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Black Educatorhood Possibilities: Its Precarity, the Nation's Collective

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Black Educatorhood Possibilities: Its Precarity, the Nation's Collective Running head: BLACK EDUCATORHOOD POSSIBILITIES BLACK EDUCATORHOOD POSSIBILITIES: ITS PRECARITY, THE NATION’S COLLECTIVE STAGNATION By AWO OKAIKOR MELVINIA ARYEE-PRICE A dissertation submitted to the Graduate School of Education – New Brunswick Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education Graduate Program in Design of Learning Environments written under the direction of ________________________________________ Dr. Beth C. Rubin and approved by ________________________________________ Dr. Michelle M. Fine The Graduate Center, The City University of New York _______________________________________ Dr. Tamara L. Lee, Esq Rutgers University -School of Management and Labor Relations _________________________________________ Dr. Lauren M. Wells New Brunswick, New Jersey January 2020 BLACK EDUCATORHOOD POSSIBILITIES ©Copyright 2019 Awo Okaikor Melvinia Aryee-Price ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BLACK EDUCATORHOOD POSSIBILITIES ABSTRACT With the historical decline in the presence of Black teachers in the United States’ public schools and the recent calls for the increase in Black educators in the nation, this dissertation will explore the precarious state of six New Jersey K-12 public school Black educators as they attempt to advocate for their profession and organize for racial and social justice within their schools/district communities. Using an African-diasporic onto-axiological centered de/colonial -- constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz, 1995), while drawing on Black Feminisms (Hills- Collins, 1986; 1990/2000) and Critical Race Theory (Bell, 1980; 1987; Crenshaw, 2011; Delgado & Stefancic, 2006) as lenses to explore, I conduct one on one interviews, focus groups, and document analyses to research the study's six participants. The questions foregrounding the research are: 1)What collective/individual narrative emerge as six Black educators advocate and attempt to organizer for racial and social justice with their organizing school/district communities; 2) What are their individual/collective experiences in schools; and 3) What are the individual, group, and systemic barriers/principles that hinder/elevate progress? The study reveals the precarity (Sharpe, 2016) of Black Educatorhood as experienced by these six Black educators working within a system of anti-blackness and white supremacy. Also illuminated on is Black Educatorhood’s shared linkage to a genealogy of Black educators who preceded them. Most significant are several other common themes examined across participants. These findings were narrowed down to their collective experiences with 1) integration, as experienced through Black Studenthood and Black Educatorhood, 2) their barriers to organizing, as manifested through the internalization of patriarchalism and racism, and 3) their desires to rehumanize for the future of Black Educatorhood possibilities. The study closes with a brief autoethnographic account to help wed together the themes within my narrative--situating it in the i BLACK EDUCATORHOOD POSSIBILITIES spirit of Black womxn educators who preceded us such as Septima P. Clark, and Anna Julia Cooper. Consequently, I draw on the imagery of the Akan “dilemma bird,” Santrofi Anoma, to help wrap up the framing of our collective stories as what I posit as “dilemma” and precarious, while also providing recommendations, and implications for future policy, practice, and further research. ii BLACK EDUCATORHOOD POSSIBILITIES DEDICATION Dedication, hard work plus patience The sum of all my sacrifice, I'm done waitin' I'm done waitin', told you that I wasn't playin' Now you hear what I been sayin', dedication It's dedication ~ Nipsey Hussle I present and dedicate this labor of love--“the sum of all my sacrifice” to my mother, Melvinia Rose Holland, and Grandmama, B. Agnolia Wheeler Holland, who both, having never graduated college, sacrificed every inch of their being so that I might be here writing this dedication. Y’all are worlds away, yet within a prayer’s reach. I am 40 this year, and it has already been 20+ years of a life without y’all. I know you both were with me in spirit as I labored through late nights into early mornings cheering me on. To my children, y’all are just a figment of my imagination. Nonetheless, I write and complete this for you both. To my and my mama’s namesake, Melvinie; my maternal matriarch. Born into the peculiar institution of slavery deep in the dark shadows of Mississippi. I write this for you and those ancestors I have no name for, but I know exist. To my babies, Saige Ayikailey and Kaeden Nii-Ayikundzra, I name you both as an act of providence. I do this for you so that you will see and know your greatness. I love you