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Mother Ethnography: a Performance of Possibility University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations Dissertations and Theses July 2018 MOTHER ETHNOGRAPHY: A PERFORMANCE OF POSSIBILITY Sonji Johnson-Anderson University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2 Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Johnson-Anderson, Sonji, "MOTHER ETHNOGRAPHY: A PERFORMANCE OF POSSIBILITY" (2018). Doctoral Dissertations. 1250. https://doi.org/10.7275/11931047.0 https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2/1250 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations and Theses at ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Mother Ethnography: A Performance of Possibility A Dissertation Presented by SONJI M. JOHNSON-ANDERSON Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment Of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 2018 College of Education Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies © Copyright by Sonji M. Johnson-Anderson 2018 All Rights Reserved Mother Ethnography: A Performance of Possibility A Dissertation Presented By SONJI M. JOHNSON-ANDERSON Approved as to style and content by: _______________________________________ Kysa Nygreen, Chair _______________________________________ Denise Ives, Member _______________________________________ Claudio Moreira, Member ____________________________________ Jennifer Randall Associate Dean of Academic Affairs College of Education DEDICATION To my Black mother and her Black mother before her To my Black grandmothers and their grandmothers before them To all Black mothers of Black sons and daughters To all Black women who mother each other Our children And Our men … iv ACKNOWLEDGMENT When I uprooted my family, left my job, gave up my home, yanked my son out of school, left my relatives, church family and friends behind to come to settle in a small New England college town where we knew no one just so I could return to graduate school, it was among the most disruptive and courageous things I had ever done. We, my beloved husband and I, came here with our son and suffered the loneliness, isolation and anonymity of faceless strangers in a place that did not yet know or care that we had come. It was a disorienting and painful transition – a journey which, once undertaken, was fraught with struggle and uncertainty. Now that I have arrived at the end of this journey, I am obliged to look back and to thank the many souls who walked a part or the whole way with us. Drs. Erold and Carol Bailey were not only instrumental in my coming to graduate school but have remained our friends and our base of support throughout this entire way. The first “school” friends I made here and who have together with their families, remained precious to me and mine: Heonsook Cho and Dr.Youngmin Park. Our journey to survive our first classes together while we met at each other’s homes, ate together, studied together, hung out together made me to know it was possible to survive the coldness of the New England weather and the coldness of the New England social scene. Thanks too to that special group of women from the Social Justice concentration of the then School of Education who gathered as a consciousness raising group and invited me in to be a part. You cannot know what you did for a lonely sister in those days. Thank you! v I wish also to thank the members of my cohort who became my friends: Jen Cannon, Dr. Kirsten Helmer, Charles (Charlie) Hestus, Ally Hunter, Dr. Katie Lazdowski, Ying Zhang and my little sister, Dr. Leta Hooper whose accomplishments have inspired and made me so proud. My friendship with fellow travellers on this doctoral expedition: Letha Gayle-Brissett, Dr. Nigel Brissett and Jasmine Robinson as well as my friendship with Georgia Malcolm have proved to be a source of encouragement and strength. Life as a graduate student has been far from uneventful. There were several occasions when the support of a community was crucial. Life in this town necessitated I link arms and voices with “fighters for justice” and speak truth to power both for my own cause and the cause of others. These audacious foot soldiers for justice made me a part of this community in a way I would never be without their tirelessness and pluck. They are a force to be reckoned with and in many ways have taught me how to stand strong, fearless and relentless and to speak up with confidence, conviction and passion for the right. They are my friends, they are my family, they are many but among them: Vira Douangmany Cage, Ed Cage, Andrea Battle, Kathleen Anderson, Sovann Malis Loeung, Pat