Understanding Social Media as a Communicative Tool to Facilitate Critical Discourse: Using #BlackGirlMagic to Explore How Black Women in Higher Education “Talk Back"

Author

Crystal Spruill Carter, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Date of Award

12-1-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Curriculum & Instruction

First Advisor

Karin Lewis

Second Advisor

Laura Jewett

Third Advisor

Ana Díaz Beltran

Abstract

Black women have engaged through social media platforms, as a mechanism to uplift their embodiment, despite being relegated to the margins. The hashtag #BlackGirlMagic (BGM) is linked to narratives of Black women in higher education that are empowering and problematic. The development of the popular social media movement during a time when Black women were being portrayed negatively made engaging in the discourse "talking back" possible. This study explores the lived experiences of Black women college students and recent graduates, using currere as an analytical tool for my own communication journals entries as a data source to structure my reflections prior to reviewing my interview data and X social media posts to inform the interview protocol for my study. To this end, using a qualitative research design, grounded in an endarkened feminist framework, I analyzed interview data from my participant study to formulate themes and explore how Black women in higher education facilitate critical discourse.

The findings present six main themes from the data: (1) When Being Sick and Tired is Enough, (2) #BlackGirlMagic as a Call to Action, (3) ‘40 Acres and a Mule’ Educational Institutions Promise, (4) A Torch and a Force Shield, (5) Her Extraordinary Has to Be Ordinary: I Am Not Magic, and (6) Unapologetic: Redefining Black Girl Magic. In response to a sense of marginalization, the themes that emerged speak to the sense of validation and the potential of social media to move Black women from the margins. Conclusions suggest that #BGM represents a possible push back on issues of intersectionality. Despite constraints, social media creates an opportunity for Black educators and academic influencers to respond to this socio-cultural side-lining by publicly asserting and validating themselves.

Comments

Copyright 2024 Crystal Spruill Carter. https://proquest.com/docview/3148086116

Recommended Citation

Carter, Crystal Spruill, "Understanding Social Media as a Communicative Tool to Facilitate Critical Discourse: Using #BlackGirlMagic to Explore How Black Women in Higher Education “Talk Back"" (2024). Theses and Dissertations. 1660.
https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/etd/1660