ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights how a church family, cohort member, and a professor supported a doctoral candidate during her graduate studies. She was accustomed to having her voice silenced in educational spaces that were primarily occupied by White individuals before she began graduate school. As an African American woman, she desired to challenge the status quo (i.e., change how Black youth were viewed and discussed in her field of study) through intellectual discourse and professional scholarship. This author describes the ways in which her community helped develop the confidence she needed to share her voice in professional settings. Together, these individuals equipped and empowered her to express her perspective as a graduate student and as an emerging scholar.
