African Americans have historically championed education as a vehicle for community enrichment (Anderson "Education"; Cooper "Voice"; Giddings). Among African Americans, education has long served as a mechanism to facilitate societal transformation--the form of transformation that addresses social inequities. For many African Americans, however, educational access was an elusive proposition because the entanglements of race, gender, and class placed them at a disadvantage. The few who reached the highest strata of educational attainment had to contend with institutional processes that operated to undermine their legitimacy or discourage their investment in social equity issues (Collins "Fighting"; Anderson "Race"; Malveaux). Despite these challenges, some scholars were able to marry their intellectualism with community activism. Most notable among them is Dr. Anna Julia Cooper, an educator who rose from slavery to become the fourth African-American female to receive a PhD degree. Through an exploration of Cooper's life and praxis, this paper serves as a blueprint for scholars invested in merging theory and social action to enact what the author labels intellectual activism. The paper places Cooper's work within a paradigm that names educational access as a human right because her educational philosophy challenges structures and practices that hinder personal development and engagement in civic life. Higher education's role in the formation of the United States and its historical position in the lives of African Americans, and how Cooper's intellectual activism informs education practice is explained.