ABSTRACT
Using Black feminist thought, the authors unpack their educational journeys at the intersection of race and gender. In their doctoral journeys, the authors face a contemporary challenge: navigating the first year of their doctorate during a global pandemic. In balancing the newness of a doctoral program, sustaining Black sisterhood, and changes in their personal, academic, and professional lives resulting from COVID-19, the authors detail their strategic process of retaining each other in physical and digital spaces. Through scholarly personal narrative, they provide collective retention strategies for new Black women academics, detailing ways they provided each other with grace and space.
