Undergraduate Research Project (6pts)

 

As a UNCF Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow, I have been tasked with developing a capstone research project since the second semester of my sophomore year. At first, I was committed to developing research that explored Afropessimism, Black girlhood, and violence. However, after traveling to South Africa in the fall semester of my junior year and participating in the Yale Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, I realized that I was meant to do a different project. 

During my time in South Africa, I was forewarned that I would bear witness to a type of destitution like no other. While the townships were jarring, I did not view them as a spectacle; instead, I recognized how similar the conditions of apartheid resembled the Jim Crow of the American South, and even the living conditions of the inner-city slums that are predominantly populated by people of color. In witnessing these connections, I was priming myself for an unexpected discovery, 

By the time I arrived at Yale, I was encouraged by my mentor to be “chaotic.” Having felt disillusioned by the research I explored during my sophomore year, I was desperate to find something new. Luckily, I had access to one of the world's largest libraries: The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. After weeks of sifting through the archives, I found a document that sought to explain the condition of Black children during the height of South African apartheid. In the footnotes, I found mention of Inanda Seminary, the only school at the time for Black girls in the country. This school, among others, was inspired by the creation of HBCUs in the United States. Although its creation did not intend to produce a rich legacy of Black women who would become changemakers and play a significant role in liberating South Africa from the constraints of apartheid, it did exactly that. 

From this discovery, my Mellon project and thesis for International Studies emerged. With this work, I aim to peel back the intricate layers of transnational Black girlhood, seeking to understand how archives from Inanda Seminary and Spelman College articulate a richer vision of freedom for Black girls - Jayda Hendrickson