Resistance Meets Spirituality: "I Prayed on It"

In this article we describe the lived experiences of a Black female educational leader who has studied and worked in the academy and in the field of K-12 education. This partial life history, excavated through the tenets of Critical Race Theory (CRT), illuminates the social construction of race and the pervasiveness and permanence of racism. We determined through a series of interviews that the participant’s resilient resistance is guided by critical spirituality so that circumstances and people who challenge her also confront this source of power. Her lived experience, from student to faculty member, conveys the challenges and opportunities she faces and adds to the scholarship to better understand anti-oppressive education (Kumashiro, 2000). As a result of our study we derived implications for practice which include institutional efforts to build support structures for Black women and shift academic culture. Recommendations include conducting socially and culturally responsible and responsive mining of the contributions of Black women and providing culturally relevant support to sustain Black female scholars and practitioners in education and educational leadership at all levels.