Episode 14: Gems of Experiences: Black Girls Being Seen with Dr. Erin Burke Brown

This is a transparent episode with Dr. Erin Burke Brown, Director of Professional Development for the Graduate School at Virginia Commonwealth University. She shares her academic journey through private school education and how she navigated that space, led by her mother’s mantra, “Education is the way out.” In this conversation, there is a confrontation or even a peeling back of Black middle-class structures and what it means to make it out of certain circumstances. There is also the shared lament that comes with being a Black woman in academia. The conversation continues, reflecting on unexpected mentorship support and paying it forward with others as Dr. Brown navigated undergraduate and graduate school as the nonprofit and higher education employment worlds. The conversation ends with a lively discussion about R&B artists.