From Survival to Imagination: A Black Feminist Blueprint for Liberation

7. Imagination as a Tool

Whiteness operates as a diversion, serving as a dehumanizing strategy. Gendered antiblack racism is a form of psychological terrorism. One way to disrupt both whiteness and gendered anti-black racism without being manipulated is by exercising our imagination. We can be creators of new epistemologies that center our own experiences and aspirations. Our collective consciousness and imagination are necessary tools to build a free world. Our purpose as Black women scholars should not be confined to solely deconstructing and discrediting white epistemologies. We must situate our purpose and career by envisioning our own ontological futures. Below are three examples of how I plan to use imagination in my work within academia moving forward.

8. Imagination through Research

As I enter my role as an early career researcher, I enter ready to center Black women’s lived experiences in all my work ...