"You Don't Listen to Me": Black Mothers' Educational Experiences as Students and Parents

• In Event: Centering Blackness: Black Feminisms, Mothering, and Revolutionary Praxis

Abstract

Guided by an intersectional framework, this study documented low-income, publicly-housed Black mothers’ educational experiences as students and parents of students. Using a community-based participatory research approach, the research team was guided by a community advisory board, who led participant recruitment and assisted with data analysis and interpretation. We conducted 18 in-depth interviews with Black mothers rearing children in public housing. Findings document mothers’ own racialized educational experiences (including trauma and unmet needs) and efforts to advance their education in adulthood while also engaging with school systems as parents of school-aged children. Findings revealed mothers’ resilience and resistance in overcoming and thwarting structural and interpersonal barriers to educational achievement. Implications of findings for antiracist actions in education are discussed.

Authors

• Bethany Lyn Letiecq, George Mason University

• Colleen Vesely, George Mason University

• Joseph Michael Williams, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Jocelyn Smith Lee, University of North Carolina - Greensboro