When Dr. Lateasha Meyers talks about Black girlhood, she speaks with the conviction of a researcher and the heart of someone who has lived the experience herself.
Raised in Tacoma, Washington, Meyers’ academic journey took her from Eastern Washington University to Washington State University before earning her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Miami University in Ohio. Along the way, her career aspirations shifted from pediatrics to educational research, but one purpose remained constant: improving the lives of young people.
That purpose eventually crystallized into a singular focus, centering Black girls.
Her new book, Black Girlhood as Visual Oppositional Knowledge: Narratives of Power and Resistance, examines how Black girls understand themselves, challenge stereotypes, and create new knowledge through photography and storytelling. Rather than speaking about Black girls, Meyers places their voices and images at the center of the conversation.
In this interview, she discusses why Black girls deserve to be centered instead of included as an afterthought, how visual storytelling becomes an act of resistance, and what families can do to affirm Black girls in a world that too often misunderstands them.
Q: Tell us about your journey. How did you arrive at this work?
Dr. Meyers’ path to scholarship was anything but linear. What began as a desire to become a pediatrician eventually evolved into a passion for research, education, and amplifying the voices of Black girls.
Dr. Meyers: I was born and raised in Tacoma, Washington, and later moved to Eastern Washington University, where I earned my bachelor’s degrees in Children’s Studies and Sociology. Initially, I planned to become a pediatrician because I loved working with children. But as I began taking courses in the sociology of childhood, I realized I was just as fascinated by understanding children as I was treating them.
The McNair Scholars Program introduced me to research and ultimately changed my career path. I earned my master’s degree at Washington State University before pursuing my doctorate at Miami University in Ohio.
Along the way, I realized something important. I had always wanted to focus on Black children, and specifically Black girls, but I was hesitant. I thought I needed to study “all children.” Eventually I realized that when you’re trying to focus on everyone, you’re often helping no one in particular.
I had to stop being afraid and do the work I was truly called to do.
Q: Why is it important to center Black girlhood?
For Meyers, the distinction between inclusion and centering is critical. Inclusion often places Black girls alongside others. Centering begins with their lived experiences.
Dr. Meyers: Too often, Black girls are included in conversations, but they aren’t centered. Their experiences are compared to Black boys or White girls instead of being understood on their own terms.
Black girls have unique experiences.
Take dress codes, for example. One of the girls I worked with talked about White girls wearing the same clothing she wore without consequences, while she was disciplined for it. Those aren’t isolated incidents. They reflect a long history of policing Black girls’ bodies and perceptions of Black femininity.
We have to ask Black girls what they’re experiencing and then listen to how they’re making sense of those experiences instead of assuming we already know.
Q: Your book relies heavily on photography. Why?
One of the most distinctive elements of the book is its use of PhotoVoice, a research methodology that allows participants to communicate through photographs they create themselves.
Dr. Meyers: Instead of asking, “What does it mean to be a Black girl?” I asked, “Take a picture of what it means to be a Black girl.”
The answers became much richer.
The girls literally showed me the world through their eyes.
Their photographs became more than illustrations. They became evidence of how Black girls see themselves beyond stereotypes.
Q: What is visual oppositional knowledge?
The title itself introduces a concept that extends Black feminist scholarship into visual storytelling.
Dr. Meyers: Visual oppositional knowledge is about creating images that challenge stereotypes and prejudice while building entirely new ways of understanding ourselves.
I’m building on Dr. Patricia Hill Collins’ work around oppositional knowledge in Black feminist thought and asking, “What happens when we do that visually?”
Photography has always been part of Black resistance.
I talk about Sojourner Truth because she intentionally used photography to challenge ideas about who could be seen as a woman and whose humanity deserved recognition.
The girls in this project are continuing that tradition.
Q: What messages are Black girls receiving today?
Meyers says many of the messages Black girls receive are rooted in history and continue to influence how they are perceived in schools and society.
Dr. Meyers: Black girls are often told they’re “fast,” aggressive, acting White, or acting “ghetto.”
We have to unpack where those messages come from historically.
One participant described being disciplined after refusing to remove bobby pins from her hair while going through a school metal detector. She wasn’t being aggressive. She simply didn’t want to undo a hairstyle that had taken hours to complete. Yet her response was interpreted as hostility.
Those experiences matter because they shape how Black girls learn to navigate institutions long before adulthood.
Q: Where are Black girls finding affirmation?
Despite systemic barriers, Meyers believes Black girls are increasingly finding spaces that celebrate their identity and joy.
Dr. Meyers: We’ve come a long way.
Movements like Black Girls Rock and celebrations of Black joy remind girls that it’s okay to be exactly who they are.
Much of that affirmation is coming from within our own community.
One participant photographed her lips after carefully applying extra lip gloss. She titled the image, “Bold and Blessed at Birth.”
Historically, fuller lips were mocked or criticized. She completely flipped that narrative.
She said, “This is something we’ve been blessed with.”
That’s resistance.
Q: Is this the book you wish you had growing up?
Dr. Meyers: Absolutely.
Watching these girls articulate who they are with such confidence made me wish I had possessed that same confidence at their age.
They weren’t pretending life was easy. They had struggles.
But they consistently returned to one simple idea.
“I’m going to be me.”
People are going to judge me anyway, so why wouldn’t I choose to be myself?
Q: What advice would you give families raising Black girls?
As a scholar and a mother, Meyers believes affirmation begins long before children enter the classroom.
Dr. Meyers: Parents are our children’s first teachers.
How are we teaching them?
How are we loving them?
How are we reminding them every day that they’re beautiful, not only on the outside but on the inside?
Families also need to educate themselves. Learn about Black child development. Read books featuring Black children. Surround your children with images, music, literature, and experiences where they can see themselves reflected positively.
Eventually our children have to go into the world.
We can’t control everything they’ll encounter.
But we can make sure that when they leave home, they’re carrying affirmation with them.
More Than a Research Project
For Dr. Lateasha Meyers, this work is about much more than academic theory. It is about creating space for Black girls to define themselves before the world defines them.
By placing cameras in the hands of Black girls instead of simply placing questions before them, she invites readers to witness something often overlooked. Black girls are not merely subjects of research. They are producers of knowledge, architects of identity, and authors of narratives powerful enough to challenge generations of stereotypes.
Black Girlhood as Visual Oppositional Knowledge: Narratives of Power and Resistance reminds readers that when Black girls are centered, their stories do more than reshape academic conversations. They reshape how all of us learn to see.