Black Women in Leadership—Their Historical and Contemporary Contributions

Black Women in Leadership: Their Historical and Contemporary Contributions explores the leadership experiences of Black women within macro level (such as education, industry, and social services) and micro level (such as family and individual churches) contexts. The interdisciplinary work examines leadership practices, highlighting the historical and current triumphs and barriers of Black women in these roles. Black Women in Leadership further offers success strategies underlying Black women’s leadership. With few exceptions (namely, Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer, Shirley Chisholm, Dorothy Height, Daisy Bates, and Angela Davis), the accomplishments of Black female leaders have historically been ignored, minimized, or primarily linked to those of prominent Black men. Black Women in Leadership centers upon elucidating factors motivating Black women to create their own identities and become leaders in their own right.

Dannielle Joy Davis, a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has studied and conducted research in Ghana, South Africa, Egypt, Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. She has published over 20 refereed journal articles, book chapters, academic commentaries, volumes, and reviews. Dr. Davis serves as Associate Editor for Learning for Democracy: An International Journal of Thought and Practice which is sponsored by the American Educational Research Association’s Special Interest Group, Democratic Citizenship in Education.
Cassandra Chaney earned her B.S. degree in Psychology from Southern University and A&M College and her M.S. and PhD in Human and Community Development (HCD) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign(UIUC). In addition to publishing several sole and first-authored manuscripts, she has also presented her research during local, state, and national conferences.