Black Academia This Week Vol. 14

It’s Friday and that means it’s time for another Black Academia This Week. Black Academia This Week was created to share what is going on in the Black community in academic spaces. While this post serves as the written version, you can watch Black Academia This Week on the Instagram page @blkgradstudent. As always, thank you for reading another volume!

1: You’re never too old to graduate

Ever heard the saying “It’s never too old to graduate“, if so Twyanna Williams embodies that statement. At 65 years old, she made the decision to go back to school to attain her high school diploma. Having to drop out when she was younger due to her family’s financial hardships, she always had a vision of attaining her graduate degree. She kept this vision as she worked, had children of her own, became a grandmother, and eventually retired. This Monday, that upcoming dream will be fulfilled, not only graduating but also being one of the school’s valedictorians. Being that this year is virtual, makes this an even bigger achievement having to deal with learning not only her coursework, but technology as well. The platform of choice for the school was Google Classroom, and as with learning any new technology there is a learning curve. Yet, Twyanna Williams pushed forward attaining her high school diploma at 65 years young.

For more information about her accomplishment, you can refer to the following article: Not only is this 65-year-old grandmother finally graduating from high school, she’s also class valedictorian | Jenice Armstrong (ampproject.org)

2: Comparisons show Black women have higher student loan debt

The American Association of Women shared a report, revealing that Black women have 22% more student loan debt then white women. This can be shown across both undergraduate and graduate students. While undergraduate school, Black women hold on average $41,466 in student loan debt, white women only hold on average $33,851 in student loan debt. In graduate school, Black women hold on average $75,085 in student loan debt, and white women hold on average $56,098. This discrepancy unfortunately is not surprising, and in referencing the previous story, financial hardships did lead to Janice Armstrong not being able to complete high school. Her story shows the that Black people as a whole typically have more financial struggles, and this impacts the number of loans that are required for school. The number is especially daunting as Black women tend to attend college at a higher rate then Black males do. Hopefully, by exposing this information there will be positive change in attaining parity in the future. Only by having conversations and sharing data such as this we can open the door to positive change.

For more information, you can refer to the following article: Black women owe 22% more in student debt than white women, on average (cnbc.com)

3: From grad student to the fight against racism

Most Black college students can recall a time when they were the only Black person in the room. Unfortunately for some students they have also experienced racism in the classroom. Having attended undergraduate in 2010-2014, I know that I have 2 stories of racism actually, and for Evelyn Asiedu she’s turning her own experience into a fight against anti-Black racism. After what occurred to George Floyd, she took to writing her experience and that lead to her writing an essay for Maclean’s in July of 2020. Writing about her experience resonated with a students from all over and many of them reached out to Asiedu. Now she is using her platform to create The Good and the Bad of Black Girl Grad, which will hold webinars on sharing the experience of Black Canadians academics.

For more information, you can read more about her life and experience in the following article: Black racism experience leads to role as anti-racism activist | Troy Media