both. And to my partner, Keith, I cannot thank you enough. You gave up and sacrificed so much so that I might be here. I know this has not been an easy 10 years. We live in a world of binaries and either/ors, where we take in and live out our society’s image and expectations of what it means to be “man” and “woman”. These images and expectations infect and affect our iii BLACK EDUCATORHOOD POSSIBILITIES lives and relationships that often cause tensions and frictions resulting in fractured relationships and communication. Having spent a decade on this dissertation, those years have created space for us to grow, be pushed, and expand together beyond our perceived boundaries. To my participants, I am not sure how to thank you all for allowing me into your homes, spaces, communities, your hearts, and lives. I will forever be connected to you all. This, too, is your work, and I present it in that manner. Thank you. And to my ancestors who toiled in agony on this land--whose dreams and imagined yearnings were the fire that burned beneath them to press on so that I might live today--who saw me in their visions and pressed on because their futuristic dreams, possibilities, and prayers to Beyond, who reminded them of their collective and future greatness, gave them a kind of strength that surpasses my understanding. iv BLACK EDUCATORHOOD POSSIBILITIES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Before I begin this section, I must acknowledge that this dissertation was written on the occupied lands traditionally stewarded by the Indigenous people of this land, including the people of the Lenni-Lenape nation, who are part of the larger Algonquian nations. These nations include the people of the Ramapough Lenape, Nanticoke Lenape, and Powhatan Renape. Today, New Jersey is home to some 5000 Lenape that stretches the entire state and parts of Pennsylvania. They are still here! **** There is no me without YOU--the collective you that has shaped me into being—that collective YOU being all the molecular organisms of the earth, the world, the galaxy, and the glimmer of stars and lights in the abyss. To the Infinite Being that has made all life possible--you go by many names for different peoples of the earth and beyond; I call you Beyond. I thank you, Ataa Naa. Thank you to my dissertation committee, beginning with my chair, Dr. Beth C. Rubin. Thank you for sticking with me and indulging my ideas, (literal) dreams, and sometimes lack of clarity. To Dr. Michelle Fine who has been supportive of me even before I decided to complete this journey. You are always there to talk to and encourage me when I needed that boost. Thank you! Dr. Tami Lee, I am inspired by all you do and thank you for choosing to join my committee even though there is so much you have to take on. And Dr. Lauren Wells, you did not have to do this for me, but you did. Your generosity and time given to me will forever be remembered. Thank you. v BLACK EDUCATORHOOD POSSIBILITIES A special point of gratitude to the Rutgers GSE faculty, Dr. Alisa Belzer and Dr. Melinda Mangin who helped support me as I was preparing to re-enter the program. I would not be here without your care and support. Thank you! To my sister, Naa Okailey and brother, Nii Ayite, y’all have always been there for me. We go way back to life with quarter juices, Dipsy Doodles, and penny candies in those small brown paper bags. Your check-ins with me were a constant reminder to continue until the end. Thank you. And daddy, thank you for how hard you and mommy fought to protect us all from the harms and the violence of anti-blackness in the schools. You and mommy gave your children a blueprint for what it means to fight back against the violence of anti-blackness in school. Thank you, Levelle for being a super-cousin who has helped me in more ways than I can quantify. Your support and love are unmatched. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate all you have done and continue to do for me, Keith and the kids. We love you dearly! To my Ghanaian family who helped raise me, Aunt Dee Dee, Yehoda, Naa Adzeley, Naa Adzorkor, Ataa, William, Sammy—and my Uncle Caesar Quarcoo “Chuck” Addo, may you rest in peace. Chale, kwɛmɔ! Y’all already know that I am who I am because of y’all as well. To my MapSO friends, Ikechukwu Onyema, Mel Katz, TJ Whitaker, Greg Tuttle, and Willy Sumner. All of your support has meant the world. Thank you! To my village, because --I am because you are. And to the “othermothers” who made this possible. To our family, Keith and Susan Davis, you all were a godsend; taking my family in as your own, filling in as parents and grandparents, supporting me/us in this journey, taking the kids when needed, providing and supplementing with resources and support when we could not. This dissertation was possible because of your love and commitment to us. Thank you! To Nikki and Kyle, thank you for your generosity and support.
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