4: Brittany Williams & Black Women's Brilliance

Today's guest is the wonderful, Brittany Williams. Brittany is a PhD candidate at the University of Georgia, studying College Student Services. Brittany is a former Student Affairs Professional in Higher Education and shines a number of bright lights on some issues that are incredibly salient to her professional experiences as a black woman. Brittany brings up a number of topics during the next hour, including white privilege, social media activism, entering academia as a black woman, and the first generation struggle. We hope you enjoy this conversation - it took a number of rescheduling dates/technical difficulties, but we made it happen and we did the thing!

EPISODE NOTES:

- Brittany was a James Baldwin scholar at Hampshire College.

- A fascinating aspect of the GI Bill was brought up when Brittany explained that Blacks were often denied access to the Bill for their service.

- Celebrations are in order because Brittany had FIVE presentations proposals accepted to the 2017 ASHE conference in Houston, TX.

- We discussed the downfall of Yik Yak and it's impact on higher education student populations.

- Watch Brittany's 2016 Pecha Kucha talk at the ACPA Conference in Montreal - where she focuses on social media activism as a way to explore identity development.

- The video of Brittany's 2017 Pecha Kucha talk has yet to be uploaded, but it will be added here when it is online.

- Brittany and Dr. Joan Collier created Cite a Sista - check out CiteaSista.com for more information!

- Brittany brought up an impactful Inside Higher Ed article from Dr. DL Stewart about the language we use in Higher Education.

- Get your eyes on the new collection, "The Fire This Time," by Jesmyn Ward.

- Brittany shared her thoughts on how James Baldwin is the greatest American writer of all time, so make sure to check in on her favorite book, "The Fire Next Time."

- Reminder: Jay Z's "Black Album" is one of the best rap albums of all time.

If you wanna follow up with Brittany, check out her website at BrittanyMWilliams.com.

Or give her a follow on Twitter at @MS_BMWilliams and keep your eyes on the #CiteaSista tag.

MUSIC NOTES:

- All music heard on today's podcast was provided by the Boston-based post rock instrumental band, I/O.

- The podcast intro and ad breaks features the song, "Allston," which was featured in this piece from Arctic Drones.

- The track played in full on the music break is the premiere of the track, "Alternates."

- The outro of the episode features the song, "To Everyone I Could Have Loved & All The Places We Could Have Called Home."

- You can listen to and preorder the new I/O album, "Anyone, Anywhere" at iomusicofficial.bandcamp.com.

ADVERTISING NOTES:

- This week we were sponsored by Brittany's organizations, Cite A Sista and Sister PhD.

- Both of these platforms are spaces for Black women academics and professionals to share their experiences, stories, and knowledge to motivate, inspire, and inform others. Visit CiteaSista.com and SisterPhD.com for more information!

FOLLOW, RATE, REVIEW, SUBSCRIBE, AND SHARE!

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