Various intimate and global crises unfolding over the past five years invite us to consider what it means to be a Black woman media studies scholar engaged in Internet research: why we do it and how we survive the institutions that we must navigate in the process. We have witnessed two well-resourced, research-intensive institutions scandalously deny tenure to two prolific Black women (Nikole Hannah Jones and Kathleen McElroy) who work at the intersection of race and journalism/media studies. We have seen toxic academic environments take the lives of several Black women administrators. We have survived increased work and caregiving loads in the midst of a global pandemic. We have confronted the weaponization of political bigotry and a heightened attack on racialized, queer, and gendered bodies. And we have seen many institutions renege on promises made in the name of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Many have left the academy in light of this reality, but what of those who choose to stay?

This fishbowl explores questions and dilemmas that affect Black women scholars in particular ways due to interlocking oppressions. What are the costs and benefits of public scholarship? How do Black women scholars flourish while mothering and caregiving? What does the “mammy” trope look like within the context of the classroom/department, and how do we navigate it? What’s in a promotion, and is it worth it? How do we center our identities within our work? How do we effectively, yet diplomatically, move through the various stages of our careers? How do we cultivate joy, now?

Ultimately, this interactive fishbowl is a community-building endeavor that ruptures the disposability of Black women in academia (and global societies more broadly) and evinces the urgency of making Internet research more inclusive as a field.