“It’s heartbreaking.”
Fallon Ensley, a Lincoln University student and former student government president, described how he felt when he read Antoinette Candia-Bailey’s final email to LU President John Moseley.
On January 8, Candia Bailey, former vice president for student affairs at LU University, took her own life. In her final email, sent hours before her death, Ms Candia-Bailey described the toll her life at Lincoln University had taken on her and criticized her work culture. Suggested ways to improve it.
Candia-Bailey, known as “Bonnie,” was sworn in as vice president less than a year later, in May 2023. At the time, she was overworked, subjected to microaggressions, harassed and bullied for receiving poor performance reviews, and when she sought family leave, medical leave, and Americans with Disabilities Act accommodations for psychological reasons. Moseley and the LU Board of Curators claimed to have fired him. health.
Ensley is disappointed that the university is unable to “take care of our graduates and our faculty who have begged to come back and work.”
Riley Malloy
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Columbia, Missouri
Unpacking tolls
Candia-Bailey’s story reflects a phenomenon associated with black women and girls known as “weathering.” Weathering, a term coined by researcher Arlin Jeronimus in 2006, suggests that marginalized communities experience “earlier health outcomes as a result of the cumulative effects of repeatedly experiencing social or economic adversity and political marginalization.” It expresses the situation of “getting worse.”
“When you think about weathering, you think about something that can be hammered over and over and over and over again until it can’t actually maintain its shape or maintain its original posture. Please,” says wellness lifestyle consultant Erica Savage. About weathering. “And this is exactly what is happening to Black women. This phenomenon speaks to the social structures that affect us.”
Jeronimus’ original study in 1986 analyzed fetal mortality rates in black and white mothers. She found that black mothers in their teens give birth to healthier babies than black mothers in their 20s and older. She suggested that teenage mothers may have had healthier children as a result of fewer years of exposure to racism-related stress.
Maternal mortality rates for black women are also disproportionately higher than for non-black women. In 2021, the CDC reported that this rate was 2.6 times higher than for white women. In Missouri, black women are three times more likely to die within a year of giving birth than white women, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
Other examples of poor mental health among Black women and girls are prevalent today.
A December 2023 study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry found that suicide has increased disproportionately among Black women over the past two decades, and more than doubled among young Black women and girls ages 15 to 24. It turned out that there was.
After Kandia-Bailey’s death, Savage reshared an essay on her social media that detailed her struggle with suicide after suffering a traumatic brain injury in 2021. In it, she suggests that the everyday stressors of being a black woman “continue to marginalize black girls and women.” A life of labor, punch lines, punching bags, debilitation, and death. ”
Her conclusions are reflected in the life expectancy of black Americans. A 2022 study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that life expectancy for Black Americans lags behind that of white Americans. Missouri experienced the largest increase in life expectancy disparity from 1990 to 2019, the period covered by the study.
Burnout among Black Professionals
Burnout is an epidemic in the professional field. This is a phenomenon caused by workplace stress, which causes a “feeling of energy depletion or fatigue.” Increased psychological distance from work or negative or cynical feelings related to work. Reduced professional effectiveness as defined by the World Health Organization.
For Black professionals, excessive workloads can promote burnout.
Patrice Buckner Jackson, a former higher education administrator, said she identifies with Candia-Bailey’s story. Due to high demand from her boss, her colleagues, and the student body, she became burnt out and naturally quit her 25-year career.
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patrice buckner jackson
“I asked one of my leaders one time and he said, ‘I feel like you’re being given assignments that don’t apply to my field,'” Jackson said. “And the leader said, ‘I’m giving it to you because I trust you.’ And I said, ‘Your trust feels like punishment.’
Jackson said those who outperformed had high expectations to continue competing, but also experienced identity-related stress. Jackson was often a “safe space” for faculty and students of color with trauma, troubles, and concerns. It took a toll on her own mental health, but she realized she couldn’t say no to “someone who really needed it.”
