🔗 linkedin.com/in/ebony-joy-i-3b7065176

Research Focus: Intersectionality • Policing & Community Trust • Counter-Storytelling

“Voices of Power and Resilience at the Intersections of Black and Blue: Understanding Black Women’s Lived Experiences with Gendered Racial Police Profiling Through Counter-Storytelling”

What research challenge did your dissertation address?

My doctoral research explored how Black women make sense of their own experiences with gendered racial police profiling. I conducted two rounds of in-depth interviews with four Black women who identified as having experienced this form of profiling, then used narrative inquiry to surface common themes across their stories. Three major themes emerged: the stereotypes that shape how Black women are perceived and treated by police, the intersectional nature of these encounters, and the strategies, often rooted in education and preparedness, that Black women use to navigate interactions with law enforcement.

What inspired you to pursue this research?

This research started before I even began my dissertation. When I found out, at thirteen weeks pregnant, that I was having a son, I felt joy. Then I cried all the way home, because I felt the real fear that comes with raising a Black boy in this country. I entered the program planning to study the criminalization of Black males. In my first classes, exploring Critical Race Theory and intersectionality, I happened to hear a radio segment on the adultification of Black girls: how Black females are often perceived as older and less innocent than they are, and treated accordingly. I realized my daughter could face her own version of criminalization because of her race and gender, and that the fear I carried for my son and the fear I carried for my daughter were connected, even if they showed up differently in their lives. That connection is what shaped this research.

What did your research find, and what is its impact?

The Black women I interviewed had been subjected to police profiling, often enduring hostility and disrespect during those encounters, and most were unlikely to report misconduct because they rarely received meaningful support or a positive outcome when they did. What they wanted was clear: officers who show empathy and compassion, a real pathway to seek justice, and departments genuinely held accountable. I believe the most meaningful contribution of this research is simpler than any theme or finding: by documenting these women’s stories, I gave them a space to be seen; many had never shared these experiences with anyone before. I hope this work develops into safer reporting pathways, bias-confronting police training, and stronger institutional accountability, alongside spaces where Black women can process the impact of these encounters together.

“By documenting these women’s stories, I gave them a space to be seen; many had never shared these experiences with anyone before.”

Ebony-Joy Igbinoba

Full dissertation: https://repository.library.northeastern.edu/files/neu:ms40c5180