elementary experience. Gay (2000) declared that there are hegemonic structures at work that try to impede the progress of Black students. Her study aimed to challenge “racial and cultural stereotypes, prejudices, racism, and other forms of intolerance, injustice, and oppression” (Gay, 2010, p.31). Instead of being nurtured emotionally or academically, I was placed on an island by the White male school leader, and none of my teachers ever advocated for me by attempting to be vulnerable or getting to know me by sharing their own stories on how they navigated through school, giving me an opportunity to attend a field trip, or by creating a reward system that may have helped me change the undesirable behaviors I displayed within the classroom. The use of community resources that may have helped me deal with emotional issues that caused me to act out were never presented to my mother nor were any recommendations made to my mother to help her with parenting strategies and support. All students want to belong to something in school, and the shaping of a child’s identity is based upon where they fit in. Students must have the opportunity to provide input about areas
59 where they feel a mismatch between the expectations of staff and the administration (Bacon, 2014). African American students want to feel that sense of belonging in their particular schools. When students feel a sense of belonging, it enhances their identity development. Parsons, Travis, and Simpson (2005) examined the effect of “culturally congruent instruction” and Black Cultural Ethos (BCE) as it relates to African American students in the subject area of science in order to elucidate racial inequities and inequalities in the content area of science. Culturally congruent instruction and culturally responsive teaching are synonymous terms because they both incorporate the students’ home and community culture into the school and classroom (Ladson- Billings, 1995; Parsons et al., 2005). Parsons et al. (2005) cited Boykin (1986, 1994) by stating that he “conceptualized BCE by articulating nine dimensions: spirituality, affect, and harmony, and orality, social perspective of time, expressive individualism, verve, communalism, and movement.” Parsons et al. (2005) discussed three of the nine dimensions in their study: communalism, verve, and movement in conjunction with culturally congruent instruction. According to Parsons et al. (2005), “Communalism esteems the interdependence of people; verve captures a preference for high physical stimulation; and movement expresses the integration of rhythm associated with music and dance into everyday life.” (p. 188). When teachers enacted the three dimensions, there was a recognizable improvement in academic achievement and identity development. With the integration of culturally congruent instruction and BCE, African American students benefit from a pedagogical approach that allows them the flexibility to learn by doing or learn through cultural norms. If teachers infuse their pedagogical practices with BCE and culturally congruent instruction, it will enhance learning and increase a greater sense of belonging for Black students (Parsons et al., 2005). What does Critical Black Feminist Leadership sound like? When I first started as principal at my school the local community college had decided to discontinue to sponsor faculty to come to my school to teach the College Credit Plus courses to our students due to their behavior and lack of support from the building administrators. I was astounded by this separation and seen it as an opportunity to repair a community partnership as well as a paradigm shift for the entire school community. I started this shift by seeking out staff members that could help strengthen the CCP relationship by working with students and the community college staff. I also placed my assistant principal in charge of this transition because she had worked with this community college at her previous school. Lastly, I hired a new teacher
60 that was already an adjunct professor at one of the colleges in the area. The next two years were spent creating pathways and courses that students were interested in taking and making our program something to be celebrated by everyone in our school. We were able to start offering over 10 courses to students within our school with most being taught by the community college professors! We have also had a student last year and this year graduate from high school with an Associates degree along with their high school diploma. Critical Black Feminist Leadership sounds like building connections with community partners that increase academic achievement for students. The Pearl of the Community Builder: ● Creates a community and network of resources that create social, emotional, and psychological support for students and families, while providing a bank of resources that empower students and break down barriers for parents. In order to be a great school leader, you need to create relationships with students, faculty, families, and the community and then use these relationships to create the best possible school environment. Community building is an essential part of effective leadership and can begin with the relationship adults have with the school. Community building focuses on creating structural and personal conditions that are focused on the goal of student learning. A good educational culture is based on shared norms and values and collaboration. “A school’s culture is characterized by deeply rooted traditions, values, and beliefs, some of which are common across schools and some of which are unique and embedded in a particular school’s history and location.” (Kruse & Louis, 2009, p. 3). A principal must be present and seen in their schools and their communities in order for this to occur. Being visible creates a sense of trust and feeling of transparency among students, staff, parents, and community members. Building a community allows everyone to recognize a shared purpose and build confidence in one another. This strong trust results in teachers being more encouraged to try new methods because they know they are supported. Students feel more encouraged and connected to the school, and their families are supportive because the staff and principal have built trusting relationships with them. Frustrations as a Principal As my career progressed, I became an assistant principal and began to see a pattern with discipline of students within the school: nearly 75% of the student behavior referrals were on
61 Black males. It was even more alarming that, in every Intervention Assessment Team meeting I attended, the Black male students were discussed most often. The parents of Black boys were brought in to be notified that their sons could not learn like other students and that they needed alternative educational placements or Individual Educational Programs (IEPs) put in place for their children. For the next ten years, I worked as a Student Services Advisor dealing primarily with truancy and expulsion. In that job, most of my caseload dealt with the issues facing Black males. The students who were turned in as truant or candidates for expulsion had multiple suspensions on file. Some cases had IEPs on file and had attended multiple schools throughout their schooling careers. “If we look at the way that public education is currently configured, it is possible to see the ways that CRT can be a powerful explanatory tool for the sustained inequity that people of color experience” (Ladson- Billings, 2009, p. 24). I have served as a principal for students in Kindergarten through 12th grades. The needs and struggles were quite similar throughout the schools regardless of age range. The inability to hire the staffing I needed to ensure that every classroom had a highly qualified teacher for my students was not only frustrating but also kept our school from realizing a true depiction my leadership style and stymied our ability to improve academic achievement and test scores. Delpit (2012) suggests that, African American and European American children tend to equalize abilities by age four or five, after which many of the trends tend to reverse. The environmental conditions of poverty and/or racism then create conditions that the initial advantage of Black children cannot overcome. It is also conceivable that inappropriate schooling has the effect of reducing continued progress. (p. 5) Apathy of teachers or students created road blocks, visible as well as invisible. When we “assume that certain children are less brilliant, our tendency is to teach less, to teach down, or to teach for remediation” (Delpit, 2012, p. 7), which decreases opportunities for Black children to achieve. It is my stance that some of our students have been hurt by the adults in their lives who have been charged to care about them. When that trust has been broken outside of school, students come in with their defenses up and sometimes cheat themselves out of opportunities to achieve. However, teachers must be willing to create a human connection with those students, not create a barrier. “Nothing makes more of a difference in a child’s school experience than a teacher” (Delpit, 2012, p. 72). The inequity of resources within the schools in which I have
