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The Problem. Authentic leadership literature is often seen as acontextual and unproblematicleaders merely need to "know thyself" and "to thine own self be true." Even when scholars like Eagly argue authenticity is a relational concept, it remains uncontextualized for those whose social identities set them apart from the majority within organizations and society. The Solution. Through this collaborative autoethnography, we aim to illustrate the complexity of enacting authentic leadership as immigrant women of color who are leaders within predominantly White institutional contexts. The Stakeholders. One audience for this article is other women of color with whom our experiences may resonate. A broader audience includes those in power within organizations who might use this article as fodder for crafting more inclusive spaces that support both the development of authentic leaders and the practice of relational authenticity.

In this collaborative autoethnography, two immigrants interrogate their evolving self-definitions as Black women in the U.S. academy. Using a variety of data sources, they uncover several commonalities and differences in their experiences which have coalesced into a four-part model in their journey towards a different construction of Black identity: positioning themselves in the Black box, apprehending their outsider-within positionalilty, navigating the "us/them" to "we" switch, and integrating a different construction of Blackness while remaining true to their cultural/ethnic identity. In elaborating on these themes, they critique the journey towards apprehending minority identity status for people like them.