Abstract
This co-authored piece shares a story about how two Black conference-goers negotiated joy in an (un)conference space. In turn, finding celebration within sometimes volatile, traditional academic conferences. Black Educology scholarship would benefit from more specific investigations into how Black conference-goers celebrate each other across their dynamic identities. We inquire about how a conference session co-facilitator (Nate) and an audience member (JB) negotiated, experienced, and built relationships across their positionalities and roles in the (un)conference space. We interpreted themes from our dialogue, post-session conversations, converged lived experiences, intercollegiate exchanges, symposium planning agendas, and written notes. The three themes, Convergent Social Localities, Blackness as Dynamic, and Stirred Up, inform implications for celebration in Black (un)conference spaces. The conclusion forwards how conference planners may center BlackEducology via for-us-by-us, authenticity, and being.
Recommended Citation
Stewart, N. D., & Mayo, J. (2024). Let Us Celebrate: Negotiating Black Joy in Academic (Un)Conference Spaces. Black Educology Mixtape "Journal", 2(1). Retrieved from https://repository.usfca.edu/be/vol2/iss1/9