Like Tiff said, I can’t believe it’s been a whole year already. An entire 365 days...and then some, but ya know: CP Time.
I would be remiss if I didn’t begin by taking a moment to thank Tiff for just being the amazing human she is. If you’re reading this and you know me you know that I’m always coming up with some half-baked idea and I could not be more thankful to Tiff for working with me to make this one come to life. Her patience (because she often displays a lot of it when working with me), love, drive, and determination inspire me daily. She has been the yin to my yang and is absolutely, positively the best person to be doing this work with.
We’ve done so0o0o0o0o much in just a year (I won’t rehash all Tiff already laid out). I’m constantly amazed by how quickly the Blackademia community is growing and I love the way folks are getting involved. I’m thankful for everyone who has partnered with us on all of our projects in this first year (I don’t want to name anyone only b/c I don’t want to miss anyone) and I’m excited about collaborating with you all further in the future.
For me, Blackademia has become a space where I can shoot it straight and be totally candid about my experiences as a Black woman pursuing her PhD. I don’t have to mince words or play nice here. Y’all get it. I’m thankful to have found a community of other scholars who get it. It has taught me the importance of speaking truth to power and, in the words of bell hooks, talking back. In a lot of ways this blog has given me the courage to pursue scholarship that is not only interesting to and fulfilling for me, but work that I now know is meaningful and necessary. It has provided me with a space to discuss dope books (that I’m sure I will almost never find on a syllabus in my program) in community in the digital realm with other dope sistas doing amazing work. On the days I question why I am even still pursuing this PhD, Blackademia has reminded me of why.
This space was never meant to be about just me and Tiff. In fact, it won’t ever work if it’s just us. Our goal is for this thing to become a community space - less posting from us and more from you; less Blackademics of the Month from us and more from you. We want to read the books you want to read. We want to sit down with the scholars you want to hear from. We want you to be involved. Our goal is to facilitate a space where we can be completely and entirely who are are. We want this to be a space where our voices and ideas aren’t stifled or overlooked. Where we can exist in these academic spaces and be fully Black, fully scholarly, fully administrative, and fully whatever else it is we want to be. Because we deserve the right to be.
Before this turns into some long sappy rant, I’ll stop here.
But thank y’all for rockin’ out with us for a full year. Here’s to 2018.
Onward and upward.
I would be remiss if I didn’t begin by taking a moment to thank Tiff for just being the amazing human she is. If you’re reading this and you know me you know that I’m always coming up with some half-baked idea and I could not be more thankful to Tiff for working with me to make this one come to life. Her patience (because she often displays a lot of it when working with me), love, drive, and determination inspire me daily. She has been the yin to my yang and is absolutely, positively the best person to be doing this work with.
We’ve done so0o0o0o0o much in just a year (I won’t rehash all Tiff already laid out). I’m constantly amazed by how quickly the Blackademia community is growing and I love the way folks are getting involved. I’m thankful for everyone who has partnered with us on all of our projects in this first year (I don’t want to name anyone only b/c I don’t want to miss anyone) and I’m excited about collaborating with you all further in the future.
For me, Blackademia has become a space where I can shoot it straight and be totally candid about my experiences as a Black woman pursuing her PhD. I don’t have to mince words or play nice here. Y’all get it. I’m thankful to have found a community of other scholars who get it. It has taught me the importance of speaking truth to power and, in the words of bell hooks, talking back. In a lot of ways this blog has given me the courage to pursue scholarship that is not only interesting to and fulfilling for me, but work that I now know is meaningful and necessary. It has provided me with a space to discuss dope books (that I’m sure I will almost never find on a syllabus in my program) in community in the digital realm with other dope sistas doing amazing work. On the days I question why I am even still pursuing this PhD, Blackademia has reminded me of why.
This space was never meant to be about just me and Tiff. In fact, it won’t ever work if it’s just us. Our goal is for this thing to become a community space - less posting from us and more from you; less Blackademics of the Month from us and more from you. We want to read the books you want to read. We want to sit down with the scholars you want to hear from. We want you to be involved. Our goal is to facilitate a space where we can be completely and entirely who are are. We want this to be a space where our voices and ideas aren’t stifled or overlooked. Where we can exist in these academic spaces and be fully Black, fully scholarly, fully administrative, and fully whatever else it is we want to be. Because we deserve the right to be.
Before this turns into some long sappy rant, I’ll stop here.
But thank y’all for rockin’ out with us for a full year. Here’s to 2018.
Onward and upward.
Autumn is not a carefree Black girl, although, she hopes that one day she will be able to be. Autumn holds more degrees than your president and is more qualified than your secretary of education. She is a lifelong educator who loves and believes in the potential of Black and Brown children, especially girls. Autumn is currently pursuing her doctoral degree and would love advice on what to do next with her life. Follow her on twitter @AutumnAdia; follow the blog @ReadBlackademia.
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