62 worked is mind blowing. The lack of options for students who are gifted, exceptional, or need mental health supports is minimal to non-existent. “One of the reasons African American students are not excelling is that we have all been affected by our society’s deeply ingrained bias of equating Blackness with inferiority” (Delpit, 2012, p. 9). What does Critical Black Feminist Leadership taste like? I lost a student this year due to heart failure. She was a beautiful young lady but she was like a sour patch kids candy, very sour taste on the outside but once you start chewing it became sugary sweet! She was pregnant the last few months of the school so she would come in my office each morning to get a snack, usually a piece of fruit, lotion for her hands, and Vaseline for her lips. When she first started at the school, she kept getting sent to the office for disrespecting staff members. I told her every time I sent her home on suspension you can not talk to people like that! I don’t care how much I love you! As she came into her second year with me, I saw less of the sour Dee and more of the sweet Dee. Before school was out, I asked her if she had been seen by a doctor for prenatal care? She told me yes. I have since learned that she had not! As her baby grew inside of her it was weakening her heart. A week after her son was born, she went into complete heart failure and passed away two weeks later in the hospital. After speaking with her family. I called the superintendent to say we need a policy put in place, that requires all pregnant young ladies to bring a release to the school nurse saying that they are being seen by a physician, for prenatal care. This kind of policy may have saved Dee’s life. What does Critical Black Feminist Leadership taste like? Beyond Bitter when a young life is lost, and you feel a sense of responsibility. The Pearl of the Storyteller: ● Displays a willingness to be vulnerable by using her own stories and experiences as lessons for students, challenging the stereotypes that they may have begun to believe about themselves perpetuated through media, schools, and their community. I am a woman who came from the cotton fields of the South. From there I was promoted to the washtub. From there I was promoted to the cook kitchen. And from there I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair goods and preparations…. I have built my own factory on my own ground. – Madam C.J. Walker (National Negro Business League, 1912)
63 Educators can and should use storytelling as a way to restore faith in the education system. Many people have negative thoughts about schools and the school system, but it is up to school leaders to communicate and tell their stories to combat this. What people think and feel about schools is important because the community provides support for the school, and school leaders are constantly trying to build community. School leaders should be the first ones sharing stories about their schools, and they should start with themselves. They should answer who they are as educators and what value they bring to the students, teachers, and the school in addition to seeking out perceptions of others. These stories should relate to the ethos, or the spirit, of the school. Principals should share with people the unseen aspects of the school and examples of how the school is fulfilling its mission. As a storyteller, the focus is not selling the school to others but sharing small moments with which people can empathize and show others what the school has to offer by sharing positive results and information. That way, those on the outside can celebrate with you. The principal may act as the catalyst for storytelling, but she should not be the only one. Ultimately, she will create a collective practice of everyone sharing their stories. Eventually it will be multiple administrators, teachers, and students communicating sharing the principal’s message. This will then spread to the entire school and community members who are also participating in storytelling and sharing a positive narrative as well. This improves the perception of the school, which in turn can help improve culture, performance, and resources. Acting as a storyteller allows the school leader to control the message and perception surrounding their school. Trials of a Black Mother As a twenty-two-year-old Black woman who had just graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education, I was full of zeal and ready to make a difference in the lives of Black students within the urban school district where I had received my schooling. I had also just given birth to a ten-pound baby boy. Every day when I left my classroom, I went home to provide my son with a solid educational foundation. I worked with him nightly as he grew older and taught him all the skills necessary to help him begin school academically ahead of his peers. On his first day of kindergarten, my rambunctious male child was eager to begin his educational career! His excitement quickly changed to a serious dislike for school that grew bigger as he did. I couldn’t believe that the educational system that I taught him to value and respect was causing him hurt and shame. I saw him change due to the constant ridicule and punishments given to him from his
64 teachers. The extra energy he possessed made him unable to sit still on the carpet or walk down the hallway in a straight line. This left him feeling as though school was not the place for him. As an educator and a mother, I felt powerless and unsure of a resolution. The frustrations mounted even greater when his fourth-grade teacher sent home a Special Education packet stating that my son needed to be placed on an Individual Education Plan. This was the last straw for me, so I immediately withdrew him from the school and switched his school hoping for a better outcome. As an educator and a parent, I began to speak with other parents about the experiences their children were having in school. I was quite alarmed to find out that parents were only having negative experiences with their male children. My son continued to have the same struggles at the next two schools that he attended and failed to graduate with his peers. Looking back, I should have handled some things differently, like my mother should have done. The adults in my elementary school created a culture for me to police myself and believe the negative imagery of me as “the menace” and “Crystal Pistol.” Without even recognizing it, I replicated these same behaviors and caused my son to feel “School Hurts.” My blindness viewed Whiteness as property and led me to believe that my son was the one to blame instead of the hegemonic system. In a discussion with my son about his schooling experiences, he was able to articulate his thoughts and feelings throughout his educational journey. He is in his first year of working in education and has begun to create his own practices. Our conversation began with a review of his schooling, Preschool through 12th grade. At the mention of pre-school, he smiled at the thought of the first teacher that he remembers and loved. He quickly shared memories of how much she cared about him, she understood that he had lots of energy, and she never punished him over it or made him feel like something was wrong with him. He attended another preschool program before the one he recalls. It was a highly recommended academic academy where, at three years old, the students were doing homework nightly. It was a very structured environment and my son struggled in that type of one size fits all kids programming, so I pulled him out, and I sent him to the Montessori Preschool that he remembers. Kindergarten through 6th grade was very difficult for both of us; he describes feeling different from the other students. He stated that his overall elementary school experience destroyed his self -esteem. He expressed to me that he felt unsupported by me because he felt I always sided with the school and never advocated for him. It would seem that, because of the hurts I suffered in school, I should have known how to support
65 my son and at least make his schooling experiences better than mine, but instead, I had become college educated and, during this miseducation, had begun to police my son with the same oppressive thinking and practices.
