Too Brilliant, Too Black: The Institutional Fear of Black Womanhood

Table of Links

Abstract and 1 Introduction

2. Early Life

3. Whiteness as an Institution

4. The Triple Threat

5. The Academic Plantation Field

6. The Future Is Black Women

7. Imagination as a Tool

8. Imagination through Research

9. Imagination through Play

10. Collaboration as Imagination

11. Conclusions and References

4. The Triple Threat

As Black women, we suffer double exploitation due to what Crenshaw (1991) calls intersectionality, which is the way anti-black policies and gender inequities result in gender anti-black racism. The third silent threat we rarely discuss is the threat of being highly formally educated in addition to being a Black woman. The intersection of gendered anti-black racism has a particular impact on darker-skinned women. As a dark-skinned Black woman initially, I was unaware of how racism intersected with colorism as a young adult. Today, as a professional, I can clearly see the way my darker skin plays a huge role in the oppression I face. I have been in numerous spaces where women of color have been at the “table”, and when I got there, I was the only darker-skinned woman of color. I have also witnessed how other women of color conducted a classroom difficult conversation the same way I have and received praise, whereas I have been told in anonymous surveys from students that my “tone is making everyone uncomfortable” when I am direct in my dialogue. Furthermore, I have witnessed advisors and faculty who were a part of my doctoral process pit me against the one other lighter-skinned Black woman who was in my cohort. Somehow, when advising me on how to go about my career and work, they would refer to the other student’s approach to her work as an example of “excellent” research and her career trajectory. While I agreed that my fellow doctoral sister-friend’s work is, in fact, stellar, the conversations made me extremely uneasy. My body told me it was more to the comparison; however, I did not have the language at the start of my career. We were both brilliant Black women, and if whiteness had won, we would not have been on the same team. Thankfully, she and I both understand abundance, and there is room for both of us; however, our intellect and collaboration are a direct threat to whiteness. Institutional whiteness seeks to divide. Centering Blackness leads to collaboration.

While our Blackness and womanhood are constantly used as a DEI checkmark, our educational success and intel are viewed as a threat. Thomas et al. (2013) conceptualized the theory “pet to threat”, through a psychological study of Black women’s journey to their mid-career which highlights how bosses go from liking Black women to disliking them and deeming them a threat to the work environment and institution. Black women are the belly of the world. Hartman (2016) states, “The plantation is a womb/abyss. The plantation is the belly of the world.” Black women function as an intellectual plantation within institutions; we are the primary producers, conceptualizers, and creators within social service organizations and academia. Our creation is inductive. We seek to create new epistemological and ontological frameworks. Despite our circumstances and structural oppression, we still manage to use our imagination and vision. When I was first hired in many of my professional roles, directors and managers were excited about my passion and creative imagination. I have encountered numerous occasions where directors expressed being impressed with my academic and professional achievements despite my upbringing in a resource-deficient environment. In one instance in particular, a white male CEO interviewing me for a consulting position bluntly asked, ‘How did you make it this far given your upbringing?’. While to some, these comments might serve as a compliment, if listening closely, there is almost an undertone of “you are not supposed to survive what was designed to harm you”. The survival of Black womanhood, despite what Collins (2000) calls the “matrix of domination”, is often appalling to folks who have power. It also serves as a threat because the more we survive and thrive as Black women, the more we threaten the reality of the ideologies of dominance. Whiteness is exposed for the lies it has created and perpetuated. Resistance is crucial.

Due to my on-the-ground training in advocacy and education, I have resisted within institutions and have not been forced to resign or terminated (yet). I have, however, been silenced, uninvited to meetings, and labeled a “troublemaker”. My training in policy has supported me in navigating institutional violence, but I also acknowledge that I will never be able to holistically exist in an institution that was not designed for people who look like me. Although I have not been removed from any of my employment positions, I have been surveilled and “set up”. On two occasions, I have had directors inadvertently send me emails and text messages about me with an outlined plan to watch my every move to document a mistake for human resource purposes. I have had a white male CEO include me in an email not for me and say, “we are going to get her ass”. On both occasions, I responded back to the messages, and both parties ignored my response to protect themselves. Whiteness is sloppy; when confronted, whiteness shrinks.

There is a shelf life for Black women working in institutions that center power. I experienced and observed that Black women seem to have approximately eighteen months to two years within institutions before they become a threat. There is a constant dehumanization and ungendering that happens to Black women in institutions which is designed and regulated by institutional policies. Black women have historically been “ungendered” since US chattel slavery. The constant ungendering served as a justification and institutional functioning of US chattel slavery (Spillers 2013). This ungendering happens within institutions the moment darker-skinned Black women’s passion is labeled aggressive or “unprofessional”. Our intellect, leadership, and drive for change are viewed as “having an agenda”, when in fact I have admitted to an agenda during the interview process. The agenda is racial and gender equity. What was previously celebrated and sought after is now controlled, deemed unprofessional, and an ultimate threat to the institution. Whiteness perpetuates harm to protect itself.