Interview with John Baugh

The following interview was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic in the summer of 2021. By that time, I had known John Baugh for about eighteen years after having taken my first class on Black English with him at Stanford. I have always been fascinated by John’s ability to merge innovative and culturally relevant, justice-focused research with liberatory outcomes for Black people and Black language. It was a rare treat for me to talk with my long-time mentor now as a faculty member. In the wake of finally having a critical mass of Black scholars in linguistics and after George Floyd’s murder and a new push to decolonize linguistics, it only seemed fitting to hear the experiences that shaped John’s life, the life of a Black man in linguistics, and how that life has given rise to his groundbreaking scholarship. There is nothing linear about his path. And as the field pushes to admit more Black graduate students and hire more Black faculty, it dawned on me that many in the field might not recognize the exceptional journey of navigating academia as a Black person. Please enjoy this candid snapshot of the life that birthed such a storied career from the upcoming president of the Linguistic Society of America: a unique opportunity to learn how to do better. Consider this a one-time invitation to the cookout.

The Time Is Now: Strategies to Address Racism, Equity, and the Retention of Black Faculty

A guide for institutions of higher education to retain Black faculty, drawing on extant literature.

Dialogue is Anything but Silent: A Foreword to the Black Lives Matter Special Issue

This foreword to the Black Lives Matter special issue looks to embrace active listening and open dialogue via writing, and it calls attention to the confines of traditional publishing that otherwise do not support dialogue in writing. Building upon Onwuegbuzie’s (2021) Framework for Promoting Anti-Racism in America, the foreword begins with sections that address the need to “engage in continuous self-reflection,” “listen more than you speak,” “whenever possible, collaborate with Black faculty,” and “refrain from conducting research that promotes cultural deficit models.” Thereafter, the voices of Dr. Aliya E. Holmes, Dr. David Bell, Kesshem Williams, and Leslie Laboriel underscore the courage necessary to share experiences and to engage in open dialogue; change is anything but silent.

Paying Professional Taxes for Promotion and Tenure: The Costs of Justice Work for Black Faculty

This article examines the costs faculty pay to gain status and security in the academy. Academics receive salaries for their work, but also “pay taxes” in order to maintain a positive trajectory toward the ultimate “prize”—promotion and tenure (PT). The psychology of narrative method is used to examine the articulation of the PT process for two Black faculty in educational leadership. Findings offer that the taxes assessed are: credibility tax, leading edge tax, group status tax, and retaliation tax. Narratives culminate in a discussion of the academic labor costs and racial battle fatigue of justice work for Black faculty.

Transitioning Courses During COVID-19

In this chapter, three Black faculty from two different predominantly white institutions (PWIs) reflect on how they were able to successfully transition their traditional face-to-face courses to online or remote courses in a short time frame. They briefly describe the two institutions followed by a discussion of the struggles with technological issues, the benefits and disadvantages of working from home, as well as the stress of coping with COVID-19-related issues. Next, the faculty describe the strategies implemented with college students to help the students navigate the transition and be successful in their courses when all schools, colleges, and universities were forced to make the switch from traditional face-to-face instruction to online or remote teaching due to the pandemic.

Fostering a Sense of Community Among Black Faculty Through a Faculty Learning Community

The atmosphere at many colleges and universities in the United States presents unique challenges for Black faculty including racism. It is well established that Black faculty, especially those at predominantly White institutions (PWIs), work in potentially hostile, unfriendly, and negative environments. Other concerns for Black faculty at PWIs include lack of mentors and tenure politics. Examples of tenure politics include a lack of guidance regarding the tenure and promotion process, a sense of isolation and lack of collegiality, and the inability to speak out on unfair treatment for fear of retribution during the tenure and promotion process. Black faculty often choose self-isolation, conformity, and silence as coping strategies. However, these strategies rarely address the associated psychological and social stress. Faculty learning communities (FLCs) have been touted as a better alternative. FLCs bind faculty together thereby providing a much-needed support for Black faculty struggling to survive in a predominantly White environment. This article is premised on the experiences of six Black FLC participants at one PWI. We recommend that PWIs should actively support the attempt(s) by Black faculty to create safe spaces such as an FLC, which can foster a sense of belonging and build their confidence. An additional recommendation is that PWIs should employ the services of a chief diversity officer to help create and maintain programs that enhance Black faculty experiences and make them more successful.

Tokenism in Criminology and Criminal Justice Departments: Problems and Solutions

In this article, I argue that criminology and criminal justice programs exhibit racial “tokenism,” in that the majority of such programs employ no more than one Black tenured/tenure track professor. This tokenism creates a plethora of problems that undermine the contributions of Black faculty and prevent them from achieving their full potential. I use my own experiences to illustrate these issues. I conclude with potential solutions to the problems identified.

The racialization of animal advocacy in South Africa

In 2015, some faculty at the University of Cape Town made a proposal to the Faculty of Humanities that no animal product be served at faculty events. Many black faculty members contested the proposal on the grounds that it was racist and disavowed the importance of the proposal. In this article, I wish to argue that the proposal’s approach neglects the racialized history of animal advocacy in South Africa, while also being carried out at an inopportune time and context. Consequently, it racializes the debate on animal advocacy in South Africa to the extent that it contributes to the African faculty’s disavowal of the proposal and of animal injustice in general. Nevertheless, I also argue that the proposal could have been more successful if it had integrated racial justice concerns and African elements. This is the case because there are good reasons for Africans to support animal justice. Particularly, in the case of South Africa, it can be argued that addressing animal justice is beneficial for improving Africans’ health, a contribution to the elimination of environmental injustice and helpful for Africanizing institutions.