In 2016, I joined the faculty at Saint Mary's College of California, in the Department of Leadership. Born and raised in South Los Angeles, I graduated from UCLA in 2003 as a Psychology major, with minors in Education and Applied Developmental Psychology. I enrolled in UCLA's Teacher Education Program in 2003, where I earned my Masters in Education and teaching credential. For several years I had the privilege of teaching high school English at my alma mater. In 2008, I returned to UCLA's Graduate School of Education and Information Studies and obtained a Ph.D. in Urban Schooling in 2014. After earning my doctorate, I worked for two years at Columbia University's Teachers College, as the Provost's Postdoctoral Research Fellow.
My research advances Black feminist pedagogy and Black women’s educational parenting strategies as disruptors to school-based stressors that threaten Black girl learners’ opportunities to thrive. I also examine how young Black women's identities are co-constructed and mediated within and outside the schooling context. In 2016 I inaugurated And Still We Rise Conference on Black Girls and Women in Education at Teachers College. This daylong professional development drew K-12 educators, graduate students, educational researchers, and stakeholders from myriad disciplines to identify the barriers facing Black women and girl learners and highlighted policies and practices that have advanced tangible interventions for this population.
As a scholar-activist, my research explores the transformative potential of Black feminist theoretical, pedagogical, and mothering traditions. Equity & Excellence in Education, International Journal of Educational Reform, and The Urban Review feature notable articles that I have authored. Additionally, my book, Engendering #BlackGirlJoy: How to Cultivate Empowered Identities and Educational Persistence in Struggling Schools was released in summer 2021! Drawing on my experience as a high school teacher, the book offers curricular strategies and a humanizing paradigm that teachers may engage to alleviate Black girl learners’ systematic disenfranchisement and disparate school outcomes.
My research advances Black feminist pedagogy and Black women’s educational parenting strategies as disruptors to school-based stressors that threaten Black girl learners’ opportunities to thrive. I also examine how young Black women's identities are co-constructed and mediated within and outside the schooling context. In 2016 I inaugurated And Still We Rise Conference on Black Girls and Women in Education at Teachers College. This daylong professional development drew K-12 educators, graduate students, educational researchers, and stakeholders from myriad disciplines to identify the barriers facing Black women and girl learners and highlighted policies and practices that have advanced tangible interventions for this population.
As a scholar-activist, my research explores the transformative potential of Black feminist theoretical, pedagogical, and mothering traditions. Equity & Excellence in Education, International Journal of Educational Reform, and The Urban Review feature notable articles that I have authored. Additionally, my book, Engendering #BlackGirlJoy: How to Cultivate Empowered Identities and Educational Persistence in Struggling Schools was released in summer 2021! Drawing on my experience as a high school teacher, the book offers curricular strategies and a humanizing paradigm that teachers may engage to alleviate Black girl learners’ systematic disenfranchisement and disparate school outcomes.