Diverse Representation vs Inclusive Culture

Most companies want some sort of Black representation. Higher Education is not exempt from this, but representation is NOT protection. We celebrate the first Black president. The first Black dean. The youngest Black professor. The Black woman who finally makes it into the room. There’s a press release. A photo. An announcement about progress. But I’ve been thinking about a much harder question: What happens to Black academics and administrators after we get there? My latest article, The Link in Lineage: Representation Is NOT Protection, examines the experiences of Dr. Jason Arday, Dr. Antoinette “Bonnie” Candia-Bailey, Dr. Cameisha Clark, Dr. Claudine Gay, Dr. JoAnn Epps, and Dr. Orinthia Montague. Their stories are not the same, and I deliberately refuse to pretend they are. But across them are difficult questions about racism, institutional accountability, workplace safety, public scrutiny, isolation, mental health, leadership, and the burdens Black professionals can carry inside institutions that proudly celebrate our representation. One question kept coming back to me as I wrote: Does the institution protect the individual with the same intensity with which the individual is expected to protect the institution? Because getting us through the door is not enough. Promoting us is not enough. Putting our faces on the website is not enough. And telling us to be resilient while leaving the conditions requiring that resilience untouched is definitely not enough. Perhaps higher education has spent too much time asking whether Black people are prepared to enter the academy. It may be time to ask whether the academy is prepared for us. I wrote this one to make people uncomfortable, but more importantly, to make us think. Article link in the comments.

sad. true. fact. If you are a leader in any higher institution or corporation, pls read this and become the change we desire to see.

✊🏿 I STAND WITH LORD SIMON WOOLLEY ✊🏿 I had the privilege of meeting Lord Simon Woolley on the same day I listened to Professor Jason Arday speak during my very first visit to Cambridge. 🎓🏿📚 That day meant so much to me, but what has stayed with me most were Simon’s words of encouragement. ❤️ He spoke to me as a Black woman in academia and encouraged me to keep pushing and stay in academia. ✊🏿🔥 Those words mattered. They still matter. ❤️🔥 So seeing Simon being targeted now is deeply frustrating and upsetting. 💔 As a Black community, we have already watched the loss of Professor Jason Arday. 🖤 We have witnessed the scrutiny, the narratives, the hostility and the relentless conversations surrounding Black academics. And now we are witnessing another Black academic being targeted. ✊🏿 Racism in academia is alive and well. 🚨 We cannot ignore the role that sections of the media can play in amplifying narratives that disproportionately scrutinise, undermine and discredit Black people. 📰 This isn't about saying Black academics should be above scrutiny. It is about asking: Is the scrutiny equal? ⚖️ Are the standards applied consistently? ⚖️ Are Black academics afforded the same grace? Because we know that too often, the answer is no. To every Black academic navigating these spaces I see you. 👀🏿 To every Black academic who has questioned whether there is really a place for you in academia I see you. 🖤 To every Black woman who has had to fight twice as hard to be heard, recognised and respected I see you. ✊🏿 I am you. I stand with you. And we stand together. 🤝🏿✊🏿 We will keep pushing. 🔥 We will keep speaking. 📢 We will keep taking up space. ✊🏿 We will keep showing the next generation that we belong here. 🖤🎓 Our presence in academia matters. Our voices matter. Our scholarship matters. And we are not going anywhere. ✊🏿🔥🖤

The Texas Association of Black Personnel in Higher Education (TABPHE) recognizes the critical need to extend educational awareness and resources directly into the community. In response, the association is launching a bold, community-anchored initiative entitled "Hope 4 Life." Purpose: The purpose of this initiative is to engage individuals where they are—whether in the streets or within trusted community spaces like churches and community centers—to offer hope and a tangible pathway to a better future through education and workforce development. Need: Far too many individuals lack access to information, support, and guidance related to higher education and career preparation. Economic challenges and limited exposure have created disconnects between opportunity and potential. There is an urgent need to bridge this gap by meeting people in their own environments and equipping them with the tools, resources, and encouragement necessary to pursue postsecondary education, workforce certifications, and lifelong learning. Approach: Through on-the-ground outreach, workshops, and educational sessions, the association will deliver practical knowledge on topics such as financial aid, college admissions, career pathways, workforce programs, and personal development. By partnering with faith-based organizations, civic groups, or as standalone chapters, the initiative will ensure that support is not only accessible—but also relatable, inclusive, and transformative.

