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Anansesem (Storytelling Nights) African Maternal Pedagogies

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Anansesem (Storytelling Nights) African Maternal Pedagogies Anansesem (Storytelling Nights) African Maternal Pedagogies by Adwoa Ntozake Onuora A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto © Copyright by Adwoa Ntozake Onuora (2012) Anansesem (Storytelling Nights): African Maternal Pedagogies Doctor of Philosophy (2012) Adwoa Ntozake Onuora Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto Abstract Resistance. Survival. Possibility. This is an arts-informed research text that reconciles the stories of African-Canadian mothers with my own story about how we un/intentionally and un/ consciously serve as critical pedagogues for African-Canadian children. The narratives illuminate how we mother in the midst of marginalization and impart pedagogies that effectuate cultural, social and identity consciousness within children who will also experience social, economic and political barriers as they navigate the Canadian landscape. Through the Afro-indigenous tradition of storytelling and telling stories, I underscore the centrality of the African-Canadian mother in emboldening African children to become change agents equipped to resist the marginalizing tendencies of dominant society. Thus, the African-Canadian mother through her embodied knowledges and experiences becomes a site from which the African child reads to discover meaning. In effect then I show how the African mother’s body, to borrow from Michalko, “harbours a particular and valuable pedagogy” (2001, p. 351). In entering these stories, you the reader access our joys, sadness, strength`s and weaknesses as we journey through motherhood. Our stories are the research text “complete (but open)…largely free of academic jargon and abstracted theory”. In this regard, this arts-informed dissertation “privilege[s] stories over analysis, allowing and encouraging alternative readings and multiple interpretations” (Bochner & Ellis, 2000 p. 745). In this spirit I share with you stories of lives told, and my life as I remember. Welcome. ii Acknowledgements African American feminist intellectual bell hooks was apt in her assessment when she stated that “it is not easy to name our pain, to make it a location of theorizing” (1994, p.74). The chartering of this new theoretical trajectory on African maternal pedagogies, like the birth of my daughter, was without a doubt one of the most difficult and painful journeys of my life. However, like Ma’at’s birthing, the journey of pain and struggle, culminated into this moment—a moment of inexplicable joy where I am finally able to proudly hold my baby—the fruit of a labour of love against my bear bosom, eyes brimming with tears, relieved but still in disbelief that she is here—complete, whole, real. I did not labour alone. While enduring the labour pains, I held firmly to the hands of living theorists who embody bravery, resistance, hope and love. I am eternally grateful to my epistemic community—African mothers and community/othermothers who “courageously exposed their wounds” (hooks, 1994, p. 74) and shared with me the memories of their lived experiences so that I could create stories that theorize about the value of African women’s maternal pedagogies. To my supervisor Gary Knowles, thank you for being my epidural when the pain became too intense and when I dashed all hope of being able to ride the waves of pain to the end. Thank you for your patience, wisdom, creative insights and for your constant reminders to trust the process. I am extremely proud of this amazingly beautiful scholarstistry. I would also like to thank the external examiners Dr. Rita Deverell and Dr. Jean-Paul Restoule for their careful reading of my thesis, and for their overwhelmingly positive feedback. I am also extremely grateful to my committee members. Dr. George J.S Dei thanks for your critical insight and support when I started out as a naïve master's student at OISE. You provided me with a strong theoretical grounding that I will carry with me through iii my life’s journeys and my academic career. Dr. Njoki Wane thank you for introducing me to Black Feminist Thought. Were it not for your course, this would have been a completely different dissertation. And, Dr. Andrea O’Reilly, I am so appreciative of your skill, patience, commitment and plain hard work in keeping MIRCI alive. Thank you for agreeing to support my work as a committee member at a very late stage in its development. Your very high degree of knowledge of the scholarship on maternal theory contributed to my being able to feel more confident in the merits of researching mothering. I am thankful to my mother for the holidays spent with her that filled my childhood with so many colourful memories. And to my father, thank you for instilling in me the value of hard work and dedication. In my darkest hours of this journey I found my way back to these teachings. I am also deeply grateful to Ricardo Martin affectionately called "Uncle Ricky", Imara Rolston, Rebecca Price, Makesha Roberts, Ajamu Nangwaya, Wariri Muhungi, Ijeoma Ekoh, Julie Oulette, Devi, Mandeep, Kumalo and Nandi Mucina. Thank you all for your constant love, guidance, support and for helping me raise Ma’at while on this journey. It definitely takes a village! I must also acknowledge the community of scholars at OISE: Paul Adjei, Arlo Kempf, Michelle Bailey, Stan Doyle-Wood, Everton Cummings, and Selena Nemorin for their sage advise at different points of the thesis writing process. To Ajamu, thank you for the many challenging questions which sent me back to the drawing board and your friendship as I navigated the alienating Ivory Towers of the academy. Thank you Jacqui Terry (illustrator extraordinaire) for your creative expertise, hard work and technical skills in making what was a mere vision, an aesthetic treat. Thanks are also due to Sangsters’ Book Store for granting me the permission to use the iconic storytelling reproductions of the late Ms. Louis Bennett Coverly. Big ups to Joan Grant-Cummings for your support, mentorship, sistahood and for your feedback on the first draft of the thesis. iv My precious Ma’at, thank you for the nights of relentless gymnastics in my womb as I trudged through the mess of course work; for being the reason I knew I could not give up; for demanding nothing but my physical presence when I was typing away at the computer. Joan was correct when she referred to you as my Ph. D baby. We journeyed this road together. Only strangely enough it was you carrying me all this time. v Dedication To Ma’at, for liberating me vi Table of Contents D Cover Title Page ..............................i Abstract ................................ii Acknowledgments ...............iii Dedication ...........................vi Table of Contents ............... vii List of Illustrations ...............ix Prologue ..............................xi Note to Readers ..............xxvi vii CHAP TER 1: Pedagogies of the Spirit .........................................................................................................................1 Tell Me a Story ................................................................................................................................................7 Webbed Toes and Fngers .................................................................................................................................13 Nine-Night ....................................................................................................................................................17 CHAP TER 2: It Takes a “Chorus of Mammas” ...........................................................................................................25 Anancy and Him Story ...................................................................................................................................31 Sweet Shop ....................................................................................................................................................35 Washday .........................................................................................................................................................43 CHAP TER 3: Bright Eyes, Brown Skin, Nappy Hair: Epistemologies of Beauty .........................................................51 Nuttin Weh Too Black Nuh Good ..................................................................................................................57 The Erace(ing): Trapped in a Pigmentory Prison .............................................................................................64 Silky Straight ..................................................................................................................................................67 CHAP TER 4: The M(other) in the Mirror: ................................................................................................................71 Im/Polite Violence .........................................................................................................................................77 Bending Gender .............................................................................................................................................85 Killing me Softly ............................................................................................................................................91 CHAP TER 5: I Feel
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