Chapter 1: Daughters surviving pandemics while Teaching and Healing: A Conversation on the Black Hand Side

Even in intense moments such as a global health and anti-Black racial pandemic, Black women have been required to shapeshift as we balance our roles as nurturers, connectors, and care providers. This chapter, as evidenced throughout the book, discusses how communal circles serve to protect our spiritual, cultural, intellectual, and mental health. Specifically, this chapter explores the following questions:

1. What is a collective Black women’s community, and what role, if any, does it play in mitigating white supremacy and patriarchy?

2. How might Black women’s literary works and intellectual thought help facilitate a habit of writing to heal personally and professionally? We offer ideas, thoughts, and reflections in an authentic conversation as we navigate various spaces while teaching and healing. Grounded in works by Black authors and using a Black feminist lens, readers will learn communal healing through a sister circle.