Writing is Power
I have been reading in various groups on Facebook and on Twitter about people, especially BIPOC people, struggling with writing.
I am here to tell you that Writing is Power!
If you are struggling with writing, go back & reread #blackfeminist literary theorist, #BarbaraChristian. She once wrote in “The Race to Theory,”
“What I write and how I write is done in order to save my life. And I mean that literally.”
The OpEd Project, of which I am an alumna and OpEd Mentor, believes in transformational writing and that “The story we tell becomes the world we live in.” I also blog and do feminist writing workshops for Ms. Magazine, and serve as a columnist and the Culture and Education Editor for Insight News, a Black Minneapolis newspaper.
This is how I approach writing — as lifesaving, transformational, and a form of activism — and I believe fundamentally that “she who holds the pen wields the power.”
The Tricky Terrain of Writing Tenure Narratives
Especially tricky, and anxiety-producing, are tenure narratives. Writing the tenure narratives, which consists of a general reflection on your growth, a teaching narrative, and a research narrative, is critical to the tenure and promotion (T&P) process.
Some “mentors” will tell BIPOC scholars that these narratives are not necessary. Don’t believe them.
Decades ago, in the 1990s, I read an article by a white male administrator who said women often didn’t suceed in the T&P process because they didn’t write tenure narratives.
We know gender & racial bias and structural inequality also played major roles in this lack of successful outcomes.
Be that as it may, I paid attention, clipped the article, and added it to my “For Tenure” folder, which I began compiling in my third year on the tenure track. When my time came, year five — I came up early — I reread it and followed the advice.
Twice I have been awarded tenure in anthropology — University of Florida and the University of Minnesota.
Twice, I also have walked away from tenure — with no regrets. So, I know the process, up close and personal. I know that tenure is less about merit and more about the relationahips wirh your colleagues that you do (or don’t) have.
Most recent, I have successfully served as an advocate and writing/resilience coach for BIPOC scholars in the morass of intellectual and personal microagression, institutional neglect, systemic racism, exclusionary practices, implicit and explicit bias, and just plain meanness.
I’ve seen the best and worst of what higher education can throw at us as BIPOC scholars. Yet, I successfully navigated a path forward for myself, and now guide my clients to do so. Writing has been a major weapon and tool in my arsenal.
As a past university president, former graduate faculty, a retired graduate mentor, a past leadership educator for the United States government, and now a consultant and professional leadership coach, I remind those clients I work with in academia (and in any sector) of the importance of shaping their own narratives of self — they need to write and document what they do.
It’s Your Story — Tell It and Tell It Well
The approach I took to my tenure narrative (and it is the same for any job-related professional narrative) was to recognize that in most assessment processes, everybody is talking about you .
In tenure, you have the department review, external reviewers, the college reviewers, etc.
In such a structure, your Narrative is the one place where you get to tell your story, to be reflexive and reflective, and to write about how you came to be the scholar you are at this precise moment in time, and why you deserve to be tenured and promoted.
These narratives are not the place to be humble or give everyone else credit for the work you did so they will know you are collaborative. If ever there was a time to toot your own horn and show out, this is that moment. Any less, and YOU lose.
These narratives are nothing more, and nothing less, than an Origins Story. Begin from the beginning — how you chose the field of study and why and how your research supports the discipline — talk about the twists and turns in deciding upon your research topics.
For teaching, describe your philosophy of teaching — where did it come from and how do you manifest it in your teaching, and in the kinds of courses you have created. And, by the way, if you don’t have a philosophical pedagogical lens, writing this at the last minute will be pure hell.
As a graduate student, you should be having epiphany moments in your classes of “this how I want to teach and inspire my students” or “I will never send my students through this teaching hell.” Pure and simple, subject matter expertise, does not make a good teacher.
And this is precisely the problrm in many colleges and universities today. We hire content or subject matter experts.
We judge them by the number of articles published, books written, or research grants received; but none of these can predict who will be a nurturing classroom teacher or professor — able to inspire while transmitting knowledge. Some folk currently teaching should not be let loose upon students unless there is a warden someplace to reign them in.
COVID-19 revealed the abuse of graduate students and adjuncts. And in my pandemic advice to my own discipline of anthropology, I have argued that we must be better and do better. This simple statement I wrote,“anthropology must now practice what it preaches,” blew up on twitter.
My coaching clients tell me that thinking about writing as a medium for channeling their story to be heard has helped them shape powerful narratives in any context.
In the tenure game, recognize that it is the ONLY opportunity you get to speak for yourself — to have (and use) your authentic voice.
And a small caveat, most T&P (and almost any kind of professional review) committee members don’t read ALL of the collected materials you so assiduously compiled— let’s be real, they skim.
But they will read the tenure narrative! The more interesting it is written — all the better, the more engaged they will be. It may even motivate some to go back and read other examples of your work. The tenure narrative is the teaser, the trailer, the top-of-mind, the hook.
Recipe for Successful Writing
I wish I had a quickie recipe for successful writing. With 61 years under my belt as a writer (I began writing poetry at the age of 8), and the author of several books — academic and poetry, articles, book chapters, and numerous op eds, editorials and creative nonfiction pieces, I can say with confidence — just do it!
Five Things You Can Do To Be a Successful Writer
1. Stop talking about writing and just WRITE
2. Read good writing for inspiration and to analyze approaches
3. Stop judging yourself, and if you can’t quiet that annoying voice, hire a professional editor who can let you know if you are making good progress.
4. Invest in yourself and hire a writing coach (like me) who will push you to finish, provide important feedback, and champion your efforts.
5. Good writing demands time. Find the space and time to write. And yield when the spirit hits you!
For those who write in the academy, your future depends on this.
Good Luck.
©2021 Irma McClaurin; All Rights Reserved
