Spirit, Space, and Survival: African American Women in (White) Academe

Spirit, Space, and Survival: African American Women in (White) Academe.

Spirit, Space, and Survival: African American Women in (White) Academe provides a valuable resource for women in the academy. The collection's critique is academic racism is rich and multifaceted, and it is sustained by its centering in the voices of African American women in white academia. Spirit, Space, and Survival seeks to nurture African American women in academia and to validate their painful experiences in a white dominated institution. Ruth Farmer notes, "One of my friends said that African American women in White institutions should get combat pay. I wholeheartedly agree" (212). And Elizabeth Hadley Freydberg cogently argues, "The paradigm of exclusion is consistently played out in academia.... There are numerous and increasing stories related by and about my sisters experiencing mental breakdowns, attempted suicides, paranoia, neurological infirmities and hypertension caused by stress in the extreme" (52). Spirit, Space, and Survival: African American Women in (White) Academe also provides critical tools for active antiracism in feminist efforts to transform academia.

Following a foreword by Angela Davis and an introduction by the editors, the anthology is divided into three sections, addressing separately the concepts of spirit, space, and survival. The section on "spirit" has three essays: "Mixed Blood, New Voices" by Kaylynn Sullivan Two-Trees, "Carrying On" by Joyce J. Scott, and "African Philosophy, Theory, and 'Living Thinkers'" by Joy James. The second section addresses the concept of "space" in five articles: "American Studies: Melting Pot or Pressure...