Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2018, Educational Leadership

Many of the narratives, media images, and studies depicting the phenomenon of single Black mother are dangerously destructive and misrepresentative of this population. Add into that phenomenon the descriptor millennial and one finds the research is limited. There is need for intervention that will deconstruct the master narratives and decolonize the minds of all who have been affected by them. With Black feminist thought/womanism as a methodological approach and narrative inquiry as the research method, this qualitative study offers that intervention and serves as a space from which knowledge about the mothers being studied is produced by the mothers being studied. One-on-one semi-structured interviews, video group chats, and group texts were used to gather these counter stories from the five single Black millennial mother participants. Choice emerges as the foundational tenet for a “I got this” philosophy that acts as a guiding principle for the behaviors of these intellectuals from “outside academia” (Walker, 2009, p.20). Choosing to embrace single motherhood, secure their children, self-define, determine their own worth and destiny, give and accept support represent a few of the methods the single Black millennial mothers employ to undergird their sense of self-efficaciousness as first teachers to their children.

Committee: Kate Rousmaniere Ph.D (Committee Chair); Denise Taliaferro Baszile Ph.D. (Committee Member); Tom Poetter Ph. D. (Committee Member); Sherrill Sellers Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Leadership