ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author discusses how she developed her scholarly identity by understanding her own racial identity. As a foreign-born Black woman, the author had to learn what it meant to be Black in the US context, where race is the organizing factor. As she became aware of her racial identity in the US, she also realized conversations that centered Black students in higher education, did not always do so through an intersectional lens. She draws on the experiences of undocumented Black students with and without Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) as an example of the broad brush used to paint the experiences of Black students. She traces her scholarly journey through three phases: movement, the field, and representation in research. She concludes her chapter with a call to the field and words of advice for future scholars.
