Intellectual Activism: The Praxis of Dr. Anna Julia Cooper as a Blueprint for Equity-Based Pedagogy

Having faced seemingly insurmountable challenges of enslavement, Jim Crow segregation, and de facto discriminatory practices, African Americans have historically championed education as a vehicle for community enrichment (Anderson Education; Cooper Voice; Giddings).1 Thus, among African Americans, education has long served as a mechanism to facilitate societal transformation—the form of transformation that addresses social inequities. For many African Americans, however, educational access was an elusive proposition because the entanglements of race, gender, and class placed them at a disadvantage. Furthermore, the few who reached the highest strata of educational attainment had to contend with institutional processes that operated to undermine their legitimacy or discourage their investment in social equity issues (Collins Fighting; Anderson “Race”; Malveaux). Often barred from the most resource-rich institutions, Black scholars committed to improving the life outcomes of others had to determine how to fulfill their altruistic agenda while maintaining their cerebral endeavors. Despite these challenges, some scholars were able to marry their intellectualism with community activism. Most notable among them is Dr. Anna Julia Cooper, an educator who rose from slavery to become the fourth African-American female to receive a PhD degree. Through an exploration of Cooper’s life and praxis, this paper serves as a blueprint for scholars invested in merging theory and social action to enact what I label intellectual activism. Most importantly, it places Cooper’s work within a paradigm that names educational access as a human right because her educational philosophy challenges structures and practices that hinder personal development and engagement in civic life.