?When Will the Joy Come? is a carefully curated archive of the Black women?s journeys toward joy. These memoirs complement the growing canon of Black women?s autobiography and auto-ethnography and constitute an important addition to Black history, Black intellectual history, and Black women?s history.??Daleah Goodwin, Journal of African American History

?The focus on joy makes this collection indispensable among books that consider Black women and women of color in higher education. Readable and engaging, When Will the Joy Come? makes a significant contribution to the intersecting fields of women?s studies, African American studies, and higher education administration.??Shanna Greene Benjamin, author of Half in Shadow: The Life and Legacy of Nellie Y. McKay

?The contributors to When Will the Joy Come? offer personal perspectives on the multiple meanings of ?joy? for Black women working within the academy. A timely, compelling book.??Carole Boyce Davies, author of Black Women's Rights: Leadership and the Circularities of Power

?Timely, relevant?as if holding up a mirror?reflecting our trials by fire, but also framing, theorizing, and offering strategies of resistance. It is balm and hope. I heard a speaker say recently that hope is the purest form of love. This surprised me, as I thought they might say that hope was the purest form of faith, or trust, or support. But I have to agree that this text gives me (and possibly others) so much hope. And I feel a depth of love within the pages?for rendering us and our experiences visible. Hope that we can not simply break into academia and survive its harsh terrain, but co-create spaces, moments, and burgeoning joy.??Toni King, director of the Center for Black Studies, Denison University, and coeditor of Black Womanist Leadership: Tracing the Motherline