An Apple for the Teacher! I brought an apple for the teacher it’s sitting in my bag. I tried to give it to her, but she made me pull my tag. On my way to circle I tripped on the rug She yelled at me to sit but I was just trying to give her a hug. During circle time she placed me in the hall. I’m starting to feel as though she doesn’t care at all. I raised my hand in class to show to her I was smart She never called on me and that broke my heart. I put the apple in my lunch box hoping for the perfect time. On the way I bumped into Amanda, so Mrs. Miller stood me on the line. The whole afternoon I felt so all alone but when I started talking, she put me out the room. Finally, it’s over I see my mother’s smiling face. I ask her for a snack but that comes only after grace. Dear God, Please, speak to Mrs. Henry she doesn’t like me at all. Even during recess, she stood me on the wall. Mom spies the apple and asked why it is still here? I dropped my head and a few tears! She sees my sad face and realizes, unfortunately, school hasn’t changed in years! -C. Phillips
66 Chapter 5 – Ashes: Results of CBF Leadership
On the door to my office, I post my favorite quotes to inspire students, parents, and staff. The quotes given in this chapter are from my students, parents, colleagues, and past supervisors. These quotes encompass the Pearls of Critical Black Feminist Leadership and how the legacy of my leadership will live on in the minds, hearts, and lives that Critical Black Feminist Leadership has touched. Scenarios are introduced that reveal the operation of Critical Black Feminist Leadership. These scenarios present the practices used in my CBF Leadership on any given school day. Wall of Flame! Storyteller Moriah-Looking in the Mirror In my educational career there are some students that I will never forget. A student by the name of Monique, I met her when she was a 9th grader and I was the 9th grade coordinator. Her mother was incarcerated, and she was in the custody of her father, who was a disciplinarian but lacked a soft loving touch. I began to build a rapport with her and her father, but I was moved to another building the following school year. When I returned as principal, she was a junior and her misbehavior had grown with her. By her senior year she was using her influence as a school leader to bring negativity to the entire senior class. I had made several attempts to make connections but the disruptions of home life and need to fit in and lack of self- love pushed her into a troublesome path. When Monique started her senior year, she needed to pass all her classes plus two Ohio Graduation Subject Area Test. During Spring semester, she still needed one test which was math and I set her up to work with a tutor in a small group setting. Unfortunately, she self- sabotaged repeatedly, caused classroom disruptions, disrespected staff members, and incited others to argue and fight. Her continued misbehavior forced me to suspend her, but I allowed her to complete assignments from home. The last two months, her attendance became sporadic and she stopped completing her work. I called both her parents, had students reach out to her, while other senior teachers were doing the same things. She had convinced herself that she was going to fail the math test that she stopped doing her schoolwork. I had explained to her several times and advised her mentor and parents to do the same, she needed to work until the end because there was no way to predict her test scores.
67 Test scores came in a week and a half before graduation and Monique passed the test. Unfortunately, she failed two classes and could not graduate. I signed her up for summer school, but she didn’t attend. To my knowledge she still has not received her high school diploma. Monique is one of those students that continue to haunt me. I could see so much of myself in her but I was still unable to change her school graduation outcome.
“To be honest, words couldn’t explain what you mean to me. You were always like a mother; no one could ever replace you.” – Student
“You know your kids! You know their names, their stories, and it mattered to them.” – Teacher
“Working with Mrs. Phillips in the past, I can attest that she was highly focused, energetic, and driven professionally. She consistently took on challenging roles and then performed over and above what was expected of her. Mrs. Phillips had the ability to motivate her staff to develop effective classroom instructional strategies that are successful working with those hard-to-serve populations. Mrs. Phillips works diligently, both individually or in groups, to complete her administrative duties in an exemplary fashion. She is dedicated to empowering others to take on leadership roles and responsibilities to advance academic success of students. Further, when working in groups, she tends to bring a fresh, alternative perspective, which invokes others to analyze and evaluate the task at hand using a new frame of reference. Mrs. Phillips dedication to the students, parents, and staff is encouraging. Her decisions are student centered and grounded in the belief that all students deserve the best educational environment to thrive academically. I am excited about her future endeavors in the field of education and look forward to seeing the results of her hard work and tenacity in the faces of many students to come.” – Former Supervisor
Nurturer The Transformation of Jermaine! In my second year as principal a young man transferred in from Columbus, Ohio. He was being raised by a single mother with one sibling. Jermaine is a bright young man that is short in statue, therefore he entered the school with a chip on his shoulder that he thought he needed to
68 appear tough to the other students. In his second week he was in a fight with a student in class over a situation he could have avoided. When I spoke with the boys about the fight, it was clear to me from our conversation that both boys allowed their ego and testosterone to force them into a physical altercation. I called his mother and I could tell that she was completely upset with his behavior. I began to ask him questions about his former school and his interest. He expressed his need to appear tough because he had been told that at my school you had to be that way in order to survive. I immediately reassured him that our school culture was a mix of students from various backgrounds and that it is ok for him to be himself. He had an interest in track so I immediately called the track coach to ensure they could meet up and join the team. He wasn’t a track star, but it gave him a peer group that he could bond with. I also noticed from his transcript that He was a bright student and should be tested to see if he was eligible to begin College Credit Plus classes and he was the perfect candidate. Over the next 3 years he blossomed! He spoke before the school board, surprisingly to me and the staff, on the behalf of a teacher he felt was being wrongly dismissed from our school. Became a superintendent scholar, (which is done by making straight A’s), and was accepted to Tuskegee University and several other schools. His transformation was not perfect or without bumps and bruises, but he came to see me at the end of his Freshman year of college to thank me and to tell me about being active in student government and studying abroad. He said, “I remembered when I got here, you said it is important to be involved in positive things so I can stay away from the negative things”! The nurturing he received from our school set him on a path to success.
