On “Qualified Women and Minorities”
I am a descendant of African-American slaves. One of my ancestors is my great grandmother – Rose Hubbard Thirkill – from the Thirkill Plantation in Alabama. She is in this picture, with my great grandfather – George, and my grandmother, as a 3 year-old girl, Eula. Enslaved Africans in America were prohibited and often even […]
It’s Time for Women Warriors in the World: Lessons from Africa about Life and Leadership
Ethiopia. The only country on the continent that was not colonized A place of fields, Plains of grains, Expansive yellows blending into sunrises and sunsets. Ethiopia. Teeming with Black bodies, masses moving through streets With mules, Carts and cars, Smells of spices and sweat. Intermingled. Ethiopia. Home to Lalibela, a sacred site of 11 […]
Simon Says, “Take Two Giant Steps Backward.”
This post is dedicated to President Joanne Epps, interim president of Temple University and Dr. Orinthia T. Montague, President of Volunteer State Community College, two Black women presidents who died this week. It is also dedicated to all the women of color for whom I founded the Faculty Women of Color in the Academy National […]
A Summer of #BlackGirlMagic
I played professional tennis after I graduated from high school. My dad was my coach. I had tears running down my face after Coco won and she hugged her father and mother. I felt like I understood the feeling, even if just a little bit. But more importantly, I was so happy to be witnessing […]
You say you want to be an ally, but do you really?
You say you want to be an ally, but do you really? Original post, July, 2020. Updated August 2023. You say you want to be an ally, but do you really? If so, Show Up. Step In. Stand In. Stay In. In July 2020, three black women and three white women had an “open conversation.” […]
Looking for Justice: Metaphors, Children’s Books, and the Three Little Pigs
Chronicles of ACE: Volume 1, No. 1 I am starting my ACE Fellowship bootcamp tomorrow. Before descending into non-stop conversation about leadership and higher education, I needed to find a little respite. I headed across the street to the Minnesota Wildife Refuge. Unexpectedly, I walked upon a lending library I love these and how they […]
The Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) — A Nearly Impossible Job
Originally written in 2020, updated in 2023. I originally wrote this post in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd. Many Chief Diversity Officer positions were created ion the aftermath of his murder at universities and corporations. In the context of an aggressive assault on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at the local, state, and […]
Freedom, Affirmative Action, and the Black College Institute
I was eleven years old when I learned a new word – Bakke. I wasn’t sure what it was – a person or a disease. My parents angrily hurled the word out of their mouths like a venom: “Bakke, Bakke, Bakke”. They acted as if their world had changed overnight. And perhaps it had. It […]
Formidable Woman Magazine Interview
May 2023 Interview in Formidable Woman Magazine Over the course of an almost 30-year career as a Black woman lawyer, professor, and administrator, I have faced extraordinary and sometimes unfathomable injustice, racism, sexism, inequal pay, lack of promotion, macroaggressions, hyper-invisibility, marginalization, and humiliation. Unfortunately, I believe these challenges and experiences are commonplace for women of […]
On this Day, Black History Happened at Virginia Tech
Today was such a special, once-in-a-lifetime experience for me at Virginia Tech. The African American chair of the Board of Visitors’ Nominating Committee, Greta Harris, on behalf of the committee nominated the first Black rector, Ed Baine, and a Black Vice-Rector, Sharon Brickhouse-Martin. In Greta’s remarks, she acknowledged that last night, there was a dinner […]