Lessons learned: Research within an urban, African American district

For an African American female researcher whose race, class, and gender work as oppressive intersecting units shaping my contextualized experiences, meaning-making, and self-definition, the implications of my work with African American communities are complicated. In this article, I draw on culturally sensitive research practices, critical race theory, and Black feminist theory to deconstruct how race-gender-social class informed my own field experience. To these ends, I hope to advance the theoretical discussion of qualitative research with urban African American communities beyond abstraction to serious implications for practice and policy.