This week on #MeetAScientist, get to know Dr. Seanna Leath, an Assistant Professor at University of Virginia in the Community Psychology Department and one of our inaugural fellows for our Fellowship for the Future program. Her fellowship project — Black Girls LEAP (Learn Explore And Play) — will build a science and social community for K-5 Black girls living in the Westhaven public housing development through field trips and community center workshops. In this interview, she discusses her work on promoting mental health among Black girls and women, the critical importance of self care, and her goals for her fellowship project. You can follow her on Twitter at @SeannaLeath.
When did you first identify as a scientist? What does your research look like today?
Sometimes I still don’t know if I identify as a scientist. In my mind, scientists and their work are removed from communities — although my graduate experience was filled with expert scholars and mentors in Psychology and Education who were deeply invested in Black and Brown communities — so I’m working on changing my mindset! More recently, I have felt like a scientist when others (outside academia) ask me to do an interview or send in my “expert opinion” on a topic.
Right now, I have a few exciting projects going on. I’m starting a data collection on conscious parenting practices among Black mothers. The project will include surveys and interviews with Black mothers on how they integrate their sociopolitical awareness into their parenting practices and develop healthy relationships with their children. I’m also working on a project that addresses how institutional climate influences Black students’ mental health. That study is really focused on destigmatizing support for mental health among Black students and challenging universities to do better in how they support us.
The research and work you do have such critical implications for how we view and understand the socialization of Black women and girls. Tell us how your work has impacted your own views and efforts towards raising your own Black girls and what, if anything, other people could benefit from knowing?
I wrote a piece, Vulnerability and strength: Black mothers raising emotionally free Black girls, which discusses how my scholarship has informed some of my parenting practices with my daughter — and sons, for that matter. There are so many things that I think people should know — it’s basically my career — but a few tidbits:
Embrace and support Black girls’ emotions, not just their strength
Encourage Black girls’ self-advocacy while simultaneously challenging the racist and sexist structures that harm them
For Black mothers, make sure you model love and joy as much as you model resilience and strength.
Also, listen to Black girls. Protect Black girls. Love Black girls.
What does your project for the fellowship center on and how do you envision future success?
My project focuses on fostering a connection between science learning and the interests of elementary-aged Black girls in economically challenged communities. Specifically, the program will provide the opportunity for Black girls to participate in community-based experiential learning opportunities that directly connect science with their interests, lived experiences, and local concerns. In partnership with a community resource hub, I would set up three free trips for girls and a parent/guardian, as well as three after-school or weekend morning events at the community center that would focus on a different science field (i.e., health science, chemistry, and math).
One of the main goals of the project is to expose the girls who participate to different STEM disciplines to illustrate the array of opportunities available in science — for example, a trip to a planetarium in connection to astrology and a trip to a local natural play space in connection to geography. Future success is institutionalizing it. University of Virginia has a rocky history of supporting Black scholars, and an even worse history of exploiting and harming the local Black community. I’m hoping that the 500 Women Scientist Fellowship acts as a springboard for a larger program for Black girls in STEM, in collaboration with the Black women and other organizations that have been doing this type of community organizing work long before I got here.
Self-care has become a whole dedicated movement gaining traction heavily in the past 5-10 years. What do you think shaped this direction towards the prioritization of caring for one’s self?
I think social media on self-care has gained traction, but I think Black women have historically taken care of themselves as much as possible within the social contexts of their lives. There’s a great book that Dr. Stephanie Evans is currently working on documenting Black women centenarians (women who are at least 100). She said part of the impetus for the book is to document how Black women “self-care” in ways that support such radical longevity. I’m sure that some of it has to do with good genes — and also not being prematurely murdered by toxic masculinity, White vigilantes, or police officers — but I am so excited about her project!
I also think that the prioritization of self-care stems from more folks realizing that the capitalist society we live in does not value our health and wellbeing. They will wheel your dead body out on a stretcher and bring someone else right on in. I also want to acknowledge that folks have varying levels of control over their workplace situations and the ways that they can take of themselves. For Black girls and women, specifically, I hope it also signals our recognition that we must be just as “strong” for ourselves — just as concerned with our wellbeing — as we are for the wellbeing of other people and communities. I love seeing Black women and girls thriving!
When you're not busy with your research and your advocacy, how do you take the time to rest and recharge?
I love to read. I have a book list that I’m constantly updating and I’m usually reading at least one or two books at a time. Normally a fictional work by a Black woman author and something non-fiction or historical…sometimes. I have to take a break from some of the heavier reading because it turns “rest and recharge” time into “I’m more stressed by the state of racial inequality and Black women and girls’ victimization in U.S. society” time. I also love gardening. I started really taking it seriously during the pandemic, clearing dirt in the backyard, buying plant food, pruning the plants, the whole nine yards. I don’t enjoy the mosquitoes, but I do appreciate the time outside and unplugging from technology.
Seanna Leath is an Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia in the Community Psychology Department. She uses interdisciplinary approaches to understand and address issues related to the holistic development of Black girls and women in the context of families, schools, and communities. Specifically, her work focuses on how race and gender identity beliefs support psychological resilience among Black girls, and exploring the influence of discrimination and stigma on a variety of outcomes among Black girls and women.