Dissertating During a Pandemic: Narratives of Success from Scholars of Color examines the experiences of doctoral students of color writing the dissertation currently and those who successfully defended their dissertation after the onset of COVID-19 and subsequent shutting down of college campuses in March 2020. While we know that scholars of color experience many barriers to completing the dissertation process prior to COVID-19 such as being in racist academic environments and being engaged in research areas that may not be supported by predominantly White faculty, it is important to consider how scholars of color are managing the dissertation process during this pandemic. We approach this book from an asset-based approach where chapter authors are approaching both the challenges and opportunities they have experienced due to being a dissertation writer during the pandemic. Chapter authors also provide poignant feedback on how professors can be supportive to their needs as dissertation writers. One especially important contribution of this book is that our authors are from a variety of disciplines including: education, social work, psychology, African American studies, and sociology. Additionally, chapter authors are doctoral candidates (and recent graduates) at predominantly White institutions, historically Black colleges and universities, and online universities. Given the breadth of institution types each chapter will provide poignant suggestions for doctoral students across the nation as well as for faculty who are looking to better understand the dissertation writer experience to support their own students. Because of the novelty of COVID-19, little is known about how doctoral students engaged in writing the dissertation during COVID19 are adapting. Moreover, there is little information available for professors on how to support their doctoral students during these unprecedented times. Thus, Dissertating During a Pandemic: Narratives of Success from Scholars of Color is positioned to be a must read for professors looking to support their doctoral student advisees as well as for doctoral students who are looking for strategies to navigate the dissertation process during the pandemic and beyond.

The Ivory Tower is and can often be a lonely place for faculty of color. Social injustices run deep and are entrenched within academia. Faculty of color (FOC), more specifically Black and Hispanic, often lament about the `Black/Brown' tax that frequently takes its toll both personally and professionally, and pushes them out of the academy. Similar to trends in P?12 settings, educators of color in postsecondary contexts represent less than 10% of the profession. In essence, we are an anomaly and the implications of this are clear and dire, as evidenced by persistent achievement, access, and expectation gaps within the academy. Scholars of color (SOC), at all stages, but particularly during doctoral training, frequently struggle to not just survive, but to thrive, in the academy. Too many fail to earn their doctoral degree, with many wearing the All But Dissertation (ABD) as a badge of honor. Although ABD is not a degree, many scholars of color receive inadequate mentoring, often substandard in comparison to the hand?holding White students receive, which leaves far too many doctoral students of color lost, bewildered, angry, indignant, and defeated. This righteous indignation is justified, but excused away using the myth of meritocracy and colorblind notions of success; followed by a myriad of problems steeped with victim blaming, as noted in the classic Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia (Gutierrez y Muhs, Niemann, Gonzalez, & Harris, 2012). The aforementioned work was not the first treatise on higher education and how the non?status quo, along with those grappling with oppression and double standards, experience the profession called higher education. Moreover, The Chilly Climate (Sandler, Silverberg, & Hall, 1996) report, which focused on females, was also telling, but not enough was addressed and disclosed about females of color, until version two. But these issues do not stop with females of color, but instead, extend to all faculty of color. R.A.C.E. Mentoring, a social media Facebook group, with several subgroups (see Figures 1 and 2) was created by Donna Y. Ford, Michelle Trotman Scott, and Malik S. Henfield in 2013, to tackle the numerous thorny and contentious issues and challenges in higher education. We began by intentionally attending to the needs of students enrolled at mostly White universities, as well as those who attended historically Black colleges and universities, while keeping the unique nuances and challenges of each setting in mind. We wanted scholars of color to thrive in both. Fondly and affectionately called RM, our charge and challenge is to affirm the dignity and worth of scholars of color. Additionally, we recognize that there are scholars outside of academe, and their contributions as well to impact and affect change for Black and Brown people inside and outside of academe need to be acknowledged. These scholars are community organizers, activists, P?12 teachers, and families. It truly takes a village...

