Faces at the Bottom of the Old Well: Counter-Stories From Black University of North Carolina Students

• In Event: Faces at the Bottom of the Old Well: Counter-Stories From Black University of North Carolina Students

Abstract

Rooted in the transformative research paradigm and critical race theory, this study addresses the following questions: (1) How do Black college students experience an institution steeped in anti-Blackness, but that purports to value cultural inclusion during a time of unrest and upheaval? (2) How do efforts to (re)shape and (re)claim space for Black students within a historically and predominantly white university in the American South affect Black student activists? Through self-reflection, quotes from research interviews, and short-film, this performance conveys critical race counter-stories that refute pervasive master narratives about the University of North Carolina and other historically and predominantly universities in the American South. The performance also engages the audience in interactive self-exploration to re-frame past experiences.

Author

• Jerry Jameel Wilson, Center for Racial Equity in Education