The Politics of Ethnic Studies, Cultural Centers, and Student Activism: The Voices of Black Women at the Academic Borderlands

Through employing critical narratives, this qualitative study examined the experiences of Black women who utilized their scholarship and activism to address campus climates at a predominantly Chicanx Latinx institution in Southern California. Six Black women--two faculty, two staff, and two students--participated in the study. All participants were active with Ethnic Studies (Pan-African Studies), the campus Cross Cultural Centers, and Black Student Union student organization in some capacity. Literature on the three areas focuses on the history of and ongoing struggle to exist, significance to campus life, and meaning in the lives of marginalized and minoritized communities. The study used three frameworks: Critical Pedagogy, Critical Race Theory, and Black Feminist and Black Womanist Theory to analyze the critical narratives of the women. Findings revealed Black women integrate community issues into their professional and personal lives, experience rare moments of being celebrated, and must contend with intentional efforts to silence their voices and activism. This study, informed by the Ethnic Studies politics of higher education, contributes to this field by identifying how Black women activists contribute to the moral and ethical leadership of campus climate conversations. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]