We've been reflecting on terrible circumstances around Prof Arday's death, and on the need for us all to do better at taking concrete actions to support Black autistic academics when targeted by the press, especially those working on race & racism. Here's a question... What organisations, institutions, collectives, initiatives, groups, or other entities are out there, especially in the UK but not only, offering support & resource to Black, neurodivergent, and especially Black AND neurodivergent students and academics? We're thinking of big institutional examples like the Wellcome Trust's recent efforts to strengthen Black-led research programmes and initiatives (link in comments). But also of independent and grassroots organisations like the Black PhD Collective, the first national network for Black PhD students (link in comments also). Drop your suggestions below, please 👇

Whatever is to be done is, of course, disastrously too late for Prof Arday, whom we collectively, and in many but certainly not all cases individually failed. But I wonder if one small thing we can do, collectively, is ensure that where support does exist for Black and neurodivergent and Black neurodivergent scholars, we can do what can to bolster it, whatever that looks like.

came across one of the most intriguing conversations on Black education I’ve seen in a long time. One of the speakers Charles Cole, III, Ed.D. resonated with me so much that I had to look him up—and of course, he’s from the Bay Area. Oakland, by way of SF State. 😂💜🐊 The entire conversation was phenomenal. As students head back to school, I highly recommend checking out Ed post-8 Black Hands’ conversation on Black education in 2026 (YouTube). It raises important questions about where we are, what our students need, and where Black education goes from here. A great watch for educators, parents, policymakers, and anyone invested in the future of Black students.

An excellent initiative from Adam Danquah: a monthly group, Black Men in Higher Education and Healthcare. Shomari Lewis-Wilson for your networks?

In 2019 I wrote an autoethnography on the psychological impact of being rendered a Black body out of place. It was a psychodynamically informed account of the maddening processes Black people in academia can be subject to. The paper was never published, but the processes I described – the diffusion of racism, hypervigilance and self-doubt, internalisation of the hostile environment, loss of individuality through racial projection, pressure to appear harmless, invalidation by apparent allies, self-exclusion, recursive psychological harm – and their systemic roots feel as relevant now as they did then. Perhaps more so. Recent events have shed light on the emptiness of Black progress in academia, where backstory and token representation trump interest in our capacity as scholars and any sense that we can be involved in the administration of universities beyond EDI. Having worked as a clinical psychologist and psychodynamic psychotherapist, I also know the related processes in healthcare intimately. For some time, I have been talking with colleagues about creating a space for Black men working across higher education and healthcare – academic, clinical and professional-services colleagues – to connect with one another. A space for honest conversation, mutual support and practical exchange; to think together about how we navigate these institutions, flourish within them, challenge what needs to change, and make the way clearer for our students, trainees and those following us into these professions. I have been inspired by the professional networks and forms of solidarity created by Black women in the face of their intersectional challenges. Black men may similarly benefit from a space in which our particular experiences can be spoken about openly. I am therefore starting a monthly group, Black Men in Higher Education and Healthcare, hosted from the University of Manchester. As a Black mixed-race professor, I have travelled some distance through these systems, with a great deal of help along the way. I want to offer that support to others – and to learn from them in return. The group is at an early stage, so its shape will be developed with those who join. If you are a Black or Black mixed-race man working in higher education or healthcare and would like to hear more, please send me a direct message.

Beautiful essay by Chantelle Ohrling, CFRE "Creating Abundance in the Wake," about the intersections of Black-Canadian and Indigenous philanthropic traditions.