That's the Way Love Goes: On Black Women Leaders, Family Stories, and Higher Education

Abstract

Black women leaders are daring to reimagine higher education. Infusing love in their leadership practices, they embark on unconventional journeys. Repurposing family stories, these leaders consider love and apply the elusive concept to leadership. The utility of retrospective family storytelling fortifies Black women leaders in this quest. In the challenging realm of academia, Black women battle to survive professionally and personally. Arguably, retrospective family storytelling is a determinant of Black women leaders' survival and sustenance at predominately white institutions of higher education. A complex relationship remains between Black women in academia and the metanarratives manufactured by the dominant group. Even when Black women reach the pinnacle of success, the threat of exclusion and marginalization looms. Often, racial and gender-related stressors are backdrops. Despite these challenges, Black women employ progressive strategies, such as love, as a means of resistance, a tactical force to reconfigure the anatomy of higher education.