“We Say Nah!”: Refusals and Collaborative Autoethnographic Storytelling by and for Black Womxn in Canadian Academia

The intersectional challenges faced by Black womxn graduate students in Canadian post-secondary education and academia are grounded in misogynoir (gendered racism) and microaggressions. In this collaborative critical autoethnography, the authors unveil the legacy of Black feminist theory in academia’s pursuit of equity, diversity, and inclusion. This work centres on a profound act of refusal; Black womxn scholars refuse prescribed narratives and imagine other possibilities of being and knowledge creation. By practicing refusal through the act of scholarly storytelling, the authors collaborate in reflexive dialogue and writing to reweave the narrative tapestry for Black womxn. The threefold purpose of the article is to support Black womxn graduate students and faculty in redefining their own narratives; foster collective healing, resilience, and strength among the authors; and challenge dominant perspectives on Black scholars/scholarship. Through the lens of Black livingness, the authors assert that refusal is a powerful tool for dismantling systemic inequalities within academic spaces.