EssayJan 202512 min
Reclaiming the Archive: African Women's Voices in Colonial Records
By Dr. Ngozi Adichie-MbaRead →
01 / 04
BD
Est. 2024
BlackademiaDiaries
A collaborative network for African and Afro-descendant women academics
A space for solidarity, empowerment, and collective intellectual labor. We center Black women's knowledge production as resistance, healing, and liberation.
Scroll to explore
“
01Manifesto
We write because silence has never been neutral.
Black women in academia navigate institutions that were not designed for us -- spaces where our presence is often questioned, our labor extracted, and our contributions invisibilized. We exist at the intersection of racial and gendered marginalization.
Blackademia Diaries emerges from this reality as a reparative, diasporic, and feminist intellectual project. We believe in intergenerational solidarity -- in senior scholars reaching back and junior scholars reaching forward. We believe in representation that transcends tokenism.
This is not a lifestyle brand. This is a space of knowledge production, resistance, and collective care. We understand knowledge as inherently collective, as liberatory work, as healing practice.
We are building an archive of ourselves, by ourselves, for ourselves -- and for those yet to come.
02Who We Serve
This space is for you.
01
Junior Scholars
PhD candidates and early-career researchers navigating the first years of academic life.
02
Aspiring Academics
PhD applicants and research-curious students preparing to enter the academy.
03
Senior Scholars
Established academics inside and outside traditional institutions, mentors and guides.
04
General Public
Anyone invested in decolonisation, reparations, social justice, and Black feminist thought.
03What We Do
Building infrastructure for Black women in academia.
Active
Podcast & Interview Series
Career trajectories, intellectual lineages
Workshops
PhD applications, grants, academic interviews
Blog & Online Journal
Bi-annual publication of essays and research
Portrait Series
Documenting senior Black women academics
Coming Soon
Writing Retreats
Focused writing in community
Mentorship Program
Intergenerational guidance and support
Job Board
Opportunities for Black women academics
Events
Film screenings, cafe-debat, afterworks
Scholar Directory
Public directory across disciplines
Research Collaborations
Ad hoc, non-institutional partnerships
05Featured Voices
01
PORTRAIT
Dr. Amara Okonkwo
Postcolonial Literature
University of LagosNigeria
Exploring narrative resistance in West African women's writing and its influence on contemporary feminist discourse.
06Latest Writing
Essays, Research & Reflections
View All Articles→ResearchDec 20248 min
Language as Resistance: Code-switching in Academic Spaces
By Prof. Mariam CoulibalyRead →
02 / 04
ReflectionDec 20246 min
Navigating Motherhood and the Tenure Track
By Dr. Zainab OseiRead →
03 / 04
InterviewNov 202415 min
In Conversation: Decolonizing the Curriculum
By Blackademia DiariesRead →
04 / 04
07Our Impact
Building a Global Network
Connecting African and Afro-descendant scholars across borders, languages, and disciplines.
0
African Nations Represented
01
0+
Languages Supported
02
0+
Community Members
03
0+
Essays Published
04
08Community Voices
What Our Scholars Say
Real stories from academics who found community, support, and a platform for their voices.
“
Blackademia Diaries gave me the courage to write in my mother tongue. For the first time, my Yoruba scholarship felt valid in academic spaces.
DAN
Dr. Adaeze Nwosu
Linguistics Professor, University of Ibadan
Finding this community changed my PhD journey. I finally had mentors who understood the unique challenges of being a Black woman in European academia.
AT
Amina Toure
Doctoral Candidate, Sorbonne University
The podcast episodes on imposter syndrome helped me realize I wasn't alone. Now I mentor other junior scholars through the same struggles.
PGM
Prof. Grace Mensah
Associate Professor, University of Ghana
Publishing my first essay here, in both English and Swahili, opened doors I never knew existed. True multilingual scholarship is revolutionary.
DRK
Dr. Rehema Kimani
Environmental Scientist, Kenyatta University
01 / 04
VOX
09Languages
Knowledge in its own tongue.
Content will be multilingual, honoring the diasporic nature of our community and the languages that carry our stories.
Primary
Francais
Primary
English
Mother Tongue
Kreyol Ayisyen
Mother Tongue
Lingala
10Connect
Stay in the conversation.
11The Future
Building toward collective ownership.
Legal Form
Association / Non-profit or Social Enterprise
Governance
Collective, intergenerational, transparent
Funding
Grants, memberships, events, digital products