LES S O NS F R O M A G E N D E R S TU D I E S C L A S S R O O M
music and culture, and Black feminist theory.
As someone who has grown up around hip-
hop music and culture, I already felt deeply
invested in and protective of the genre. Hip-
hop feminism added an entirely new layer
and helped me appreciate the intersection
of music, culture, and Black feminism. But it
felt extremely important for me to have con-
trol over the discussion of my culture, espe-
cially in the elite, white normative environ-
ment of the private school classroom. It was
important to me to debunk myths and avoid
stereotypes of Black men while still elevating
the voices and experiences of Black women.
It was also important, with my new under-
standing, to help create a space where Black
women gained visibility in conversations
about feminism to deconstruct white nor-
mativity in mainstream feminist discourse.
Being given the opportunity to create this
space in my class reminded me that it is not
only possible, but also vital that our class-
rooms embrace the culture of young people
not in a way that is paternalistic, but in a way
that makes them confident in knowing they
have the space to authentically show up for
themselves and others like them.
“My favorite day of class was
actually the day that our
community norms crashed
and burned; then we rebuilt
them together.”
closest I’ve ever felt to my classmates and to
the academic space. In any learning space,
a closer community creates a more intrigu-
ing and vibrant learning environment, and
there is no closer community than one that
acknowledges everyone’s differences and
builds upon such uniqueness.
The first day of class we spent brainstorming
community norms that we could all agree
upon. These norms were meant to make
our classroom not only productive, but also
a place where everyone felt valued so that
we could each maximize our own potential
and help others do the same. Now the thing
about community norms is that they don’t
fix problems or power dynamics in the class-
room completely. I have been in plenty of
communities where we set up community
norms and they were promptly forgotten
or broken. Community norms set the space,
but they are only as good as our ability to
maintain them.
Lesson #5: Create Class Guidelines
Together and Uphold Them
Serena Baldick Martinez, SFS ‘18
My senior year Women and Gender Stud-
ies elective was the personification of an
unlikely crew, one that nobody expected to
become close. Yet, that class of 17 was the
My favorite day of class was actually the day
that our community norms crashed and
burned; then we rebuilt them together. We
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CSEE Connections
Summer 2019
Page 21