Although teachers, school counselors, and administrators are all situated within educational settings tasked with supporting students' educational development, rarely do these professionals have sufficient opportunities to learn from and collaborate with one another before entering these schools. Unfortunately, many of these professionals are unaware of the primary and secondary responsibilities their peers and colleagues assume. What's worse, this lack of insight potentially compromises the extent to which educational leaders can forge effective partnerships that benefit students from the most alienated, disenfranchised and marginalized communities (e.g., Black children in under-resourced schools). While the educational discourse has included recommendations for maximizing interactions between these educational professionals, the collective voices of teachers, school counselors and administrators in regards to these issues has not been adequately examined. Thus, this book is a compilation of manuscripts and studies that explore partnerships and strategies educators and educational leaders use to produce positive socio-educational outcomes for Black students in various contexts. Creating and Sustaining Effective K-12 School Partnerships: Firsthand Accounts of Promising Practices is unique because it illuminates examples of effective school community partnerships that foster positive student outcomes. Creating and Sustaining Effective K-12 School Partnerships: Firsthand Accounts of Promising Practices is intended as a practical text for committed educational leaders, at different professional points (e.g., practicing teachers, pre-service school counselors and teachers), who are eager to transform the current educational trajectory of Black children through interventions that show promise.

Highlighting the voices and experiences of Black graduate students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), this book features the perspectives of students from a variety of academic backgrounds and institutional settings. Contributors discuss their motivation to attend an HBCU for graduate studies, their experiences, and how these helped prepare them for their career. To be prepared to serve the increasing number of Black students with access to graduate programs at HBCUs, university administrators, faculty, and staff require a better understanding of these students' needs and how to meet them. Addressing some of today's most urgent issues and educational challenges, this book expands the literature on HBCUs and provides insight into the role their graduate schools play in building a diverse academic and professional community.

Covering key issues ranging from education to political mobilization to racial stratification, this book provides a comprehensive examination of the Obama Presidency. President Barack Obama's election and subsequent reelection represent a critical paradigm shift in American political history. But will there be lasting effects of the election of an African American to the highest office in the land in terms of the United States' economic, educational, political and social realities? A valuable resource for undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, state and federal policymakers, and general readers, this book poses critical questions and offers insightful answers from expert contributors, provides a balanced critique of President Obama's accomplishments and challenges, and considers the national and international impact President Obama's tenure had on politics. The numerous contributors to this book provide a range of perspectives on President Obama's presidency that question conventional thinking, covering key issues that include health care, education, political mobilization, gender, racial stratification, voting patterns, and criminal justice. Readers will come away with a heightened comprehension of the complex relationships between political structures, economic policies, and minority interests; how Congress, traditional and contemporary activists, and domestic and international issues all shaped the Obama Presidency; and how micro and macro issues such as voting rights, voting patterns, and Get Out the Vote (GOTV) initiatives are connected.

Dissertating During a Pandemic: Narratives of Success from Scholars of Color examines the experiences of doctoral students of color writing the dissertation currently and those who successfully defended their dissertation after the onset of COVID-19 and subsequent shutting down of college campuses in March 2020. While we know that scholars of color experience many barriers to completing the dissertation process prior to COVID-19 such as being in racist academic environments and being engaged in research areas that may not be supported by predominantly White faculty, it is important to consider how scholars of color are managing the dissertation process during this pandemic. We approach this book from an asset-based approach where chapter authors are approaching both the challenges and opportunities they have experienced due to being a dissertation writer during the pandemic. Chapter authors also provide poignant feedback on how professors can be supportive to their needs as dissertation writers. One especially important contribution of this book is that our authors are from a variety of disciplines including: education, social work, psychology, African American studies, and sociology. Additionally, chapter authors are doctoral candidates (and recent graduates) at predominantly White institutions, historically Black colleges and universities, and online universities. Given the breadth of institution types each chapter will provide poignant suggestions for doctoral students across the nation as well as for faculty who are looking to better understand the dissertation writer experience to support their own students. Because of the novelty of COVID-19, little is known about how doctoral students engaged in writing the dissertation during COVID19 are adapting. Moreover, there is little information available for professors on how to support their doctoral students during these unprecedented times. Thus, Dissertating During a Pandemic: Narratives of Success from Scholars of Color is positioned to be a must read for professors looking to support their doctoral student advisees as well as for doctoral students who are looking for strategies to navigate the dissertation process during the pandemic and beyond.

