By obligation and by choice: Taking on extra responsibilities during COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter Movement

Abstract

The summer of 2020 yielded unprecedented hostility for my lifetime as the COVID-19 pandemic escalated and Black Lives Matter protests intensified around the country. Due to a global shutdown, our now undivided attention was forced to deal with the pervasiveness of anti-Black racism, not only socially and politically but within the confines of historically White institutions with their racist legacies and lack of inclusive infrastructures. As such, I was invited by various leaders and stakeholders to participate in conversations and to take on extra projects that addressed institutional bias and racism on my campus. This reflective essay recounts my experience having taken on extra tasks, both by obligation and by choice, particularly as a Black woman pre-tenure faculty member. In doing this work, I show how my experience aligned with the intersectional reality for Black women in academia; I reflect on this season of now, as an extended presence rather than a fleeting moment; and I conclude this essay by offering recommendations to address the lack of institutional support, and the insufficient infrastructures at my institution.