Journal of College & University Student Housing "Housing While Black" Theme Issue - 71

Black Women Senior Housing Officers
Being strong as a Black woman can be a complicated label
to wear in contemporary conversations. While it acknowledges
resilience, it erases vulnerability.
Nina's testimony strongly captured the conflict of choosing representation as a
thriving practice while maneuvering through the challenges of being a Black woman
in the workplace.
If we're not willing to stand in this space and be present, if we're not willing to sit at a
table and bring up issues that do impact students of color, because of our own lived
experiences, then it would never be.
Her words are indicative of the plight of Black women: embracing a burden placed
upon her and utilizing her own superpowers to role-model resistance through her
presence, her knowledge, and her influence. Nina also described a central moment
when she spoke and others listened.
I do this work to show that it can be done. I'm the first Black woman in this role, and
that weighs on me every day. I feel that my failure is letting down anybody else that ever
wants to do this work. And it is not fair to carry that burden. But it is the reality. I have to
prove that we can do this because someone after me, I believe that will make it easier
for someone who looks like me to get these types of roles.
The Black woman senior housing officer is very conscious of her power and the
ways in which she can utilize it to advance others who are underrepresented in the
university setting. Nicole shared the following:
I had a student contact me with financial hardship. And it was a young Black woman,
and I made a decision to release them from their contract. And if somebody wants to
question that, I'm comfortable in that. And if I had to make that decision for 20 other kids
so that one can do it, then that's what I'll do. Because that's what I believed was right.
I just refuse to apologize for that.
In this case, her genius is demonstrated in the ways she looks not at the individual and
existing policy but at the potentially oppressive structure that exists and within which
she is operating. Despite the challenges participants faced on their predominantly
White campuses, these women actively chose to advocate for others.
Current Sacrifices and Compromises for the Superwoman
Being strong as a Black woman can be a complicated label to wear in contemporary
conversations. While it acknowledges resilience, it erases vulnerability. Kennedy noted
how the need to be strong could unintentionally perpetuate the angry Black woman
stereotype: " It is like they expect me to be strong, but not too strong. I should not be too
confident because that makes them feel weird. " What people do not see are the ways
that Black women must navigate spaces due to the external images that are imposed
upon them.
68 The Journal of College and University Student Housing

Journal of College & University Student Housing "Housing While Black" Theme Issue

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