Review - Black Women, Ivory Tower by Dr. Jasmine L. Harris

Title: Black Women, Ivory Tower*

Author: Dr. Jasmine L. Harris

*This post contains affiliate links. If you make purchases after using these links, I will earn a percentage of your purchase without any further cost to you.

Rating: 4.5 stars / 5 stars

Favorite Quote: “History, as a discipline and a social construct, does not view women, especially Black women, as historical actors.” Harris, Jasmine L., Black Women, Ivory Tower. Broadleaf Books, 2024, e-book ed.

Review: Thank you to the publisher Broadleaf Books and the Edelweiss platform for the free e-ARC that I received in exchange for an honest review.

I have to start with a bias of mine - this is the exact type of nonfiction that I love the most - nonfiction that combines personal narrative with a broader narrative, whether it be a historical one, a scientific one, or, in this case, a history of education for Black women. So I went into this book knowing that I would be reading a book that was absolutely my cup of tea.

So, let’s start with what Black Women, Ivory Tower is about. This book tracks both the history of education for Black people in the United States as well as Dr. Harris’ own journey through education, where she often faced the historical foundations of racism in education as an institution in this country, as well as the array of ways it continues to manifest in the modern education system.

I think the thing about this book that I found the most fascinating was the perspective Dr. Harris approached Brown v. Board of Education. Another bias that I must admit here - Robert H. Jackson, who sat on the Supreme Court at the time of the Brown decision, is a personal interest of mine. (My first cat is named after him.) And so, until reading this book, I didn’t think about the potential negatives of this decision, except for the issues with implementing it, such as the violence Black students and families suffered. But Harris points out another issue - it also dismantled Black schools that were constructed to meet the needs of Black students. 

This book also offers a raw, unfiltered version of Dr. Harris’ own experiences in school, ranging from elementary school through her experiences as a professor. Not only does she deal with sexism (and SA - an unfortunate and all too real experience faced by many people in college) and racism, but she exists in institutions in which both are engrained. 

The only part of this book didn’t really work for me was that, especially in the first half or so, the narrative about the women in her family not really sharing their academic histories becomes repetitive at some point. I think it’s an important part of the narrative, but it is mentioned multiple times, and at some point the repetition distracts from the rest of the narrative. 

About that Quote: There were so many quotes I thought about choosing for this, but this really sums up the ultimate thesis of this book. Dr. Harris attended institution after institution that was not built for her, and as a result, they were not institutions catered to her as an “actor.” And her experience is one faced by many Black women seeking higher education (or, unfortunately, even education as a young person).

Have you read Black Women, Ivory Tower? Share your thoughts below!