A central writing challenge that many scholars of color face is not merely that our voices, core ideas, and creative contributions are disproportionately scrutinized compared to our white counterparts, but that the gatekeeping is so well established that scholars of...
Do you ever feel like you “can’t write theory”? If so, you’re not alone. Most of my workshop participants say that “writing theory” makes them feel: tortured | overwhelmed | stuck | in chaos | like an imposter But it’s not you! It’s what Barbara Christian affirmed...
Are you in a toxic relationship with academia? During my Liberate Your Research workshops with faculty and graduate students of color, I ask participants to share how they feel about their research. In every workshop, nearly every participant responds with words like:...
Do you ever find yourself obsessing over what gatekeepers are going to think about your work? Have you ever feared that you may not survive an academic evaluation? Of course, hierarchical academic structures–reviews, tenure evaluations, etc.--create the conditions...
Do you ever feel too exhausted to write? Let’s be real. Internalized academic oppression exhausts us. Traumatic experiences in our fields and on our campuses can lead many of us to ruminate: Do I even have the right to be in academia? How is my critique any different...
Academic oppression is breaking us. Nearly every social justice-based scholar I know goes through it—especially junior BIPOC scholars. Despite our expertise, many of us question the very worth of our scholarship within the university. The university’s competitive,...
Are you constantly feeling stuck while you are writing? Do you know what leads many radical scholars to feel stuck? We don't always feel like we are enough. Here are some of the ways I see it showing up: We constantly second-guess our research ideas. We feel miserable...
Scholars working within or outside the university tend to have access to radical theories about topics like abolition, decolonization, intersectionality, queer justice, disabilty justice, and beyond. Yet far less opportunity exists to learn and develop radical...
Over the years, I have been paying attention to the anxieties radical scholars face: imposter syndrome, overwhelm, and fear. Over and over, people tell me things like: I spend 50% of my writing time constrained by these anxieties. I go through complete despair....
Since I launched Liberate Your Research, one thing is now more clear to me than ever before: Radical scholars, especially interdisciplinary activist scholars, face disproportionate levels of overwhelm and anxiety in academia. Lacking go-to theories, or theoretical...