Mommy, Mammy, Maid: Black Feminist Pedagogy and Challenges to Care

This article draws from first-hand experience to explore the unique challenges Black women faculty face as more colleges in the United States prioritize care for students over other forms, methods, and recipients of care. To consider some potential avenues for engaging a holistic Black feminist pedagogy of care, this article reflects on the pressures that Black women faculty negotiate in relation to expectations of care in racist and sexist societies, and their academic institutions. Divided into three stereotypical tropes—mommy, mammy, and maid—or what Black feminist scholar Collins calls “controlling images,” each section identifies and explores the sexist and racist implications of care as they relate to Black women faculty in American higher education. This article concludes by providing some preliminary thoughts on how a pedagogy of care might be reimagined to address the interdependent needs of students and faculty.