Thread by @BerondaM

Twitter Talk (thread): "I am not Your Savioress: Consistently Honoring the Intrinsic Value of Black Women’s Intellectual Labor & Cultural Capital in STEM" by @BerondaM from @profnicolej's "Understanding the Intersections of Race, Gender, & Gifted Education"bit.ly/3f4I2rL

The chapter (abstract below) started as much of my #writing does in an active thinking/#reflection process in the midst of my doing GOOD work in a system in turmoil. Something that I wish was a less frequent occurrence for me as a Black woman in #highered
bit.ly/3f4I2rL

In this #reflection & strategizing mode, @profnicolej sent me a cc: tweet about her pending book "Understanding the Intersections of Race, Gender, & Gifted Education" & my first thought was that's nice but I'm not sure I have anything to say in that realm
bit.ly/3f4I2rL

I didn't initially think I had much to say; I was wrong. Ongoing issues on my campus & #highered at-large kept bringing me back to the issue of how Black women are too frequently hypervisible as "symbols" of diversity & invisible when it's time to recognize them fully as scholars

I submitted an abstract & truly felt that the conceptualization of the work itself was therapeutic, and a success for me in & of itself, even if I wasn't invited to submit a full paper. As I've shared before I write for so many purposes including personal #reflection & processing

Then came an invitation to write the full work, a thoughtful & deeply constructive peer review process & the TRUE GIFT of work with @profnicolej as editor. Her "pushes", affirmations & margin notes are legendary! The piece is what it is because of the care she gave it & the work

So, what do I discuss therein:
The ways in which systems—I focus on #STEM but it's true FAR beyond as I quote regarding America often stating that Black women 'save America' in voting & other ways—can position Black women as SYMBOLS of diversity & progress
bit.ly/3f4I2rL

In engaging ways that I & other Black women can push back against such positioning as savioresses, I engage @lesliedgonzales's work on conceptualization & definitions of knowledge production, @TabbyeChavous & colleagues work of hyper/invisibility & micro-aggressions/invalidations

I also grapple with @RelationshipGAP & colleagues work on who has to "prove" their place & who gets the benefit of the doubt; @ProfKori's excellent work on "know your place agression"; @SaraNAhmed's "On Being Included"; all @DrYoFiggy taught me about "Faithful Witnessing" & more

There's much more but I'll end with a quote below & thanks again to @profnicolej for the opportunity. There's other chapters by great authors including @IBJIYONGI, @LuisLeyvaEdu, @NicolRHoward, @worldmathprobs, @SciEd4SocImpact among others. Thanks for coming to my Twitter Talk!!

Coda: I also thank @ProfessorCrunk whose declaration “the mantle of ‘savior of America’ is far too heavy a load for Black women to carry” inspired me in the #writing; & other sista scholars incl @WendyGSmooth @Renetta_Tull #patriciahillcollins & @sandylocks whom I cite therein