“I was always impressed by how you can multi-task so many things at once and put thought into everything you did.” – Teacher
“Ms. Phillips is truly a remarkable educator. When my son first started at the school, his GPA was less than equivalent to meet standards, and we were less than hopeful, and graduation was not looking good for us. We were truly discouraged. Upon arrival at the school, Ms. Phillips sat down with my son and me and included her staff members to outline a plan to ensure my son was set on a path to success.” – Parent
69 “She created a family environment at the school that was built on trust, unity, and integrity, and most importantly, success of the students was the only option; that was her focal point. Diversity and inclusion was also infused in the school family; there was no “I” in team amongst the students or staff.” – Parent
“I loved hearing at the end of the school day that you loved them because many of them believed you.” – Teacher
“Crystal has influenced me by investing the time in students; that brings about change in their lives.” – Teacher
“As a teacher, you have encouraged me to be innovative; your leadership is genuine and inspiring.” – Teacher
“Your passion for improving the educational outcomes of students by helping in any way you could was inspiring. I learned so much from working with you and hearing your heart for the students in all of the decisions you made” – Teacher & Colleague
Community Builder Senior Mentor Program I believe in the importance of the human connection and having one person in your corner that you can depend on. My first year as a high school principal I looked at the number of students that graduated the previous year and to my surprise there were only 50 students that graduated. There were 108 students slotted to graduate in the upcoming class. I was determined to find a way to intentionally keep the senior students motivated to perform at a higher level so they would make it to the finish line. I also wanted to meet the needs of each student individually. I came up with a campaign called 100 strong! My goal was to at least have 100 graduates walk across the stage at the end of May I solicited mentors from every staff member in the school including the nurse, secretarial staff and security officers. I even pulled in my boss and colleagues around the district. The student- mentor match was random so each person pulled a student name out of the box some people chose to mentor two students but that was the
70 maximum I would allow. At the end I had 13 names left and I kept them. I created a folder for each of them with their transcripts, test scores, and attendance records. I met with them individually and collectively to set goals for the year and provided them with my expectations. We held meet and greet reception for seniors and mentors to meet each other at the beginning of the year. I also created guidelines for all mentors to follow so they understood the task being asked of them. We also had a Christmas breakfast and a closing event. The students were happy to have someone they knew they could go to for support and direction. The senior parents and counselor both benefited from the extra hands on deck! But most importantly it increased the level of commitment from students to put their best foot forward knowing they had someone routing for them. Teachers thanked me for the opportunity to be involved with senior students in a non -traditional way. The purpose of the Senior Mentor Project was to improve the school graduation rate and we were able to graduate 102 students that year. I owe this improved rate to the staff members that were willing to step out of their comfort zone and support students by showing an ethic of care while building relationships with students and families. There are some teachers and students that are still in contact with one another because of the Mentor program, I am grateful for the success this program had on the school, students and our community.
“I have been fortunate to witness your dedication to the success of your students and your down to earth approach with their parents.” – Teacher
“Ms. Phillips made me feel right at home when I came to her school. I had never attended public school, but she made it much easier for me. I really do appreciate her for all the things she has done for me. I feel prepared for college because of the College Credit Plus Courses she pushed me to take.” – Student
“The relationships that you have nurtured, from mentor to mentee, attest to the influence you have made on others.” – Teacher
“Your leadership showed me that all students come from different environments and that we must approach each student differently no matter how we personally feel about the situation.
71 You taught me that, to truly teach, you must understand your audience, their background, and their point of view.” – Staff Member
“Your love and compassion for students and families instilled the focus in me to do more for others; your strength is amazing; you give others hope, strength, and courage to know they can and let no one tell you that you can’t.” – Colleague
“In every professional position Crystal has held, she creates positive and mentoring relationships with students, teachers, and parents alike. The concept of lifelong learner is not something that Crystal instills in her students, but an idea she personally adheres to as well. Crystal has shown herself to be more than capable of being a school leader because she has the passion, vigor, and knowledge to perform, with excellence. She has relied on forward thinking and creativity to excel in her positions. Crystal epitomizes the saying “a teacher affects eternity;” she can never tell where her influence stops.” Her strengths in problem solving and attention to detail help her to create a positive and student-centered educational environment.” – Former Supervisor
Leader PRAISE Program As principal I am responsible for the academic progress of all students. December of 2015, I became alarmed by the number of students failing 9th grade at the end of the first semester so I decided to put together a group of 9th grade students that had earned 1 credit or less. This was the beginning of my very own Kotter’s class in which the 9th grade students could recoup credits while learning how to function within a high school classroom. The program was entitled The Phillips Recovery Academic Intervention and Social Experience. To begin to put the PRAISE Program together I wanted to create a classroom environment that would provide an opportunity to reach all of my students when they enter into the room Delpit suggest, “believe in the children become convinced of their inherent intellectual capability, humanity, physical ability, and spiritual character.” (Delpit, 2012, p. 30). I began to identify the best teachers to be involved in the PRAISE Program. I selected both of my assistant principals to teach a block each in their content areas so that took care of the Algebra and Geology courses. After a small schedule change, I found the American History teacher and, lastly a Language Arts teacher. The
72 purpose of the PRAISE Program was to provide an opportunity for first year high school students that had earned less than 1 credit to recover credit in the classes they had failed in the previous semester. I wanted to create a classroom that would have structure and a strong academic focus but would also be a nurturing environment. Students were encouraged to improve their classroom attendance by discussions with parents on the importance of attending school every day and providing follow up every time students were absent. I wanted this program to dispel the teacher beliefs that currently existed within the school culture on academic ability and student behaviors as well as the perceived deficiencies that had propelled them to be candidates in the PRAISE Program. Lisa Delpit suggest, “If we do not recognize the brilliance before us, we cannot help but carry on the stereotype societal views that these children are somehow damaged goods and that they cannot be expected to succeed” (Delpit, 2012, p.8). All of the students in the program had experience some form of trauma within their life and it was being compounded by their negative school experiences. On the outside to teachers it appeared that they were creating their failures themselves but quite the contrary was happening we were failing to give them what they needed to be able to experience school as a place in which they felt comfortable enough to learn. At the end of the school year all the students involved had increase their attendance rate, earned at least 3 credits, and were signed up to attend summer school. The biggest improvement was their belief in themselves and the way they felt about school. In my work as a school leader it is my duty to create opportunities that provide students to have a level of achievement in order to keep them motivated to continue.
