Facilitating queer of color feminist co-mentorship: reflections on an online archive of scholar-activism

Abstract

We reflect on our relationship to the Feminist Freedom Warriors (FFW) online archive of transnational scholar-activist genealogies. From our respective locations at a PWI and an HBCU, we explore what it might mean to conceive of these new media narratives as archives of mentorship. For us, the archive is a significant resource of useful feminism–those modes of feminist thought, action, and history that meet our mentorship needs, stitching together practices of self-mentorship and co-mentorship. Our engagement with the narratives sharpen an understanding of how intertwined structures of gender, race, sexuality, caste and class operate at both the local and global level, and are facilitated by and through US academia. Moreover, the larger constellation of FFW inspire our own practice of ‘queer of color feminist co-mentorship’. We generate a collaborative analysis detailing our expanding perspectives on identity, difference, and the US graduate school experience. Our collective journey informs us that innovative conceptions and practices of feminist mentorship can radically challenge and enhance traditional mentorship, creating novel possibilities for learning and connection.