LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations 4-24-2019 Critical Mentorship for Black Girls: An Autoethnography of Perseverance, Commitment, and Empowerment Krystal Huff Loyola Marymount University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/etd Part of the African American Studies Commons, and the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons Recommended Citation Huff, Krystal, "Critical Mentorship for Black Girls: An Autoethnography of Perseverance, Commitment, and Empowerment" (2019). LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations. 804. https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/etd/804 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY Critical Mentorship for Black Girls: An Autoethnography of Perseverance, Commitment, and Empowerment by Krystal Huff A dissertation presented to the Faculty of the School of Education, Loyola Marymount University, in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education 2019 A Black Girl and Her Mentors: A Story of Perseverance, Commitment, and Empowerment Copyright © 2019 by Krystal Huff ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, thank you God for always keeping me and lifting me in the most amaZing ways. It is a blessing that I have made it this far. Thank you to my big sister and first mentor, Nicole, for going against the grain and paving a way for my two little sisters and me to follow. We are your legacy. Thank you to my baby sister, Nessa, who literally carried me when I couldn’t walk and served as my support during some of the most tumultuous times throughout this program. I am forever indebted to you. Thank you to my little sister, Charmaine, whose work and pursuit of higher education continues to inspire me. Keep going! You are killing it! To my fiancé, Jonathan, the love of my life, thank you for being my strength in my weakness, my happiness through the sadness, my motivation through my doubt, and my light in the darkness. You are my heart, and I appreciate everything thing about you! Thank you to my doctoral bestie, Rene, who opened his heart and home to me throughout this challenging journey. This wouldn’t have been the same without you. A special thank you to my great many critical mentors who housed me, guided me, nurtured me, and motivated me. This dissertation would not have been possible without your radical love, Nicole, Ms. Smith, Ms. Morehead, Rena, Nessa, Rochelle, and Dr. Tushabe. May your light shine through me and into the hearts of generations of Black girls. To the revolutionary Dardarites of Cohort 13: Tina Evans, Ariane White, Shadi Seyed Yousef, Stephanie Goodman, and Rene Lozano; thank you for holding space, inspiring me, and helping me to see this through to the end. Your words and research were often my comfort. iii To Dr. Kortney HernandeZ and Dr. Sofia Vergara, two dynamic Darderites from previous cohorts, thank you for your radical love and support throughout this time. I deeply appreciate your answering every last-minute call, all your reading and reviewing of drafts, and the critical feedback that you shared. You helped shape this work, and for that, I thank you! To Dr. William Parham, thank you for your consistent support; from the initial meetings when I was only beginning to conceptualiZe this work, to the encouragement in the final days of this program. Your wisdom, warmth, and patience allowed me to rest assured that I would reach the finish line. To Dr. Torrie Weiston-Serdan, thank you for your amaZing foundational work on critical mentoring. It was not until I read your work that I had the words to describe the impactful experiences that were the sources of my strength and perseverance. Thank you for serving as a critical mentor to your young people, mentors across the nation, and to budding scholars who aim to spend their lives supporting the liberation and success of young people. You are an inspiration. Last and definitely not least, thank you to one of my critical mentors, Dr. Antonia Darder. Conducting an autoethnographic study was an emotionally, intellectually, and physically challenging process that resurfaced years of both pain and joy. I am deeply grateful that you suggested this deeply healing research course and for your radical love that nurtured me through the tears, laughs, and the enlightening realiZations about myself and my life. You are the true definition of an othermother, leading generations of scholars, practitioners, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and friends in becoming facilitators of emancipatory liberation. All my love to you! iv DEDICATION To all of my little sisters, my future little sisters, my future daughters, and their daughters: this is for you. Take this and absorb the Black girl magic when the world tries to make you forget who you are. You are a queen, a revolutionary, a mother of nature and of the world. Wear your crown with pride and don’t ever take it off. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................................... iii DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ ix LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... x ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1 Statement of the Problem ............................................................................................................. 5 RacialiZation of Black Girls ......................................................................................................... 7 Education .................................................................................................................................. 8 #Blackgirlmagic and Counter Narratives ............................................................................... 11 Interventions ........................................................................................................................... 12 Purpose and Significance of the Study ...................................................................................... 14 Research Questions .................................................................................................................... 16 Conceptual Framework .............................................................................................................. 16 Black Feminism ..................................................................................................................... 17 Black Girlhood Studies .......................................................................................................... 18 Critical Mentoring .................................................................................................................. 19 Methodology .............................................................................................................................. 23 Positionality ............................................................................................................................... 25 Limitations ................................................................................................................................. 26 Delimitations .............................................................................................................................. 27 Definitions and Key Terms ........................................................................................................ 28 OrganiZation of Dissertation ...................................................................................................... 29 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................. 31 Racial and Gendered SocialiZation of Black Girls .................................................................... 32 Black Feminism and Black Girlhood Studies ............................................................................ 38 Black Feminism ..................................................................................................................... 38 Black Girlhood Studies .......................................................................................................... 44 Traditional Mentoring as Cultural Invasion ............................................................................... 48 Mentoring Black Girls and Women ........................................................................................... 51 Mentoring in Childhood ......................................................................................................... 51 Mentoring Black Female Adolescents ................................................................................... 52 Mentoring Black Females in the Academy and Beyond .......................................................