ABSTRACT
Young Black political scientists in the United States often face the challenge of finding Black faculty mentors and advisors. When I was an undergraduate at Brown University in the 1980s and a graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley in the 1990s, there were no Black professors in the political science departments. Unfortunately, mine was not an isolated experience. Various departments at my two schools did not have a single Black scholar. At the same time, I can report that some non-Black political science professors and many Black professors in Africana Studies saw potential in me and encouraged me to pursue my research interests.