Ononibaku, Dr. Michael Burkhart, Dr. Susan and Renee Theberge, Caridad Martinez, Dr. Jacqueline Smith-Crooks, Ingrid Askew, Drs. Carlie and Gary Tartakov, Jacki Odess- Gilette, Michael Mongeau, Ray Elliott, Dr. Ash Hartwell, the Drs. Whitney and Trevor Baptiste and the Drs. Demetria and Amilcar Shabazz. I thank my family at Grace Baptist Chapel in the Bronx, New York for your prayers, your support, your many, many acts of generosity towards me and my family. I will always be a part of you and love you. I honor you with this work. I am particularly vi grateful to the late Augustus Davidson, my deacon, who literally moved us here and prayed over us and our new home in the midst of our aloneness, and for the staunch and selfless support of his dear wife, Lunet whose enthusiastic backing remains unfazed to this day. I shall miss the warmth, love and friendship of my friend, (now) Dr. Brenda Muzeta, whose help, generosity, optimism and infectious laughter brightened many a dark day. I love you, Bren! I am grateful to my sister-friend, Dr. Carolyn Gardner with whom I have walked for the duration of this journey. Our battles have been countless, but our adventures have nevertheless, been intense and exciting. I thank her for her love, her support, her brilliance, her generosity, her friendship. She is my friend for life. She helped make this the ride of a lifetime I must not forget to specifically thank Dr. Marge Magouirk-Colbert for her encouragement which was so influential in my final decision to move here. She ensured I was funded for the duration of my studies in this graduate program. Dr. KC Nat Turner, thank you for your help and guidance during the first stages of the journey. To Dr. Laura Valdiviezo, our quiet storm, what an inspiration and source of strength and model of academic excellence you have been! You told me I could do this. You told me what I had to say was worth hearing. You cannot know what that meant to me coming from a female professor of color. Dr. Barbara Madeloni, thank you for your humanity and your warrior spirit. You inspired me to question, challenge, speak back, and be bold. Thank you also to Dr. Ray Sharick for caring, for checking in, for encouraging me, also to Mike Hanna (crew member number 4) for your helpfulness and positive energy. Dr. Maria Jose Botelho, it was your early direction that led me to an amended research agenda and to vii what later became Mother Ethnography. But it was the courage and guidance of a young professor, my advisor, Dr. Kysa Nygreen, that set me free to speak and write in the only way I could be authentic and true. The other members of my dissertation committee: Dr. Claudio Moreira whose brilliance, passion and teaching of a course in performance ethnography lit a fire in me and Dr. Denise Ives whose scholarship, sense of humor and the bond we share as mothers of Black boys supported my work. On December 19th 2016, I lost one of the bravest, brightest, most courageous souls I have ever known: my very dear friend, Sandra Kenton-Fraser. I am saddened she is not here to walk me to the finish line for I had plans of joining her in her ongoing project of educating Jamaica’s children – a project appropriately named Sankofa. Though not here in body, I know she has transitioned and has joined with the pantheon of our ancestors and is rooting for my success. I shall always love and miss you. As such, I honor the memory of all those who loved and supported me and my quest but never lived to see me finish: Augustus Davidson, Sandra Kenton-Fraser, Lorenza Jay, Sheryl Lawson, Patricia Rivera-Smith and Hillary Wilson. May your souls rest in eternal peace. I cannot thank my parents, Derrick and Thelma Johnson enough for their unwavering, multifaceted support and love over the years -- way before this doctoral program began. I especially thank my mother for her counsel, her engaging conversations, her prayers, her constancy, her example of dignity and strength, and her passion to see me succeed. Mummy, I hope you can be proud of the work I have attempted to do here and that it, even a little, honors your years of sacrifice, the pain of your loss and your ultimate triumph. My sisters, Michell, Jackie and Marlene for supporting their little sister all along the way as good big sisters should. You are beautiful viii and amazing women who I love and of whom I am extraordinarily proud. I am still mourning the loss of my big sister Hillary who left us too soon on August 25, 2013. I miss you and could only imagine your great pride and excitement had you been here in body to witness the completion of a journey you were such a big part of starting.
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