Abstract
The creator, Kenja McCray, is an Associate Professor of History at Atlanta Metropolitan State College (AMSC), where she teaches United States and African American history. AMSC is an institution within the University System of Georgia offering an affordable liberal arts education and committed to serving a diverse, urban student population. McCray has a B.A. from Spelman College, an M.A. from Clark Atlanta University, and a Ph.D. from Georgia State University. Her areas of interest are the 19th and 20th century U. S., African Americans, Africa and the diaspora, transnational histories, women, class and social history.
 The creator of this essay believes education should be a life-altering process, not only in the intellectual or the economic sense, but also cognitively uplifting. She experienced personal change in college through interacting with professors. She strives to give students a similarly inspirational experience. The encounter should be empowering and should change the way they see themselves and their relationships to the world. The intent of this creative piece is to share the creator’s contemplations on a rites of passage program in which she participated during her college years. She asserts that, given current cultural trends signaling a renewed interest in African-centered ideals and black pride, many aspects of the program could interest current students looking for safe spaces in increasingly intolerant times. This essay will interest researchers, student leaders, student activities advisors, and other administrators seeking to create and develop inclusive campus programs.
Highlights
I seized the opportunity to go to the gathering where older students invited us to continue attending meetings if we were interested in embarking on what they termed a “journey to African womanhood.”6 I sensed that the “excursion” would transform the way I saw myself, my education, and the world
Spelman belonged to a consortium of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) called the Atlanta University Center (AUC), and faculty from the various institutions guided the journey
“Talk doesn’t cook the soup,” seems to minimize the significance of discourse in producing results, Campbell suggests “critical dialogue” is a central component of rites of passage for cultivating healthy female peer relationships. She further emphasizes the importance of service as a socio-political act drawing on the kinds of critical consciousness and collective action that such rites of passage programs aim to foster in participants
Summary
Murmurations emerged as a project by a community of educators who recognize that education and its results arise from interactions of historical, social, political, psychological, biological and environmental factors. As a U.S. institution, education has most reliably produced inequity. We began Murmurations with the intent of dissolving the dynamics that support and re-create inequitable educational outcomes. We are not separate from the systems we wish to transform. We invite you to reflect with us, examining the relationship between thought, action and the dynamics of the educational systems in which we participate
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