Chapter 6: Grace at the Top: A Black Feminist Perspective on Critical Leadership in the Academy

Documented shortages of women of color in education, educational leadership, and tenure-line academic appointments in particular, compounded by their need for and benefit from mentoring and direct access, inspired this researcher to chronicle her own participatory journey from first-generation undergraduate student to academic appointment. This contribution will incorporate elements of testimonio—testimonial narrative—from a Black feminist perspective (Jara, 1986; M. Q. Patton, 2002). Data collection for the inquiry covered the span of 10 years and featured personal experiences and engagement of the author incorporating memories as captured by life notes, journal entries, scholarly papers, and published articles by the researcher as viable forms of data. In auto-ethnographic tradition, the author described her experiences in three phases.