First Advisor
Yakaboski, Tamara
Document Type
Dissertation
Date Created
12-2019
Abstract
This study explored the experiences of 10 Black women doctoral students’ experiences with their intersectional identities in race-based activist work. Grounded in Black feminist thought and critical race feminism, participants engaged in a multi-method inquiry that employed in-depth interviews. “Artistic Story” was additionally used as a method to provoke intentional reflection. Counterstory methodology with the influences of testimonio and testifying techniques, coupled with an endarkend feminist epistemology, situated the study to commit to a reflective process that engaged the researcher and the participants simultaneously. The data analysis first revealed the theme unconscious back-seating, where participants were regulated to the back-seat in ways that they were not fully aware. Additionally, the subthemes identified that these women were socialized to serve, had a fear of isolation, in which they did not want to cause riffs among the Black community, and the women were bringing other voices, to center marginalized persons. Secondly, the theme, conscious back-seating indicated how the participants were back-seated in ways they intentionally chose. The subtheme, Fuck it! I’ll do it! expressed the frustration participants felt when movement was slow on issues or other items were not being addressed, thus they took on the work. Implications and recommendations included Black women developing self-care and mental health practices and centering Black women in conversations on womanhood and sexism.
Extent
188 pages
Local Identifiers
Lenzy_unco_0161D_10770.pdf
Rights Statement
Copyright is held by the author.
Recommended Citation
Lenzy, Cherjanet Diane, "We Were Asked to Deny a Part of Ourselves —and We Did: How Black Women Doctoral Students Experience Their Intersectional Identities in Race-Based Activism" (2019). Dissertations. 631.
https://digscholarship.unco.edu/dissertations/631