The Ivory Tower is and can often be a lonely place for faculty of color. Social injustices run deep and are entrenched within academia. Faculty of color (FOC), more specifically Black and Hispanic, often lament about the `Black/Brown' tax that frequently takes its toll both personally and professionally, and pushes them out of the academy. Similar to trends in P?12 settings, educators of color in postsecondary contexts represent less than 10% of the profession. In essence, we are an anomaly and the implications of this are clear and dire, as evidenced by persistent achievement, access, and expectation gaps within the academy. Scholars of color (SOC), at all stages, but particularly during doctoral training, frequently struggle to not just survive, but to thrive, in the academy. Too many fail to earn their doctoral degree, with many wearing the All But Dissertation (ABD) as a badge of honor. Although ABD is not a degree, many scholars of color receive inadequate mentoring, often substandard in comparison to the hand?holding White students receive, which leaves far too many doctoral students of color lost, bewildered, angry, indignant, and defeated. This righteous indignation is justified, but excused away using the myth of meritocracy and colorblind notions of success; followed by a myriad of problems steeped with victim blaming, as noted in the classic Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia (Gutierrez y Muhs, Niemann, Gonzalez, & Harris, 2012). The aforementioned work was not the first treatise on higher education and how the non?status quo, along with those grappling with oppression and double standards, experience the profession called higher education. Moreover, The Chilly Climate (Sandler, Silverberg, & Hall, 1996) report, which focused on females, was also telling, but not enough was addressed and disclosed about females of color, until version two. But these issues do not stop with females of color, but instead, extend to all faculty of color. R.A.C.E. Mentoring, a social media Facebook group, with several subgroups (see Figures 1 and 2) was created by Donna Y. Ford, Michelle Trotman Scott, and Malik S. Henfield in 2013, to tackle the numerous thorny and contentious issues and challenges in higher education. We began by intentionally attending to the needs of students enrolled at mostly White universities, as well as those who attended historically Black colleges and universities, while keeping the unique nuances and challenges of each setting in mind. We wanted scholars of color to thrive in both. Fondly and affectionately called RM, our charge and challenge is to affirm the dignity and worth of scholars of color. Additionally, we recognize that there are scholars outside of academe, and their contributions as well to impact and affect change for Black and Brown people inside and outside of academe need to be acknowledged. These scholars are community organizers, activists, P?12 teachers, and families. It truly takes a village...

Although teachers, school counselors, and administrators are all situated within educational settings tasked with supporting students' educational development, rarely do these professionals have sufficient opportunities to learn from and collaborate with one another before entering these schools. Unfortunately, many of these professionals are unaware of the primary and secondary responsibilities their peers and colleagues assume. What's worse, this lack of insight potentially compromises the extent to which educational leaders can forge effective partnerships that benefit students from the most alienated, disenfranchised and marginalized communities (e.g., Black children in under-resourced schools). While the educational discourse has included recommendations for maximizing interactions between these educational professionals, the collective voices of teachers, school counselors and administrators in regards to these issues has not been adequately examined. Thus, this book is a compilation of manuscripts and studies that explore partnerships and strategies educators and educational leaders use to produce positive socio-educational outcomes for Black students in various contexts. Creating and Sustaining Effective K-12 School Partnerships: Firsthand Accounts of Promising Practices is unique because it illuminates examples of effective school community partnerships that foster positive student outcomes. Creating and Sustaining Effective K-12 School Partnerships: Firsthand Accounts of Promising Practices is intended as a practical text for committed educational leaders, at different professional points (e.g., practicing teachers, pre-service school counselors and teachers), who are eager to transform the current educational trajectory of Black children through interventions that show promise.