Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to document the experiences of Black women faculty sustaining culturally responsive, justice-oriented, liberatory pedagogy in the current sociopolitical climate of higher education. In the context of coordinated attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion infrastructure, the erasure of culturally responsive accreditation standards in Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences (SLHS), and the unwritten expectation that Black women faculty absorb the weight of equity work that institutions have abandoned, this paper examines the sustaining forces that keep liberatory teaching aflame. Drawing on critical autoethnography and reflective practice, three Black women, two faculty members and one doctoral student in SLHS name what sustains their commitment to liberation-centered teaching: a pedagogy of hope, responsibility, and the collective witness of those taught and liberated by this work. The authors' perspectives culminate in a co-authored Liberatory Teaching Manifesto, offering actionable commitments and an open invitation to education activists sustaining this work in academic institutions.
Recommended Citation
Scott, R. D., Toliver-Smith, A., & Smith, N. (2026). Her Fire This Time: Black Women Faculty and the Liberatory Pedagogy That Can't Wait. The Journal of Advancing Education Practice, 7(1). https://openriver.winona.edu/jaep/vol7/iss1/2
Included in
Communication Sciences and Disorders Commons, Higher Education Commons, Social Justice Commons
