Retirement is often framed as a conclusion. A long-awaited pause after decades of work. But for many Black professionals in academia, retirement is not the end. It is a shift. And in this current moment, it is a shift that requires new tools, new connections, and most importantly, a new kind of community.
That is why I created Retired Black Professionals in Academia, a space for Black faculty, staff, administrators, and researchers who are either retired or approaching retirement. It is a place to stay connected, to remain engaged with the academic world we helped shape, and to support one another through a transition that, for many of us, arrives with more questions than answers.
This is not just about missing colleagues or keeping up with university news. This is about survival, legacy, and the collective wisdom that Black scholars have carried across generations. It is also about refusing to disappear in a moment where the very institutions we helped build are being restructured, undermined, or outright attacked.
Across the country, we are watching academic programs that center Black history, culture, and intellectual traditions come under political fire. The same lawmakers attempting to ban books and silence discussions about systemic racism are now targeting spaces like the National Museum of African American History and Culture. That museum is not just a building. It holds our stories. It reflects our scholarship. It is filled with the very disciplines so many of us gave our lives to—history, literature, sociology, education, the arts.
Source: Retired, Not Disconnected: Why Black Academics Need Each Other Now More Than Ever
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