“Ms. Phillips is the best principal in the city; she loves her students for who they are and encourages them to go above and beyond the expectations set for them.” – Grandparent
“Ms. Phillips goes over and beyond for her students and family at her school. Ms. Phillips knew every student by name in her school. Every year when new students entered her school, she spent time getting to know them personally.” – Parent
“You are the best principal I’ve had in my 10- year career.” – Teacher
73 “Ms. Phillips leads by example, and her drive motivates me to continue on my path to accomplish my goals.” – Student
“The addition of you to our team this year doesn’t feel as though we added one person but many more. You are pushing me to be a better version of myself by countering my negativity over the way things are with a reminder to live in my circle of influence and focus on that which I have control over and forget the nonsense.” – Colleague
“Under the leadership of Ms. Phillips, I’ve seen her display many great characteristics that I feel a leader should possess. Her ability to make the hard and unpopular decisions and then stand by those decisions shows her strength. I too hope to have that courage to always stand firm in what I believe in.” – Staff Member
“In my estimation, there are few people who care more about children than Crystal Phillips. In an era of mediocrity, mendacity, and compulsory activities—every action, thought, and strategic plan is centered on what is best for children when it comes to Crystal Phillips. There are numerous styles of leadership, and one could make the case for each style as the most effective way of leading transformation and change. If I had to designate a style of leadership most aligned with who Crystal is as a person and educator, it would be authentic leadership. Authentic Leadership is one of the newest forms of leadership research (Northhouse, 2010). I have spent a significant amount of time studying authentic leadership, and each time I review a case study of an exemplar of authentic leadership, I am brought back to my supervisory observations of Ms. Crystal Phillips. Authentic leaders exhibit genuine leadership, conviction, originality, and values- based decisions. As her supervisor, I witnessed her adherence to authentic leadership and her passion for the pursuit of excellence in the interest of students.” – Former Supervisor
Advocate A Home for Tyrone It was around 40 days before graduation and Tyrone’s mother decided that she was moving to Indiana. Of course, Tyrone did not want to leave he wanted to stay in Dayton and graduate with his friends. Tyrone went to his coach with his dilemma and the coach brought his
74 woes to me. I immediately called his mother to see if there was a friend or relative that he could stay with until after graduation and she said, NO! Tyrone was 18 and could legally stay in Dayton. There was really no way we could force him to go with his mother. I told the counselor and the coach to reach out to the center downtown that has housing for children that are homeless. In order for him to stay in the center his mother had to give up her rights. I called mother back to explain the information I had been given, and to let her know that the facility did have a spot for him. She approved of the new living arrangement for her son. The coach took Tyrone to the center on his planning period to fill out the necessary paperwork. Mother came up to the school and took his belongings off the truck on her way to the highway. Tyrone put his things in my storage closet and went back to class. All this transpired in one school day. I am grateful for my staff members support of Tyrone. The road was easy to help him because I had worked with this center before. The staff there knows I will do whatever is necessary to support Tyrone while he stays at the center. The next week during spring break, Tyrone came up to school everyday to eat lunch with me before baseball practice. Me and his coach made sure he had dinner and snacks in the evening. I would call and check on him on the weekends and throughout that summer. His mother thanked me at graduation for helping her son. He stayed in the center until he entered college that Fall. He never moved to Indiana with his mother.
“When I first came to the high school, I wasn’t ready for the work or the testing I had ahead of me, but Ms. Phillips was ALWAYS there in my corner to help me. She’s the one that put me in college classes. I was nervous at first, but I gradually understood. I appreciate my principal believing in me.” – Student
“Crystal has inspired me as a leader by being courageous. Courageous leaders have an ability to overcome barriers to success with confidence and determination. She has an impeccable way of leading without eliminating individualism. She leads by example giving others confidence to be the best.” – Colleague
“With her support, dedication, partnership and leadership, she provided me insight on how my son could be successful and gave me her commitment to ensure my son would be successful.” – Parent
75
“Crystal your intuition and resolution to any given problem or situation was always spot on. I accounted it to intelligence, but it’s more than that.” – Teacher
“Ms. Phillips was MORE than a Principal. She exemplifies true LEADERSHIP and guidance. She begins with the end in mind, which means she truly cares about the students’ past, present and most importantly their futures.” – Parent
“Crystal has inspired me as a leader, change agent, and visionary. I’ve learned through her actions that leadership is not about being the best, but about making sure those you are surrounded by get better. Good leaders don’t find ways to get people to believe in them; they find ways to get people to believe in themselves.” – Colleague
Conclusion The words expressed within this section are gratifying to hear, but they do not represent the reasons I have chosen to be a school principal and be in education. This is the work I believe in, and I will continue to work to influence school leaders to employ CBFL practices that support all students, families, and the community.
76 Chapter 6 – Conclusion
One of my favorite quotes from Audre Lorde is from her (1997) work, The Cancer Journals. She wrote, “When I dare to be powerful—to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid” (p. 13). This is the motto for my leadership story. As I conclude this work, I am reminded of the reasons I embarked on this path and the inner struggles I have faced throughout my educational journey. This project is being offered to honor the 6th grade Crystal who still lives inside of me and all the students I serve who are just like her. I recognized the need for leadership that creates a human connection with students that could pull students into the school and encourage them to recommit themselves to education. When I am making decisions about students, families, and my community, the 6th grade Crystal is standing right there beside me liberating herself as I am helping others. She has provided me the strength to push on in those moments when I have been doubted by my teachers, my parents, and those in authority, and in some cases, I even doubted myself. This Radical Love has been a healing process for me, my students, their parents, and my community. Nash (2011) defines love politics as a way “of reclaiming, embracing, and restoring the wounded Black female self” (p. 3). When we consider radical self-love and care as acts of resistance on the way toward collective liberation, then the education and decolonization of self becomes a larger complicated conversation (Baszile, 2015). The liberation from the personal demons that plagued my mind led me to try and figure out the origin of the self-hate that existed within me. Throughout my schooling career, I kept trying to prove to others who I was, to be seen as worthy of their praise and acceptance. I wanted them to recognize that I was smart, capable, and a viable resource and human being. Critical Black Feminist Leadership may be challenged by traditional school leaders and those who have failed to address those things that positively influence students’ schooling experiences. These are educators who believe that students need to leave their issues at home and focus on school. Black women have long produced knowledge claims that contested those advanced by elite White men. But because Black women have been denied positions of authority, they often relied on alternative knowledge validation processes to generate competing knowledge claims. As a consequence, academic disciplines typically rejected such claims. Moreover, any credentials controlled by White male academicians could then be denied to Black women who
