Newly minted political science Ph.D.'s are likely not assigned to read Merze Tate (Ph.D. Government, Harvard University, 1941), Jewel Limar Prestage (Ph.D. Political Science, University of Iowa, 1954), or Mae Coates King (Ph.D. Political Science, University of Idaho, 1968). Burgeoning practitioners further lack an appreciation of their leadership to building and sustaining the discipline's institutional arms whether by receiving international fellowships (Fulbright, as in the case of Tate), founding professional organizations (National Conference of Black Political Scientists, in the case of Prestage), or staffing them (American Political Science Association, in the case of King). Disrupting Political Science: Black Women Reimagining the Discipline compiles sixteen interventions explaining how Black women's contributions to the field continue to go “unnoticed,” ensuring that emerging scholars are privy to their collective labor.

The authors identify Black women in political science with a variety of transformative phrases: “good trouble-makers” (Alexander-Floyd), “space-invaders” (Lewis-Maddox), “rhythm-disruptors” (Melonas), “joy-cultivators” (Nwakanma), “risk-takers” (Willoughby-Herard et al.), and “paradigm-shifters” (Hossein). These descriptors are furth