{"id":242443,"date":"2026-03-16T16:05:36","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T20:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=242443"},"modified":"2026-03-16T16:05:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T20:05:36","slug":"author-nikkya-hargrove-keynotes-womens-history-month-at-uconn-stamford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2026\/03\/author-nikkya-hargrove-keynotes-womens-history-month-at-uconn-stamford\/","title":{"rendered":"Author Nikkya Hargrove Keynotes Women\u2019s History Month at UConn Stamford\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Women\u2019s History Month kicked off with a bang on Tuesday, March 3, when UConn Stamford hosted author Nikkya Hargrove for a Career Conversation. The event revolved around Hargrove’s memoir “Mama: A Queer, Black Woman’s Story of a Family Lost and Found<\/a>,” detailing her life\u00a0<\/em>as she navigates post-grad\u00a0life, love, and motherhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe event is a true campus-wide collaboration,\u201d said Tara Malone, the Associate Director for the Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills for Regional Campuses. \u201cMultiple departments and both staff and faculty came together to create a meaningful program for our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hargrove opened the event by reading an excerpt from her memoir to a packed auditorium of students and members of the local Stamford public. Afterwards she sat down for a Fireside Chat with Vida Samuel, an associate professor in UConn\u2019s department of Human Development & Family Sciences.<\/p>\n

The author\u00a0detailed the circumstances of her\u00a0tumultuous\u00a0upbringing and the effects it had on her later in life.\u00a0Hargrove was predominantly raised by her grandparents, due to her mother\u2019s drug addiction and frequent imprisonment.\u00a0\u201cI couldn\u2019t talk about it with anybody,\u201d said\u00a0Hargrove.\u00a0\u201cI carried the shame of having her incarcerated with me to college.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
A large group of students, faculty, and community members were on hand for the event (UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hargrove was parentified from a young age, always concerned with her mother\u2019s welfare. But college provided Hargrove a reprieve to discover herself. \u201cCollege was my escape,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But, shortly after graduating, Hargrove\u2019s mother passed away. Amidst her grief, Hargrove found a new purpose: raising her new-born baby brother.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere was a woman who saw a need,\u201d said Prof. Samuel, \u201cher brother in a system that would have swallowed him whole\u2014and then chose a path of immense, exhausting responsibility, without hesitation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Writing her memoir allowed Hargrove to combine areas of her life she previously kept separate: family and academia. This union has brought her a new purpose, empowering the youth. On March 3, Hargrove looked at the audience of undergraduate students and said, \u201cYou can write your own story. We\u2019re all born into a story . . . but you all can change that. You can build something you are proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the lights rose, conversation began amongst those in attendance. Students and faculty alike gathered in groups, buzzing from Hargrove\u2019s inspiring words. They deeply affected one student in particular, Victoria Senat ’29 (ENG), who shared, \u201cI would say her resilience stood out to me. Whatever you\u2019re going through in life, either bad or good, is not going last.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prof. Samuel shared similar insights: \u201cI hope students walk away understanding that their circumstances are the context\u00a0<\/em>of their lives, but they are not the\u00a0conclusion<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, Hargrove is a mother\u00a0of\u00a0three children, and the proud owner of Connecticut\u2019s first queer, Black woman-owned independent bookstore, Obodo Serendipity Books. She is the editor-in-chief of the Stratford Crier, and the Executive Director of the Stratford Forward, a nonprofit focused on community building.<\/p>\n

Hargrove\u2019s trajectory in life, though unexpected,\u00a0has been\u00a0one\u00a0of\u00a0triumph\u2014inspiring UConn students and faculty alike to persist in the face of adversity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope they took away that their upbringing or trauma or history does not need to define the person they are (or aspire to be). Love comes in many forms \u2013 from self-love, to chosen love, and to everything in between.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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