When you& #39;re a woman with a doctorate, some think you& #39;re arrogrant for breathing even if you grovel, so there& #39;s that.

I love my BIPOC, LGBTQ & first gen students, though...

Me: Call me Ebony.

Students: OK, Dr. Thomas!

Me: No, really, Ebony is fine!

Ss: Got it, Dr. Thomas!

My choice is not to insist on the title out of solidarity with my working class family and roots, and I don& #39;t include it on my social media biographies.

(I did, however, learn to include it on my email signatures because people will try the entire living bleep out of you.)

I was also Ms. Thomas for a decade, and my former K-12 students know me as that, so it is an honor to hear it... unless, of course, you& #39;re trying me, and calling me Ms. Thomas while WM colleagues are Dr. all day every day.

I never forget an intentional slight. *Ever.*

However, I don& #39;t stand on ceremony. I& #39;ll answer to Ebony, Ms. Thomas, Dr. T, or Dr. Thomas as long as you& #39;re not being nasty. Others vary. If folks have an issue with non-MDs using or even insisting on Dr., that& #39;s on them.

(The Doctor of Philosophy, or PhD, predates the MD. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤷🏿‍♀️" title="Woman shrugging (dark skin tone)" aria-label="Emoji: Woman shrugging (dark skin tone)">)

I use Ms. when I travel, because of the "Is there a (medical) doctor on the plane?" issue. In fact, most of the time if I& #39;m not operating in an academic capacity, I use Ms.... like if I& #39;m engaging in personal business, no, they do not have to call me Dr.

Two exceptions, though.

Those two exceptions are if I am buying a home or a car. (I am a never married Black woman with zero inherited wealth, and little leverage in those negotiations. Throwing the PhD card out there helped the interest rate on my current home & vehicle.)

But that& #39;s it.