M u n r o e - A n d e r s o n | 1 “Set our spirits free: Exploring the role of spirituality as an anti-oppressive agent in the formal education of African Nova Scotian learners” ____________________________________ A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of Education Mount Saint Vincent University Halifax, Nova Scotia __________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctorate in Educational Studies ____________________________________________ By Késa Munroe-Anderson M u n r o e - A n d e r s o n | 2 Acknowledgements I give all glory and honour to my God who has given me the fortitude to persevere through to the completion of this dissertation despite the many barriers I encountered in the process. All good and perfect gifts come from Him and this research experience was an enormous gift. Dr. Susie Brigham, thank you for being an othermother and a Seba in the academy to me. You have mentored me in more ways than you realize. I will always be grateful for the many doors you opened for me. If I am half the professor that you are, I will be outstanding! Many thanks to my committee members, Dr. Devi Mucina and Dr. John Eustace. Thank you for cheering me on towards the finish line! To my external reader, Dr. Njoki Wane, you are an inspiration. I thank you for your affirmation of my work. I also acknowledge the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Delmore Buddy Daye Learning Institute (DBDLI) for funding my research. This work would not have been possible without your financial support. To my 16 community-spirited participants, I am grateful for the indelible imprint you made on my life and your contributions to the academy. Because of your investment, I will never be the same. This journey was truly a family affair. Lennett, thank you for your unending support in countless ways. Micah, Caleb, and Jordan, I persevered so that you will know that “If Mummy did it, I can do it too!” To my mother-in-law, Valmah, you deserve this PhD as much as I do. Had it not been for your support throughout the years, I would not have been able to dedicate the time required to pursue and complete my studies. Finally, to my parents who instilled in me from the time of my first memory the importance of education, “I am because you are.” M u n r o e - A n d e r s o n | 3 Table of Contents Poem One: Dear Ugly Duckling…………………………………………………………..7 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..8 The Research………………………………………………………………………………..9 Summary…………………………………………………………………………………....10 Situating myself in the research……………………………………………………………11 Historical challenges: Education for African Nova Scotian learners………………….......14 Where do we go from here?...................................................................................................24 Spirituality and Holistic Learning: Bridging the Gap for African Nova Scotian Learners…………………………………………………………….27 Chapter Two: What is Spirituality? ……………………………………………………31 Spirituality, Culturally Relevant Education and Transformation..………………………..34 Spirituality and Internalized Oppression…….…………………………………………….36 Theoretical Framework…….……….………..……………………………………………37 Africentricity……………………………………………………………………….39 Anti-Racism……..…………………………………………………………………42 Postcolonialism……………………………………………………………………..46 Anti-colonialism.…………………………………………………………………...48 African/Black Feminism/ Womanism…………………….……………………......53 Embodied Knowledge, Subjectivity and Honest Research…………………………………57 My Spirit Bears Witness: Spirituality and the Researcher…………………………………64 Poem Two: I am Centred…………………………………………………………………72 Chapter Three: Storytelling as Research Methodology: Let the Lions speak!..............73 M u n r o e - A n d e r s o n | 4 The Significance of African-centered Storytelling……………………………..…………….85 Ethical Consideration………………………………………………………………….…….87 Stories and Knowledge Production…………………………………………………………..89 Multi-vocality versus the Single Story………………………………………………………..92 Storytelling and Counter-stories…………..…………………………………………………94 Resistance and Survival.....…………………………………………………………………...95 Stories and Identity…………………….……………………………………………………..96 The Story Circles….………………………………………………………………………….99 Method…………………………………………………………………………………….….102 Poem Three: Set Our Spirits Free…..………………………………………………….…..113 Chapter Four: “Going Home”: Claiming our Spiritual Spaces………………………….114 The Spaces where Knowledge is Produced…………………………………………………..121 The Dialogue During Knowledge Production…………………………………………….….133 The Power Relations Between Facilitator and Participants…………………………………142 Poem Four: My Blackness………………………………………………………………....154 Chapter Five: Centering Voices, Defining Spirituality…………………………………...155 Defining Spirituality.......................