“That’s why you endure,” Jackson said. “We endure compassion fatigue, secondary trauma, some direct trauma, and a clash of values because we understand that having a seat at the table is very important for people who attend college. ”
Currently, Jackson teaches professionals, including many working in higher education, about reducing burnout.
“We often hear the question, ‘Why do we appear this way?’ Why do we have difficulty resting? Why do we struggle?” I think it’s trauma, right? If you come from ancestors who were punished for resting, it’s in your body,” Jackson said.
In her final email, Candia-Bailey talked about working constantly and being available to her staff:
Why did they let me work even though I was a bad employee with no leadership skills? While everyone was sleeping, I was working. During my vacation, I was working. You asked me to “schedule send” for emails so that people don’t receive messages all night long. I made it clear to the staff that I am working 24/7, but I do not expect them to be working. The staff never tells me when I am at work or away from the office when I am not responsive. I never have. Who answered the phone call at 2 a.m. and followed up appropriately? If it was that bad, they should have provided me with a remedial action plan to address my poor performance.
Jackson says the pressure to overperform on black professionals stems from a lack of security in their lives. “So the lack of safety weathers us,” she said.
Building a “powerful community”
Candia-Bailey goes on to explain how her white people are held to different standards, blaming their race for tolerating their offensive and even illegal behavior. . Additionally, she claims that LU President Moseley indirectly referred to Kandia-Bailey as an “angry black woman,” which prevented her from speaking out about the disparity without criticism. .
“No, that word wasn’t exactly used, but you certainly alluded to this stereotype that has been demoralizing black women for decades,” Kandia Bailey said. I wrote by email.
Jackson said safety for Black scholars and professionals is not guaranteed because HBCUs exist within higher education systems that were not created with Black people in mind, even if they are historically Black colleges and universities. That’s what it means. To combat this, Jackson said it’s important to have a “strong community” for Black professionals.
“What we need is a space where we are understood, where we don’t have to explain ourselves, where we don’t have to talk over and over again, to convince someone of what we’re enduring. Where you don’t need to be,” Jackson said.
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dandre thompson
In Colombia, a group of black professionals recognized this need and began creating a network called the Colombian Association of Black Professionals. D’Andre Thompson, a member of the association and the City of Columbia’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, said the organization was inspired by the lack of Black empowerment and economic advancement in professional institutions.
“The whole thought process behind this was how do we build a network where people can learn about the resources that are available to them,” Thompson said. “That’s what this network is about, to support each other, because otherwise we won’t build other institutions to support us.”
For Black professionals to consider their futures within existing communities, Thompson said it’s important to stay connected in all aspects of their daily lives. Just knowing where you can get a haircut or eat from a Black-owned business can build a sense of community.
“We also have Black mental health professionals in our community,” Thompson said. “There are people in our community who are here to support people of color and make sure they have access to the medical services they need and the counseling services they need. We have people here, and unless you are, otherwise, if you don’t know anything about these things, you just don’t realize it, and that’s a shame to me.”
At Lincoln University, the death of Candia-Bailey led to increased calls for student participation in administrative decisions, according to previous reporting from Missouri State. The event provided an opportunity to highlight other ongoing issues. .
“We’ve been saying this constantly for years and years and years,” said Kenlyn Washington, LU’s current student government president. “They say it took until TV came along to get the news to actually understand where we’re coming from and how we feel.”
Caitlin McIlwain
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KBIA News
Other students echoed the sentiment that they would not have had the luxury of addressing their concerns had no lives been lost. “It comes at a huge cost,” LU student Tyree Stovall said. “But at the same time,[Candia-Bailey]kind of saves Lincoln.”
By writing her an email, students said they left a call to action that they said they intended to follow.
“She said in her letter, ‘For me it started with Lincoln, and for me it ended with Lincoln,’ but it doesn’t end with Lincoln,” Ensley said. “Although she is no longer here, we will make sure her story lives on forever at Lincoln University and ensure that mental health is taken seriously in the years to come.”
