Denkyem (Crocodile): Identity Developement and Negotiation Among Ghanain-American Millennials
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University of Louisville ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository Electronic Theses and Dissertations 12-2019 Denkyem (Crocodile): identity developement and negotiation among Ghanain-American millennials. Jakia Marie University of Louisville Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd Part of the African Studies Commons, Migration Studies Commons, and the Race and Ethnicity Commons Recommended Citation Marie, Jakia, "Denkyem (Crocodile): identity developement and negotiation among Ghanain-American millennials." (2019). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 3315. https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/3315 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has retained all other copyrights. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DENKYEM (CROCODILE): IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT AND NEGOTIATION AMONG GHANAIAN- AMERICAN MILLENNIALS By Jakia Marie B.A., Grand Valley State University, 2013 M.Ed., Grand Valley State University, 2016 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Louisville in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Pan-African Studies Department of Pan-African Studies University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky December 2019 Copyright 2019 by Jakia Marie All rights reserved. DENKYEM: IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT AND NEGOTIATION AMONG GHANAIAN- AMERICAN MILLENNIALS By Jakia Marie B.A., Grand Valley State University, 2013 M.Ed., Grand Valley State University, 2016 A Dissertation Approved on November 1, 2019 by the following Dissertation Committee: __________________________________ Dr. Mawuena Logan __________________________________ Dr. Kwame Essien __________________________________ Dr. Tyler Fleming ___________________________________ Dr. Ricky Jones ___________________________________ Dr. Angela Storey ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To my ancestors, I have nothing but gratitude. Thank you for holding me, guiding me, carrying me, and reminding me that you endured for me to be where I am today. To my advisor Dr. Mawuena Logan, thank you for being my academic advisor but also family. This journey has been worth it because you have taken the time to invest in me and my future. To my partner Dr. Donald Mitchell, Jr., thank you for your love and support. Thank you for understanding this journey. Thank you for the encouragement when all I did was cry. Thank you for reminding me of my capabilities when I didn’t believe in myself. To my committee, thank you for all of the feedback, the meetings, and the brainstorming. I could not have gotten this far without your expertise. To my family, thank you for the love and encouragement. I hope I have made you proud. To Tiffany, we have been at this since 2014, and our friendship has made my life and graduate experience more valuable. I love you, bestie! To Rhoda, thank you for being you. Thank you for being there for me when I wasn’t there for myself. Your value in my life cannot be described with words. To my friends Antron, Brydie, Glory, Kimberly, Shamsudeen, and Xian, thank you for being a part of the U of L community. I am convinced that we all ended up here for a reason, and you all have played a valuable role in my life. To those who supported me, Dr. Susan Mendoza and family, Dr. Tracy Flemming, Alicia Morales, Valentina Valdes-Alonso, Kendra, Tracie, Libby, Marquis, Dr. Patricia Carver, Kristie Johnson, Tameeka Cornelius, Dr. Geetanjali Gulati, Heine Brothers’ Coffee at Hikes Point, and the PAS department, you all have played a unique role that have influenced my personal and professional life in a positive way. Thank you. To my haters, thank you for reminding me that those who are the biggest threat are often the target of people like yourselves. I hope you sleep well at night knowing that all of the energy you put in being jealous got you nowhere. I will remind you that you did not break me and that you can refer to me as DR. JAKIA MARIE. iii ABSTRACT DENKYEM: IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT AND NEGOTIATION AMONG GHANAIAN-AMERICAN MILLENNIALS Jakia Marie November 1, 2019 Ghanaian immigrants and second-generation Ghanaian-American Millennials are largely ignored in scholarship. Using qualitative methods, this study explored the experiences of Ghanaian-American Millennials who are first, 1.5, and second-generations with the purpose of understanding how they create, negotiate, and re-create identities. Twenty-one individuals were interviewed using a phenomenological approach. The main findings suggest that even though the sample populations were of different immigrant generations, they have some similar experiences, which demonstrates the value in exploring age instead of solely immigrant generation. The findings also suggest that there are a number of complex layers that are involved in identity development and negotiation that become compounded when one is an immigrant or second-generation American. The study closes with suggestions for future research and implications for practice for scholars, policy makers, and community members. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................1 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM .................................................................................................4 STATEMENT OF PURPOSE ..................................................................................................6 METHODS .........................................................................................................................7 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK/APPROACHES ......................................................................7 RACE/ETHNICITY, CULTURE, AND GENDER ...................................................................12 Race and Ethnicity .....................................................................................................14 Culture ........................................................................................................................18 Gender ........................................................................................................................21 IMMIGRATION AND ASSIMILATION THEORIES ................................................................22 GLOBALIZATION, POSTCOLONIAL THEORY, HYBRIDITY, AND TRANSNATIONALISM ......28 CONTRIBUTION TO SCHOLARSHIP ...................................................................................33 LIMITATIONS ...................................................................................................................36 ORGANIZATION OF STUDY ..............................................................................................37 POSITIONALITY STATEMENT ...........................................................................................37 DEFINITION OF TERMS ....................................................................................................38 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................40 ETHNICITY IN GHANA ....................................................................................................41 AFRICAN IMMIGRATION IN THE UNITED STATES: MIGRATION AND IDENTITY ................46 Gender ........................................................................................................................49 African immigrants and native Black Americans ......................................................49 As students .................................................................................................................51 For family ...................................................................................................................52 Visa lottery winners ...................................................................................................52 Permanent visitors ......................................................................................................53 THE SECOND-GENERATION ............................................................................................57 GHANAIAN IMMIGRANTS IN THE UNITED STATES ..........................................................61 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ..........................................................................67 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ...................................................................................................67 METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH .......................................................................................68 RESEARCH DESIGN .........................................................................................................69 Population ..................................................................................................................70 Sampling Procedure ...................................................................................................71