“Witness us in our battles”: Four student projections of black female academics

Describes four projective patterns characterizing black female professors′ experiences with students. Implications for the teacher as change agent frame the conceptualization of projections inferred from African American female academics′ experiences. The patterns of the“too good” mother; the “degraded” authority; the“exception to my race”; and the “ally” in marginality are supported by anecdotal data from over ten years of clinical practice with black professional women. Each projective pattern is discussed in the light of differential student dynamics within and across race and gender.