……………………………………………………………..156 Spirituality: Faith Belief and the Black Baptist Church……………………………………..157 The Central Role of Women…………………………………………………………..158 Lifeline of Safety, Support & Advocacy……………………………………………....160 Training Ground for Leaders…………………………………………………….…....162 The AUBA Churches as Centre…………………………………………………….....164 Spirituality: Religion or Faith-based Relationship………………………………………........168 M u n r o e - A n d e r s o n | 5 Spirituality as Identity: Knowing One’s Self………………………………………………...173 Spirituality as a way of knowing: Affective Knowledge & “The Moment”…………………178 Strength, Perseverance & Support…………………………………………………………..187 Spirituality: Moral Guide – Compass………………………………………………………..192 Shifts in Spirituality………………………………………………………………………….198 African Centred Spirituality compared to spirituality of other communities……………......208 Chapter Six – Stories of Community: Symbols of the Spirit……………………………..220 Spirituality as Community: It takes a Village………………………………………………..220 Community as Quilt: Survival & Oppression…………………………………………..……224 Stories & Community Identity………………………………………………………………..232 The Legacy of Slavery: The Single Story………………………………………………….…232 Kujichagalia: The Power of Naming………………………………………………………...236 The “Hummingbird vs. the Scar Phenomenon………………………………………..……..259 Out of the “Box” of Oppression……………………………………………………………..262 Poem Five: Untitled………………………………………………………………………...266 Chapter Seven: Where theory meets practice…………………………………………….267 Africentricity…………………………………………………………………………………267 Anti-racism…………………………………………………………………………………...272 Postcolonialism………………………………………………………………………………274 Anti-colonialism……………………………………………………………………………...276 African/Black Feminism & Womanism………………………………………………………277 Chapter Eight: My Reflections on the Research………………………………………….282 Time & Compensation………………………………………………………………………..282 M u n r o e - A n d e r s o n | 6 Chapter Nine: “She who learns teaches”.………………………………………………….292 References……………………………………………………………………………………301 Appendix A………………………………………………………………………………….. 323 M u n r o e - A n d e r s o n | 7 Dear Ugly Duckling... By: Késa Munroe-Anderson I write to you because you are too familiar. Do you not find it strange that I'd seen you, read you a hundred times before, but never felt the pain that I now feel? I did not recognize you then, I was blinded by Han's Christian Andersen's pen The simple tale that was meant to teach me a lesson My lived experience has made me see I am much like you You are much like me And when I look around in my community My spirit aches for the countless reflections of you Who named you so and why? Your story made my heart cry And how long did you have to wait To belong to a crowd that would not negate Your very existence? From whence did your endurance come? Waiting between the covers three decades and some Patiently, but sometimes in despair To find your voice and whisper "There is something wrong here!" Seize it, retell it, don't let it go! You must know, they must know that Ugly Ducklings exist inside the covers of countless texts, between title and credits on movie screens, inside the walls of schools, colleges, and universities silenced, illegitimately named and dying inside. They wander along the margins their true selves to find, society's pawns, because no one has yet told them ...they truly are swans. M u n r o e - A n d e r s o n | 8 Introduction Far from helping learners heal their wounded souls, contemporary forms of education have depersonalized learners and derooted us from our histories, cultures, identities, traditions and spiritualities (Dei, 2012, p. 829) The stories of African Nova Scotians' (ANS) formal learning experiences throughout their province's education systems have been needlessly tragic ones. Over the years, these learners have endured alienation, racial and cultural oppression, and inequity in formal education experiences (BLAC,1994; Lee & Marshall, 2009, Parris & Brigham, 2010; Africville Genealogy Society, 2010; Hamilton, 2011) which have stunted their opportunity to attain a holistic formal education and fair chance at achieving academic success. Further, the historic, pervasive silence around the knowledge and contributions of African peoples in public schools and universities within Nova Scotia has been deafening. Forced to borrow the dominant culture and its knowledge and denied the right to bring their histories, heritage, lived experiences and ways of knowing to formal education sites, these learners struggle in school environments that threaten their self-image (Asante, 2012) and invalidate their very existence. As the Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development turns its attention towards adopting culturally relevant teaching practices as one means of addressing the academic