ABSTRACT
Scholarly identity is often defined by the level of academic rigor assumed to be held by an institution, it's prominence among other institutions of higher education, the amount of publications and/or research one produces, and even, how white the work is. This chapter presents the struggle students of color often face in ascribing to white ideals around scholarship and the emergence of defining scholarly identity for themselves. By exploring the deeply raced internal and external messages received along the academic path, the author shares her own reckoning with becoming an intellectual while centering her blackness in a White supremacist academy.