77 used alternative standards on the grounds that Black women’s work did not constitute credible research. Black women with academic credentials who seek to exert the authority that status grants us to propose new knowledge claims about African American women face pressures to use our authority to help legitimate a system that devalues and excludes the majority of Black women (Collins, 2000, p. 254). In the foreword of Black Looks, hooks (1992) explained the process of self-liberation that leads to healing and self -awareness: To all of those who love Blackness; Who dare to create in our daily lives; spaces of reconciliation and forgiveness. Where we let go of past hurt, fear, shame and hold each other close. It is only in the act and practice of loving Blackness that we are able to reach out and embrace the world without destructive bitterness and ongoing collective rage. (p. v) Review of the Question As I review the question: How have my educational experiences, as a Black female student, mother, and educator emerged into my leadership style? I first attempt to answer this question by reminding myself of why this educative journey was valuable to me as an educator and a scholar. This process is helpful educators if they allow themselves to look back on their past schooling experiences and build on the ones they recall as positive, while being mindful of the painful memories in order to ensure they do not replicate those behaviors. Using Black Feminist Thought as my methodological framework legitimized my voice as a Black woman with a story worth telling. Collins (1998) recalls, At first my class couldn’t quite believe that I wanted to hear from them. So many had been silenced by classroom practices that rewarded their obedience and punished their curiosity that they were afraid to question the public transcript known as their curriculum. (p. x) The declarations made throughout my testimony revealed to me the inner strength that I possess, just like that of Black women before me and my sisters walking beside me today. This forces me to rebuke the lies about Black women transmitted through media, schools, and society. It is my hope that this work evokes a thought, memory, or hurt that will convince those who stand before children each day to recognize the power of our platform. In examining my testimony four themes emerged: 1) legacy of struggle; 2) desire to nurture through mothering; 3)
78 Black women in leadership. All three are birthed from my womb in order for me to feel the wholeness necessary to go forward in freedom and love and to recognize the favor that is on my life. There are very few Black women who get the chance to speak their truths and have a say in how those truths are offered. Legacy of Struggle My high school has a rich history that is deeply rooted in Jim Crow. A stigma is attached to it stemming from the inception of the school, which was built by the Black community to fill the need to have a school specifically for Black students in our community. Due to the reason for its beginning, there has always been a “Black cloud” over my high school, a silent presence or implications that suggest our school is inferior to all other schools throughout the district. The structural and disciplinary domains of power operate through system wide social policies managed primarily by bureaucracies. In contrast, the hegemonic domain of power aims to justify practices in these domains of power. By manipulating ideology and culture, the hegemonic domain acts as a link between social institutions (structural domain), their organizational practices (disciplinary domain), and the level of everyday social interaction (interpersonal domain)” (Collins, 2000, p. 284).The struggle for inclusion, to be recognized and seen as a strong academic institution that produces students that who are able to contribute to their community, has always existed within the city and school district. Most people consider the school as a hub for athletic students, insinuating that students don’t excel academically, even though we had a Gate Scholar during my time as principal. In fact, two of the only three Black people to become Mayor graduated from this school. In the Beginning Recently, I had the fortunate opportunity to have a conversation with a member of the alumni association, Mrs. Jackson, who graduated out of the second class in 1937. She recalled that, when the school was first built, it was not welcomed to the city by Whites, especially those in leadership, and there were quite a few Blacks who refused to send their children to this newly built “Black school.” My grandmother would always tell me the story about her mother’s unwillingness to allow her or her sister to attend, but she allowed her brothers to attend. The existing high school, where most of the Black students were attending at that time, was led by a White female principal. The comments made by most Blacks that attended the school recall how she treated the Black students terribly and allowed White students to do the same. Mrs. Jackson
79 talked about some of the barriers they had to face at their new Black school. Books that were given to the school were old and passed down from the White schools within the district, had racial slurs in them, as well as missing pages. Some were even out dated. The district made the new Black school wait several years before they were allowed to participate in athletics within the district. They wanted them to remain a separate league from the rest of the city. She spoke highly of the teachers who were all highly qualified, and she said that she was quite glad that she attended this school led by a phenomenal principal. Finding My Legacy As a high school student, I didn’t realize the negativity that existed around the school or its origin. Both of my parents, as well as their siblings and cousins, attended there, so I used my grandmother’s address in order to be able to attend. My father wanted to pay for me to attend a Catholic high school, but I begged and pleaded to attend the school where all my family had gone to continue the legacy. Oblivious to how the city saw the school, I fell in love with everything about my school. Most of my friends didn’t have the same kind of connection that I did. They were there because that’s where they had been assigned, but soon they had the same level of pride that I had. I felt a true connection and a sense of pride to walk the halls of a school where my family had walked. There was a hallway with pictures of all the past graduating classes that symbolized a legacy of Blackness. That rich tradition strongly resounded in my heart, like I was a member of an elite club. Changing the Outcome As my professional career progressed, one of my goals was to be principal at my old high school. I wanted the opportunity to give back to students and my community. I was very naïve about all this dream entailed. The leadership courses I took that mentioned the principalship and the politics that exist within school cultures gave me no preparation. My colleague who was the principal there a year before me mentioned quite often some of her concerns and roadblocks. I dismissed her, thinking maybe she was having such a hard time because she was from another city and misunderstood intentions and actions of people. The first time I witnessed blatant unfair treatment or practices among schools took place when the district began to build new schools throughout the district. My school was replaced with a much smaller building and lacked most of the amenities put into the other high schools. The statement was made that the district did not want to even rebuild the school because the enrollment was very low. During my tenure as
80 principal the enrollment was as high as the other high schools and in the top three two years in a row. The enrollment had increased by more than 145 students. Denying Blacks citizenship was deemed essential to the formation of the original union. Hundreds of years later, America is still not an egalitarian democracy. The arguments and rationalizations that have been trotted out in support of racial exclusion and discrimination in its various forms have changed and evolved, but the outcome has remained largely the same (Alexander, 2012, p. 1). In my quest to restore the pride that once existed, it became clear that there were barriers that would not allow my school to move past the deep -rooted animosity felt by so many about a school that was built to support Black students within their community. Don’t be dismayed. This story is not finished; the fight is not over. Influencing Others My perspectives, beliefs, and experiences in schools impact the way I lead and view students within the educative process. Critical Black Feminist Leadership is significant to the future and well-being of Black children within every school community. Black educators and principals should be willing to work towards creating a culturally enriching school environment. I charge them to recall the missing components or hurts from their own educational experiences in order to create a better experience for their own students while healing themselves. I recognize that this may not be an easy process for some, but it is a necessary in order to educate our children better. Frederick Douglass (1857) wrote, If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. (n.p.) We profess we want freedom, but it takes actions and reflection that may mean struggling against dominant groups and policies. Barriers and Limitations Schools within our community are still segregated without the supports that existed during segregation. The faith in the educational system and our schools has withered away. Food deserts and empty storefronts work against our urban school children. These are factors that work against Critical Black Feminist Leaders. I spend hours speaking with parents and others
