Encountering, Witnessing, Listening: Applications of Black Feminist Theory for a White Teacher Educator
Location
Session 3 Presentations - Social Justice & Anti-Racism
Proposal Track
Research Project
Session Format
Presentation
Abstract
This project is an attempt to resolve a moral and ethical crisis about my pursuit of a doctoral degree as a multiply-privileged White woman. I begin with a basic set of understandings: that I am committed to anti-racism, feminism, and to education as the best route forward in imagining a world free from the hegemony of a global capitalism rooted in Whiteness. However, I am troubled with how to transform these core commitments into action in a way that is productive, empathetic, and, most importantly, that minimizes harm. In this paper, I aim to resolve these questions using the wisdom of Black feminist theory as a guide. I begin by framing this work in a historical understanding of the damaging legacy of [a] racist feminism(s) in the United States. I then leverage Patricia Hill Collins’s (2009) domains of power framework to create an action plan for applying these liberatory concepts to my current work in higher education. Ultimately, I hope to connect my exploration of Black feminist theory to an actionable praxis—of witnessing, listening, and encountering “research as responsibility” (Dillard, 2011, p. 148)—to begin to understand my place in a responsible academic life.
Keywords
Black feminist theory, anti-racism, higher education, Whiteness, domains of power
Professional Bio
Kelsey Benson began her foray into education as a Peace Corps Education Volunteer in Guinea (West Africa) where she first fell in love with teaching as a high school ESOL teacher in the rural village of Yembering. Upon returning to the United States, she obtained an alternative certification and worked for six years as a Middle Grades Special Education teacher. She has since taught 6th, 7th, and 8th grade inclusion and resource classes in every subject area except Science. Currently she is a doctoral student in the Department of Educational Theory and Practice at the University of Georgia.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Benson, Kelsey L., "Encountering, Witnessing, Listening: Applications of Black Feminist Theory for a White Teacher Educator" (2021). Georgia Educational Research Association Conference. 56.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gera/2021/2021/56
Encountering, Witnessing, Listening: Applications of Black Feminist Theory for a White Teacher Educator
Session 3 Presentations - Social Justice & Anti-Racism
This project is an attempt to resolve a moral and ethical crisis about my pursuit of a doctoral degree as a multiply-privileged White woman. I begin with a basic set of understandings: that I am committed to anti-racism, feminism, and to education as the best route forward in imagining a world free from the hegemony of a global capitalism rooted in Whiteness. However, I am troubled with how to transform these core commitments into action in a way that is productive, empathetic, and, most importantly, that minimizes harm. In this paper, I aim to resolve these questions using the wisdom of Black feminist theory as a guide. I begin by framing this work in a historical understanding of the damaging legacy of [a] racist feminism(s) in the United States. I then leverage Patricia Hill Collins’s (2009) domains of power framework to create an action plan for applying these liberatory concepts to my current work in higher education. Ultimately, I hope to connect my exploration of Black feminist theory to an actionable praxis—of witnessing, listening, and encountering “research as responsibility” (Dillard, 2011, p. 148)—to begin to understand my place in a responsible academic life.
