In 2022, Pivotal Ventures funded a group of doctoral students to learn and grow together through a retreat experience as part of their Women & Girls of Color Consortium. The colleagues I had in leadership at my previous employer had a major vision to facilitate this retreat in Barbados. 12 of the "Birth Equity Research Scholars" made that trip and it was certainly a gamechanger for each of us. We learned that Black scholars and thought leaders can have bonding experiences like wealthy people do, and that the abundance ahead of us is enhanced by the intentional work we put in. Though it put us in financial straits, the manifestation of this event allowed me think more expansively about my own leadership and advocacy.
Lessons
Be your full and authentic self.
Earn degrees in community. In community with colleagues and classmates, or in place with your neighbors.
Wipe the phone camera lens before taking photos.
Bejan hospitality is refreshingly kind.
Highlights
I recognized some parts of the island from my trip in 2018. Four years prior to this, I came to Barbados on holiday to enjoy Cropover with a handful of homegirls. Cropover is their annual carnival event, that has something to do with the history of sugar cane harvesting in the colonial 1700s. It is a beautifully colorful display of British and Bejan heritage, but ultimately rooted in the Transatlantic slave trade. I recognized the airport, some of the bars, one of the beaches and more from that unforgettable week.
This time, a bird shat on my face. It happened somewhere between the airport taxi and the pool deck. I wore it, spread it around, talked to several people and no one mentioned it. I was always superstitious about avian assholes from a story my mom told me. The manner in which I wore the birdshit has taken all of the "super" from that -stition.
None of us had been addressed nor referred to as "Scholars" in our lives. This was novel and powerful for us. When it was time to begin each day with breakfast together, the staff would say "The Scholars are downstairs." There was serious collective pride about that.
Riding around the island on the ZR. The Zed R is the public transit system in Barbados, a fleet of 15 seat passenger vans. I am uncomfortable sitting skin to skin with sweaty strangers. It took two rides to get over that; sweat, ocean water, sunscreen, shea butter, dust and whatever else mingled between arms, thighs and vinyl.
Dr. McLemore and Isabel's session around academic brand building and capitalizing on social media was excellent. It was essentially a confirmation to authenticity, and a challenge to network more efficiently.
Young men were trying to make us their American girlfriend, sugar mama, and wife (in that order.) Plus, I encountered the largest, juiciest snail I've ever seen! I like certain bugs. Snails are a rare find for me. They must thrive in the lush humidity of the Caribbean.
Hopes for the future
I hope that our community of scholars finds opportunities to continue engagement and collaboration. Our fields are spread out, making us a creative and powerful group for alignment in the future. I hope those opportunities are attached to funding. Black doctoral students need supportive academic spaces, indefinitely. Lastly, I hope that I can return to Barbados before the next 4 years passes. I want to revisit the new friends that I made, and the husband over there waiting on me.
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