From Margin to Center

Currere and the Experiences of a Black Woman Professor

Abstract

This article employs currere—an autobiographical method of curriculum inquiry—to explore the life and work of a Black woman professor navigating academia at a predominantly white institution (PWI). This piece reflects on the intersections of identity, systemic oppression, resilience, and transformation in education, using the regressive, progressive, analytical, and synthetical stages of currere to illuminate the balance between marginalization and empowerment in academic spaces.The regressive moment revisits formative experiences, from the nurturing environment of a Black urban public school to the racialized barriers of a predominantly white Catholic high school. These early encounters with inequity shaped a lifelong commitment to justice and Black excellence. The progressive moment imagines a transformed Academy where Black voices are affirmed, systemic barriers dismantled, and belonging is universal, drawing on scholars such as Bettina Love and Gholdy Muhammad. The analytical moment examines the challenges of Black womanhood in academia, from microaggressions to tokenism, while honoring the resilience drawn from Black feminist traditions like Patricia Hill Collins’ Black Feminist Thought. Finally, the synthetical moment integrates past, present, and future, affirming teaching as a sacred act of love and resistance, rooted in ancestral wisdom and committed to liberation and belonging.This narrative calls on higher education to reimagine itself by centering equity, amplifying marginalized voices, and fostering environments where everyone can thrive. Through currere, it offers a deeply personal lens on the collective transformation needed to build a more just and inclusive academic future.