81 about believing in our schools and our children and not giving up. Students see their family members drop out to sell drugs, die, or become incarcerated, and they begin to believe that their future is destined to end the same way. John Ogbu (1998) argues that the differences in minority education and their low-level performance are caused by the treatment they receive in schools and the perceptions in society that are embedded in the minds of their teachers, administrators, and the community (p. 157-158). Black students are considered involuntary immigrants. Ogbu believed that involuntary immigrants are those who have been incorporated into society against their will. These groups have been systematically exploited throughout centuries; therefore, their culture has been depreciated from slavery and colonization (p. 165). Standardized testing has been framed in such a way as to make it seem fair, effective, objective, and incontrovertible. Changing how we assess learning requires not merely changing the tests; it requires changing how we think about tests and testing (Kumashiro, 2012, p. 7). Desire to Nurture My road to self-love and my pursuit to become an educator resonated within and became more than just my job but my calling. The birth or my earliest recollection of the calling on my life was a tutoring experience that took place in the spring of my junior year of high school. My counselor suggested that I walk down the street to the elementary school and be a part of the tutoring program that was beginning between my high school and the elementary school. I was not interested at all originally because I’m an only child and I had very little experience with people younger than me. My counselor was very persuasive, and I agreed only because I figured it beat a full day of classes. I had no idea that this experience would change the direction of my life. I entered the classroom nervous of what I may be asked to do but the teacher gave me a few students to work with individually who were struggling within the class. I worked with them one on one in the hallway, and it was like magic or a mouse to cheese. I was able to connect with them and teach them the lesson they were struggling to learn. I repeated the tutoring each week with the same students. I began to feel a bond and connection to the students, and we began to discuss their behavior, family, and their interests in general. I could see that the support I provided the students made them feel better about themselves and gave them and me the confidence we needed to put our best foot forward. At the end of the year, the teacher thanked me and told me that I was a born teacher and leader. All of the students with whom I had worked improved their grades, which made me feel like I might be
82 good at teaching. I felt my body warming on the inside like I had swallowed a match or taken a spoon of Robitussin. “The ability to love one’s self puts us in conscious opposition to the agenda of hegemony in which all thought serves the interests of dominant power holders” (King & Ferguson, 2011, p. 24). Before the school year ended, I joined Future Teachers of America, and I had decided that I was going to college to be a teacher. My mother told me she was shocked that I even wanted to attend college because of my high school performance up to that point. She said she thought I might learn a trade or go to community college. There is nothing wrong with either of those options, but my point is her expectations for me at that time had almost withered away. Run to the Light When I returned to school my senior year, I ran for president of Future Teachers, and I WON! I began to remove or loosen the negative bondage that had been smothering me since the 6th grade. This opportunity to serve may seem menial to most, but it restored a belief within me, that had died at age 12. I had never run for anything since the 6th grade. The chance to be seen by others as an intelligent Black girl with something to contribute to society or at least among my world and level of influence was gratifying and life changing for me. I continued to tutor that year and made straight A’s with the hope my grade point average would improve enough for me to get into college. The spring of senior year, it was my responsibility to oversee the end of the year banquet for FTA. I wanted to make it the best program yet and impress my classmates and advisor. I reached out to our current superintendent and asked him to be our speaker, and he accepted the invite and stated that he would be there. I was elated at the opportunity to not only meet him but introduce him at the banquet. On the day of the event, I could hardly contain myself in my new business suit with my pearl earrings and necklace. Thirty minutes before the event, he had not shown yet, and I began to get nervous, but my advisor reassured me. The program began, and he was nowhere around. I kept my composure, and my counselor filled in as the speaker. The superintendent never called me or the school to apologize or to explain his absence. My Turn! In that moment, the 6th grade Crystal cried from within, but my outer person was enraged. I made the declaration in my Sociology class that I was going to be a superintendent in this district, and I would never hurt or let down a student or a group of students like the current super had just done me. In the weeks to come, I did the research to find the requirements to be a
83 superintendent. I discovered there were quite a few steps to get there, but I was determined to make it happen! My sociology teacher called me superintendent from that moment on. His grandson was a student of mine, and he came to the school and reminded me that he is still waiting on me to take the superintendent seat. I just smiled and told him that I have my superintendent license I’m just waiting on the right opportunity. Once again, the fire inside of me had pushed me to be greater in order to bandage my hurts and work to ensure more students aren’t hurt. I labor to make sure that my students, parents, and families know that they can count on me. Unless I’m in the hospital, I remain true to any commitments because I know exactly what disappointment feels like. Model School Leaders Great school leaders come in various forms; no one is alike. They have diverse backgrounds, distinct educational experiences, different credentials, and varying outlooks on life. Although each principal is different, there are some commonalities, they all share qualities that make them great at what they do. Culturally responsive leadership (CRL) is defined as a leadership style that “has as its driving force the academic success of African American students via the promotion of pedagogical strategies based on their cultures” (Weaver, 2009, p. 120). CRL emphasizes the responsibility of educational leaders to provide an environment for academic success for students of color. We must deconstruct the importance of observing culturally responsive leaders, and the research does not present many examples to draw from. However, Vanessa Siddle-Walker (2003) offered a model of culturally responsive leadership in her research project. Siddle-Walker (2003) conducted a study that chronicled the principalship of Ulysses Byas, an African American principal during the era of segregation in the south. African American principals had to complete the daily administrative tasks of operating a school building (evaluating teachers, hiring, planning school events, etc.), but after those tasks were completed, the real work began, which was being an advocate for African American children (Dillard, 1995; Siddle-Walker, 2003). Siddle-Walker (2003) study illuminated the components of a culturally responsive leader exemplified during the era of segregation. During that time, Black educational leaders had to carry the weight of the entire community on their shoulders, whether they wanted to or not, but the weight could not be carried by them alone. Byas’ commitment to the African American community was steeped in the notion of enhancing the educational opportunities of African American students by providing them with an education equivalent to the dominant
84 cultural group. Byas believed in garnering community support to advance the Black educational agenda, so he ventured out into the community and did home visits and met at local churches. His leadership approach was “distinctly more nuanced than that of his White counterparts because he was engaged in the building of a race” (Siddle-Walker, 2003, p. 72). He created an Afrocentric or African-centered curriculum for his students to reinforce the importance of their cultural heritage. He also believed in deconstructing the sociocultural and sociopolitical constraints that tried to hinder the advancement of his community. Byas’ belief was to prepare all students for the present conditions of society, and he wanted to equip them with the necessary tools for their upward mobility. There are modern day school leaders like Principal Byas. These leaders are trailblazers within the field of education and exemplify leadership. They stepped away from public schools and started their own schools in order to create their vision and beliefs of what school should represent. When I was in school, I needed Marva Collins, Geoffrey Canada or Dr. Steven Perry. Their commitment to their community gives me some direction for my future leadership choices. Geoffrey Canada’s philosophy and outlook rests on liberal and conservative ideas (Del Rio, 2015). He believes that the economy systematically disservices poor people, despite how hard they work, but he also thinks poor parents must raise their children better (Del Rio, 2015). It is important for parents to know that school leaders have expectations for them as well. When I talk to parents about the importance of daily attendance and staying engaged with their child’s teachers, my purpose is to help parents see their role in the education of their children. Canada knows that poor children, especially poor Black children, can succeed in big numbers; success can be normalized. Success to him includes good reading scores, grades, and graduation rates for average students, not just the smartest, more motivated, or students with involved parents (Del Rio, 2015). In some schools, the same students get all the accolades and get picked to represent the school while others are slighted. His beliefs rest on the fact that individual children will do better if the children around them are doing better (Del Rio, 2015). Canada’s approach attacks how to equalize the playing field so that poor children can perform at the same level as middle- class children, because he believes that under-resourced communities stack the odds against those children, not allowing them the same opportunity at success as kids in more privileged communities (Del Rio, 2015).
