Intellectual Framework

The Griot Collective's work is grounded in an original theoretical framework developed by Hilerie Lind through her doctoral research at Clark Atlanta University:

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• The Faustian Bargain — how Black men trade authenticity for proximity to power

• The Sacrificial Bargain — how Black women absorb harm, stay silent, and support the collective even when it destroys them

• Community Complicity — when the community protects the wrong people and punishes Black women for telling the truth

• The Crooked Room — the disorienting psychological space Black women navigate (Melissa Harris-Perry)

• Misogynoir — the specific interlocking racism and sexism Black women face (Moya Bailey)

• Controlling Images — Jezebel, Mammy, Sapphire, Strong Black Woman (Patricia Hill Collins)

• The Philosophy of Refusal — Hilerie's original framework — the deliberate, conscious refusal of the Sacrificial Bargain