Ricanstructing Through Autoethnopoetic Stories for Critical Diasporic Puerto Rican Pedagogy
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
YOUNG, GIFTED, AND BROWN: RICANSTRUCTING THROUGH AUTOETHNOPOETIC STORIES FOR CRITICAL DIASPORIC PUERTO RICAN PEDAGOGY ÁNGEL LUIS MARTÍNEZ A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Ph.D. in Leadership and Change Program of Antioch University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy October, 2015 This is to certify that the dissertation entitled: YOUNG, GIFTED, AND BROWN: RICANSTRUCTING THROUGH AUTOETHNOPOETIC STORIES FOR CRITICAL DIASPORIC PUERTO RICAN PEDAGOGY prepared by Ángel Luis Martínez is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership and Change. Approved by: _____________________________________________________________________________________ Philomena Essed, Ph.D., Chair date ______________________________________________________________________________ Carolyn Kenny, Ph.D., Committee Member date ______________________________________________________________________________ René Antrop-González, Ph.D., Committee Member date ______________________________________________________________________________ Ulrika Schmauch, Ph.D., External Reader date Copyright 2015 Ángel L. Martínez All rights reserved Acknowledgement 786 The following is an acknowledgement of the Caribeño scholarly and artistic tradition dedicated to the freedom of Puerto Rican people, as it is expressed in the fields of education and culture, which I have chosen to fuse here for a performative del Portorro experience. Saludos to Philomena, Laurien, Carolyn, Elaine, René, and Ulrika for showing that poetry-pedagogy in a professor is possible. The poet is the teacher and the teacher is the poet. Poeta y maestra y maestro must become freedom fighters—to be a doctor of justicia y lucha – justice and struggle. This pedagogy is impossible without the pen of the poet. This poetry is impossible without the promise of the teacher. And this poetry and this pedagogy are impossible without the power of our indigenous and diasporic elders. And this poetry and this pedagogy are impossible without the people who have taken me to higher plans of knowledge—so I will always acknowledge I their names I say, like Ray Barretto insisted, we must R-I-C-A-N RicanStruct our self- determining Borinqueño reality. i Dedicación 786 A mi/s querida/s familia/s Bendición, Mamy y Papá Salam, Baba Khalil Flores y canciones, Zainab Por su apoyo, People’s Organzation for Progress En memoria de Uncle Floyd 2X White (Shorty) & Carmen Pietri ii Abstract Young, Gifted and Brown is a journey of two directions converging. It is a study of Puerto Rican Diaspora in higher education, specifically, students making sense and meaning of their everyday. It is also a study of how I have related to them as a professor. Together, this is a story: research done creatively, toward the development of Critical Pedagogy for Puerto Rican Diaspora. The research question is: what has made the Puerto Rican Diaspora in the United States flourish and their lived experience meaningful? How can a diasporic people connect with and affirm their roots in an educational system far from home? The answer is rooted in creativity: how does poetry provoke students to teach each other about their experiences and to learn with each other through sharing their own poetry? This Dissertation was composed through poetic performance ethnography, from which I have developed my findings from students’ reflections on their lives through the AutoEthnoPoetic. The process is deeply informed by Eugenio María de Hostos’ moral social and José Martí’s poetic pedagogy as well as race critical educational theories, including Culturally Relevant Pedagogy. Through an AutoEthnoPoetic journey through puertorriqueñidad, “Puerto Rican-ness,” or sense of being Puerto Rican, there are lessons for students and educators on how poetic performance ethnography can facilitate success and alegría (happiness) and inspire, motivate, and celebrate in an education system where diaspora are present. This Dissertation contains three MP3 files and 13 MP4 files. The electronic version of this dissertation is available in open access at AURA: Antioch University Repository and Archive, http://aura.antioch.edu/ and Ohiolink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd iii Table of Contents Acknowledgement……….……..……………………………………………………………… i Dedicación…………….………………………..……………………………….……………….. ii Abstract…….………..…………………………………………...…………………………….. iii List of Figures…….…………………….……………………………………………………. viii List of Supplemental Files….…………………………………………………………...……. ix Invocation…………………….………………………………………………….……………... 1 Puertorriqueñidades………….…………………………………………………………...……... 2 A Journey of Puerto-Ricanness in the Diaspora…….……………………….