Using our voices, losing our bodies: Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, and the spirit murders of Black male professors in the academy

Contributing Factors to Earning Tenure Among Black Male Counselor Educators

“…The findings from this study paint a picture of a sample of Black male counseling faculty in their tenure pursuit while navigating a historically unwelcoming system (Griffin et al, 2011(Griffin et al, , 2014Johnson & Bryan, 2017). The findings can potentially assist counselor educators, particularly those at PWIs, in understanding the resilience and persistence needed for Black men to succeed in a world where race is a predictor of outcomes.…”

“…The findings can potentially assist counselor educators, particularly those at PWIs, in understanding the resilience and persistence needed for Black men to succeed in a world where race is a predictor of outcomes. The findings lend themselves to the development of successful strategies to recruit, retain, and tenure Black men given the persistent challenges in doing so (Allison, 2008;Griffin et al, 2011Griffin et al, , 2014Jackson & Crawley, 2003;Johnson & Bryan, 2017).…”

“…As such, there is an inherent need to develop strategies for support that account for the significantly different experiences of Black male faculty compared with those of White and potentially other non‐Black faculty. All who seek promotion and tenure pursue similar milestones; however, CRT reminds us that race influences the experience of that pursuit given how marginalization occurs and can be intensified based on the historical context of race in the academy (Griffin et al, , ; Johnson & Bryan, ). The participants' narratives about the requisite personal disposition of community building highlight several critical points for discussion.…”

“…This finding also articulates how these Black male counselor educators feel pressure to work harder than their counterparts to achieve comparable success, making clear the influence of differential power and privilege in academic and other workplaces (Cavounidis & Lang, ; Crenshaw et al, ). Although resilience and persistence are necessary dispositions as faculty, the experiences of Black male counselor educators underscore the need for a specific kind of persistence (Bradley & Holcomb‐McCoy, ; Brooks & Steen, ; Johnson & Bryan, ). Their narratives serve as learning opportunities for counselor educators about how persistence, resilience, and clarity of purpose are required to navigate faculty careers when race, power, privilege, sociohistorical climate, and institutional norms are influences consistently found to work against Black male faculty.…”

“…Challenges to recruit and retain Black faculty exist in all disciplines (Pabon, ; Pabon, Anderson, & Kharem, ). Researchers have associated these difficulties with race‐related issues, particularly at predominantly White institutions (PWIs; Allison, ; Griffin, Pifer, Humphrey, & Hazelwood, ; Griffin, Ward, & Phillips, ; Jackson & Crawley, ; Johnson & Bryan, ). Researchers have documented that Black male faculty face difficulties in occupying spaces that can be disaffirming and psychologically unsafe and that these difficulties may negatively affect their success (Bradley & Holcomb‐McCoy, ; Brooks & Steen, ).…”