The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore African American female students' beliefs, and self-perceptions about their mathematics experiences. This study used mathematics autobiographies, focus group interviews and individual student interviews to generate data that was analyzed for emerging themes and patterns as to how the students see themselves as learners of mathematics. This data answered the following research questions: (a) What are African American students' perceptions of themselves in high school mathematics, and (b) How do these perceptions of themselves as mathematics learners contribute to their experiences, success or failure, in Algebra I? The following themes: (a) parental support; (b) beliefs about the importance of mathematics; (c) beliefs about mathematical ability and effort; (c) personal goals and motivation; and, (d) perceptions of mathematics experiences and teachers, informed the findings for this research. The findings support the nature of qualitative, feminist research, which looks at the whole person through each person's narrative. I discovered that these five themes are intertwined and inseparable, and that the themes supported the research questions collectively, rather than independently. This research also supports the intersectionality of self-perceptions, beliefs, goals, motivation and self-efficacy and their impact on mathematics achievement. The findings of this study concluded that the girls' various beliefs about mathematics, goals and motivation, parental involvement, and self-perceptions result in varying levels of academic resilience that may explain mathematics success or failure, which impacts mathematics participation. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]