Becoming Invisible: Resistance Strategies Among Black women Activists in Higher Education

Black women in institutions of higher education encounter unequal pathways to tenure and graduation, challenging campus climates, harsher critique, underrepresentation, and microaggressions. Despite consistent and perpetual misrepresentations by the media and ongoing cultural alienation within academic communities, Black women continue to carve out space for themselves, as learners, educators, and resistors within the academy. Situated within a critical race feminist framework, we explore Black women activists' strategic use of silence as a form of resistance against gendered racism and epistemic violence in postsecondary institutions. Drawing from semi-structured interviews as part of a larger study on activist identity development, we uncover the deliberate ways in which Black women resist oppressive structures within academia. These narratives illuminate the agency and resilience of Black women activists and contribute to a broader dialogue on social justice and equity within higher education.