……………… 2 Positionality, or the Passion Inside………………….………………………….……………. 5 Pasión de Puertorriqueñidad…………….…………………………………….………………… 9 A Poetic Encuentro in Higher Education: Intersections and Painful Contacts………….. 12 Diaspora……………………………………………………………………….………………. 14 Critical Pedagogy and Creativity…………………………………………….……………... 16 Theoretical Lenses…………………………………..……….……………………….……….. 18 Pensamiento Hostosiano: Moral Social y Puertorriqueñidad…………....…………………….. 19 Emerging from Aesthetic Practice toward a Diasporic Puerto Rican Aesthetic Theory................……………………………………………………………………………….. 22 ’Magínate: An Imagined Barrio, Arising from a Diasporic Puerto Rican Imaginary…… 30 Critical Race Theory………………………………………………………………………….. 32 Latina/o Critical Theory………………………………….………………………………….. 34 A Mother Tongue Approach…………………………….…………………………………... 36 Performance Ethnography……………….………………………………………………….. 38 Counter Narratives as Otherculture…………………………………….………………….. 41 iv Elements of Critical Diasporic Puerto Rican Pedagogy……………………..………..…... 46 How to Compose a Dissertation on Performance Pedagogy by the Oppressed….…..... 47 Ética 1: Ethical Considerations………………………………………...…………………….. 50 Ética 2: The Centrality of Learners’ Freedom………………………...…………………….. 51 Doctorando con el Arte………………...……………………………………………………….. 52 Perspectivas y Pensamientos (Perspectives and Thoughts): Artistico-Political-Pedagogical Struggle for Puertorriqueñidad…………...………..………...……….....…..…….…………... 55 The Puerto Rican People in the United States……………………...……………………… 55 Notions of Migration, Citizenship, and Identity……………………...……..…………….. 65 Political Struggles for Puertorriqueñidad…………………………..………………………... 67 Intersections in the Emergence of Diaspora………………………...……..……………….. 73 Development of Puerto Rican Diasporic Intellectuals and Thinking…………...……...... 77 Mother Tongues Speaking Out: Language as Resistance………………............................ 81 Educational Freedom……………………………..……………………...…………………... 87 Role of Puerto Rican Women, Mothers, and Families in Critical Educational Leadership and Change……………………………..…...…………………………………... 95 Building Critical Educational Leadership………………………………..………………… 97 Reflection on Anti-Oppressive Educational Practice………………………….…..……... 109 Critical Care……………………………..……………………………………………..…….. 112 Pedagogy as Creative Act……………………………..…………………………...……….. 115 RicanStructing and Ricannecting Voces: Performative Poetic Ethnography……….….. 120 Voices Being Heard: Toward Pedagogy of Our Stories………………………..………... 120 Performative, Poetic, Pedagogical Ethnography and Narrative Inquiry .……..…..….. 124 v Elements of Performance Ethnography……………………………..…………..……….... 132 Poetry as Voice for the Other: Facilitating Voice through the Poetic……………...…… 143 Performance as Data………………………………………………..……………………….. 149 Limitations of Performance Ethnography………………………………………..……….. 152 Puertorriqueñidad Poética: A Pedagogical Project……………….………………………… 155 Logistics…………………………………………..………………….……………………….. 158 Encuentro One…………………………………..………………………..………………….. 159 Encuentro Two………………………………….…………………………..……………….. 163 Data Interpretation and Analysis………….………………………………...…………….. 165 Data from Students-Performers of Encuentro One………..……….…………………….. 165 Data from Students-Observers of Encuentro Two…………..………………………..….. 167 Purpose of Analysis and Interpretation…………….…………………………………….. 167 Interlude: Canciones para Puertorriqueñidades………………………….………………….. 170 Encuentros: “My Heritage/ Had Made a Difference/ Way Before I Was Even Born.... 173 Encuentro One: Beginnings……………………..………………………………………….. 175 The First Stimulus……………..…………………………………………………………….. 179 The Second Stimulus (and Poetic Gifts).…….………….……………………………..….. 195 The Third Stimulus………..……………………………….………….…………………….. 209 The Fourth (and Final) Stimulus…………..……...………….…………………………….. 213 Interlude: The Film (Creation).………….…..………………….………………………….. 223 Encuentro Two: Preludes…..……………………………………….………………………. 225 vi Encuentro Two: The Written Acts …………….……………………..…..…………….….. 228 Post-Encuentro: The Poetic in Educational Leadership.………………..……………….. 234 Resting Is Not an Option: Conclusions and Implications for Puerto Rican Diasporic Artistico-Pedagogical Leadership and Change…………………………….… 240 Building Poetic Consciousness in Educational Leadership and Change through Performative Research………………………………………….………………… 240 The Original Soundtrack Recording…………...………………………………………….. 244 Performative Research for Poetic Pedagogy……………………………………………… 244 Performative Research Implications………………………………………...…………….. 249 Final Reflections………………………………………………………………………….….. 251 Looking for Synthesis between Themes of this Dissertation………..………………….. 256 Recommendations for Educational Leadership and Change: Acknowledgement.…... 258 Why This Matters…..…………………………………………………….………………….. 266 Appendix A: Release Form…………..……………………………………………………..