“Fore Day in the Mornin” and Black Women in Academe: Embracing Opportunities and Confronting Microaggressions

Abstract

This author reflects on her academic career spanning three decades as a Black woman in higher education. Ironically, the elders' sayings she heard and detested as a child resonated throughout her career. While in eighth grade, her grandmother admonished her for being deceptive and trying “to pull one over” on her and said that this author would need “to get up ‘fore day in the mornin’” to accomplish that feat. “Fore day in the mornin” must have been the time before her grandmother was fully alert, astute, and had the most clarity. For Black women to succeed in the academy, we must remain alert and recognize when faculty, administrators, and students attempt to pull one over with microaggressions and other forms of resistance. Microaggressions and resistance were perpetrated across race and gender lines, and occasionally by those who look like her. Having been reared in urban and low-income communities, the author acknowledged the investments she received throughout her schooling and career from both members of the academy and from Black communities. Consequently, her mission to improve outcomes in schools and communities, much like those in which she grew up, has not changed in 33 years. Understanding race and culture in self-definition and identity are discussed, followed by embracing opportunities and return on investments. There are increased calls for reciprocal and culturally responsive mentor–protégé relationships and successful strategies for tenure and promotion. The author makes meaning of both successful and challenging critical incidents in the academy.

Citation

Walker, B.L. (2024), "“Fore Day in the Mornin” and Black Women in Academe: Embracing Opportunities and Confronting Microaggressions", Walker, B.L. (Ed.) Journeys of Black Women in Academe (Diversity in Higher Education, Vol. 26), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-364420240000026001