Georgia Southern University Digital Commons@Georgia Southern Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies, Jack N. Averitt College of Spring 2011 Purgatory's Place in The South: A Black Woman's Journey to the Promised Land Consuela Jean Ward Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd Recommended Citation Ward, Consuela Jean, "Purgatory's Place in The South: A Black Woman's Journey to the Promised Land" (2011). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 552. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/552 This dissertation (open access) is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies, Jack N. Averitt College of at Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. PURGATORY‟S PLACE IN THE SOUTH: A BLACK WOMAN‟S JOURNEY TO THE PROMISED LAND by CONSUELA JEAN WARD (Under the Direction of Ming Fang He) ABSTRACT Using critical race theory (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001; Ladson-Billings, 2003; Stovall, 2005), Black feminist thought (Collins, 2000), and identity theory of oppression (Hardiman & Jackson, 1997) as the theoretical framework and autobiographical narrative inquiry (He, 2003; Moody,1968; Angleou, 1969; Hurston, 1965; hooks,1996; Jacobs, 1861) as the methodology, I explored the formal and informal educational experiences I received and reciprocated in Black church ideology and white schools and how they shaped my identity and lived experience as a Black woman in the South. I chronicled paradigm shifts in my thinking along my journey from Black Christian fundamentalism and poverty to a socially mobile agnostic college administrator and diversity educator.