genealogy Article The Genealogy of Roberts Settlement Explored Through Black Feminist Autoethnography Charnell Peters School of Media and Communication, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43402, USA;
[email protected] Received: 2 May 2017; Accepted: 15 June 2017; Published: 22 June 2017 Abstract: This autoethnographic research examines the legacy of Roberts Settlement, a mixed-race settlement in Indiana that became one of the largest rural communities of free people of color in the state before the 20th century. As a Roberts descendent, the researcher uses Black feminist thought and poetic inquiry to investigate the gendered and racial family narratives that constitute the genealogy of the Roberts family. Utilizing present and past narratives to analyze the lived experience of being a black hoosier woman, the researcher finds that dominant male narratives marginalize the stories of Black women in the Roberts family genealogy. Keywords: Autoethnograhy; Black feminist thought; poetic inquiry; genealogy “We are a people. A people do not throw their geniuses away. And if they are thrown away, it is our duty as artists and as witnesses for the future to collect them again for the sake of our children and, if necessary, bone by bone” (Walker 1983). 1. Introduction In a coffee shop in Noblesville, Indiana, a stranger introduces me to a barista as his cousin. I’m startled that he uses the word so readily—cousin. In my research, the word has felt natural, even a bit clinical. But here, when the word comes from his mouth, our relationship takes on a corporeal dimension, and the newness of it settles in my stomach.