85 Marva Collins made it a point to show how much she cared for each student (Biondi, 2018). She was generous with praise and hugs, but also balanced care and challenge. Collins maintained a respect for her students’ intellectual independence, even if they disagreed with her, in order to make sure they felt seen and had high self-esteem. She aimed to strengthen their courage and ambition, and her critical element was to instill self-worth and convince children that they are born to succeed (Biondi, 2018). Her impact is notable, “thousands of students who had been written off as ‘unteachable’ were able to lead meaningful, productive lives because one woman refused to give up on them” (Biondi, 2018, n.p.). Dr. Perry has been coined as one of the most talked about innovative educators (Hanson, 2015). His school, Capital Preparatory Magnet School, has been named as of one of the top schools in the country. The school has sent 100% of its predominantly low-income, minority, first generation high school graduates to four-year colleges since 2006. (Hanson, 2015). He sees children for what they can be, and not what they are (Mariama-Arthur, 2015). Perry does not focus on limitations; he focuses on possibilities. His demanding approach has proven itself to yield great results for students and their families. All three of these CRL leaders worked to improve the educational process for some students, but there are still countless numbers of students who have not been that fortunate. I see Critical Black Feminist Leadership as a combination of all three of these great leadership styles. As I move forward and continue to cultivate my own leadership style, I am researching the option of starting my own charter school as I look to implement my vision and affect change on a larger scale. The Birth of my New Baby!
Even though my tenure as principal has ended, the need for me to continue Critical Black Feminist Leadership led me to create Black Girl Leadership. My focus is on the needs of Black women and girls within the Dayton Community. There are an alarming number of female juvenile offenders in Montgomery County, and the number of mothers raising their children has declined. BGL recognizes that, to change these growing needs within our community, Black women must begin to create a network to support, influence, and empower one another to be
86 strong Black women and girls. This in turn will help them to tap into their resilience and brilliance and utilize their unique gifts. We cultivate within them the insight to realize that they are jewels to be celebrated. We seek to reclaim our families and breakdown the oppressive structures and stereotypes that currently exist within the daily lives of Black women and girls. Year One In 2018, we held a Pre-College Conference in July for thirty girls entering into their freshman year of college. The conference discussed time management, healthy eating, quick morning exercise routine for the dorm room, making safe decision making. We also held a panel discussion on entrepreneurship and ways to use their gifts or talents as a tool to earn extra money while in school. The girls were given school supplies and Walmart gift cards, and a few baskets with college dorm room supplies were given away. In October, we held an informational meeting for professional women interested in pursuing their doctoral degree. University of Dayton, Miami University, Wright State, and the University of Cincinnati were present to pass out information about their programs. There was a panel of Black women with doctoral degrees to speak about their process and encourage the women who were in attendance. Also, in October we had our first fundraiser, an Adult Costume Halloween Party, to raise money for our Scholarship Fund. It is our goal to give away four scholarships to high school girls who show leadership ability within their school and in the community. In December, we held two Rap Sessions to discuss how the first semester went for the girls and to remind the girls of their brilliance. The planning for year two has begun, with a Paint Party in March and a Bowling Tournament in April. BGL is currently working on becoming a non-profit organization and planning the calendar for more events. BGL Mission The BGL Mission is to implement strategies that identify, minimize, and remove barriers Black women and girls face in their daily lives, while working to build character, self -image, and a professionally ambitious network of support among women, and to change the narrative of Black women and girls within our community. This empowering network will work to transform lives positively and impact the Black family, our community, and ultimately change the world.
87 Chant Black girl leadership. Brave, bold, caring, and true. Global, powerful, brilliant, shrewd. BGL Doctoral Pledge I am a strong, black girl, who is a leader, and an educated woman! I give myself permission to Dream BIG! Me fulfilling my dreams doesn’t make me a bad mother, a neglectful wife, nor a slacker at my job. I deserve to have something to call my own. Something just for me! My Doctoral Degree! We pledge together! We pledge to each other! We pledge to ourselves! Few Are Called! Woodson (1933), declared, “real education means to inspire people to live more abundantly, to learn to begin with life as they find it and make it better” (p. 17). As a Black female principal, my approach was to innovatively employ a Matriarchal style of leadership. This other-mothering leadership style allows students to dismiss their negative school experiences, to become open to new outlooks, and to begin to see themselves as capable learners. Parents begin to view their child’s school experiences much differently from their own and become advocates and partners in their child’s education. Community members and organizations become extended family that serve as a village to foster social-emotional and educational support for students and their families. This nurturing can change the lives of Black students within an urban school. In the course of my 23 years in public education, I have worked under 6 superintendents, a large number of supervisors, and hundreds of colleagues. I am in no way trying to paint a picture that there are no other people within our district or state who care about students, their families, and our community. In fact, quite the opposite, the school leaders that are currently in schools face a tremendous amount of pressure. There are millions of school principals, but very few are called. It is just their chosen profession. “Education is not a job for the weak willed; there are so many elements that fight against us” (Delpit, 2012, p. 194). The effects of my 6th grade emotions, the students in caskets that I have stood over or have seen arrested on the news, their spirits live on within me and convict me every day to work harder. I am liberated by my works! Luke 4:18 says,
88 The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.
89 References
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