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Published: December 2021
Expanding the notion of the practitioner-scholar, this book places practitioners at the centre of theorising their own experiences and making sense of it. As a Black woman, former school administrator and educational leadership researcher and scholar, this book resonates with me. This volume and these powerful narratives of lived experiences of African Americans disrupts the dominance of Eurocentricity in educational leadership theorizing and practice and should be a must-read in principal qualification courses and educational leadership courses. Indeed, as Carrier and Griffen suggest, we must "appreciate the gift it can be to have an African American principal in any school."
~Ann E. Lopez, PhD, Professor, Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education; Director, Centre for Leadership and Diversity, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto
Typically, it is an honor to endorse a book which includes this one. For this book however, I feel a sense of duty, responsibility and obligation to tell the world of African American principals, assistant principals, and aspiring school leaders that this Fighting the Good Fight is a MUST READ! Nothing quite like this book has ever been written, and I thank God that the voices of these leaders have a platform to express themselves nationally. So many African American leaders out there feel alone and isolated. This book will reinforce for them that they are not alone, while simultaneously providing an invaluable resource for self-reflection, self-assessment, self-adjustment, and self-improvement.
~Principal Baruti Kafele, School Leadership Consultant, Author, Retired Principal
Fighting the Good Fight breaks every convention worth breaking. This is true of the voice it’s centering and of its counter-narrative spirit. More compellingly, it’s true of the editors’ commitment to paint a full picture, not just of racial oppression, but also of the joys, antiracist triumphs, and transformations of powerful school leaders.
~Paul Gorski, Founder of the Equity Literacy Institute
Fighting the Good Fight is an essential text for aspiring African American school leaders, current school leaders as well as those in district-level positions who are charged with hiring school leaders. This text provides actual narratives that reinforce why studying the African American school leaders' experience is vital. There is nothing more powerful than a story and the stories presented within this text provide a road map that when used will certainly begin the work needed to motivate us to examine our current hiring and support practices. Additionally, this text presents an asset-influenced view of the contributions African American leaders have made and will make in the future. Each of us will find ideas to consider and strategies to employ through the lens of the contributors to this text.
~Dr. Gloria McDaniel-Hall, Assistant Professor, Educational Leadership, National Louis University, Chicago, IL
Fighting the Good Fight is a compelling compendium of narratives by inspirational Black school leaders. You’ll find yourself, in the midst of all the noise, gazing up, finding your North Star, and moving forward with peace, passion and optimism.
~Dr. Miriam D. Ezzani, Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership, Texas Christian University
Fighting the Good Fight is a necessary, timely, and timeless book—timely, because it comes at a time when issues of equity, inclusion, and social justice are major discussion points as we seek to create schooling and educational environments that are responsive and relevant to the needs, interests, and ambitions of students; and timeless, because it points to the fact that taking up these issues and bringing about the learning and teaching environment we seek, is a constant process. Well-positioned to educate us on the process are school administrators whose knowledge and expertise, rooted in their experiences, inform their work. In this regard, the provocative and insightful essays of African American administrators in this book, not only tell us about their lives, commitments, philosophies, paths, ambitions, and leadership, but is also an important contribution to our knowledge about what it takes to be a leader in an inequity education system.
~Carl E. James, author of Colour Matter: Essays on the Experiences, Education and Pursuits of Black Youth
