Border Crossing Brothas: a Study of Black Bermudian Masculinity, Success, and the Role of Community-Based Pedagogical Spaces
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DOUGLAS, TY-RON MICHAEL O’SHEA, Ph.D. Border Crossing Brothas: A Study of Black Bermudian Masculinity, Success, and the Role of Community-based Pedagogical Spaces. (2012) Directed by Dr. Camille M. Wilson. 289 pp. Using qualitative research methods and an amalgamation of border crossing theory and postcolonial theory within the context of race, this dissertation study examined how Black Bermudian males form identities, define success, and utilize community-based pedagogical spaces (i.e. barbershops, churches, sports/social clubs, neighborhoods) to cross literal and figurative borders. Drawing on data from 12 Bermudian Black males who were active participants in community spaces, this study challenges educators to consider how the disturbing statistics on Black male failure and the perceived achievement gap between White students and students of color may be influenced by tensions between dominant ideologies of success, the under appreciation of community-based pedagogical spaces by educational stakeholders, and competing conceptualizations of identity, success, and masculinity for Black males. BORDER CROSSING BROTHAS: A STUDY OF BLACK BERMUDIAN MASCULINITY, SUCCESS, AND THE ROLE OF COMMUNITY-BASED PEDAGOGICAL SPACES by Ty-Ron Michael O’Shea Douglas A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Greensboro 2012 Approved by Committee Chair © 2012 Ty-Ron Michael O’Shea Douglas To the memories of Ivy “Ma” Richardson, “Granny Mary” Wilkinson, Henry “Papa” Thomas, Louise “Nana Louise” Jackson, Bernard “Uncle Jack” Jackson, Mandell “Hillside” Hill, Mother Burruss, and Ronald Burruss—men and women whose lives, legacies, and love inspired me to be a border crosser and bridge across time and space. ii APPROVAL PAGE This dissertation has been approved by the following committee of the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Committee Chair Camille M. Wilson Committee Members H. Svi Shapiro Leila E. Villaverde Craig M. Peck Date of Acceptance by Committee Date of Final Oral Examination iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I have been blessed with a supportive community of mentors, colleagues, and scholars who have contributed to my professional and academic journey. In particular, I am grateful to my advisor and dissertation chair, Dr. Camille M. Wilson, whose sage counsel, professionalism, and friendship helped create an environment where I could be challenged and nurtured. Unselfish mentor, proficient scholar, and thoughtful colleague, I could not have asked for a better advisor and chair. I am also extremely grateful to the other members of my dissertation committee: I thank Dr. Leila Villaverde whose tangible and consistent advocacy has affirmed me as a scholar, stretched me as a theoretician, and inspired me as thinker to always consider what/who I may be missing. I thank Dr. Svi Shapiro who not only offered thoughtful considerations during the dissertation writing process but also helped facilitate my teaching of ELC 381: The Institution of Education—this teaching experience was a vital part of my development as a scholar-practitioner at UNCG. Last but certainly not least, I thank Dr. Craig Peck with whom I have learned, grown, and worked with as his graduate assistant for the past four years. Your humility, counsel, and consideration have helped me to be both productive and balance; for this, and more, I am extremely appreciative. I would like to acknowledge my Primary 3/Grade 2 teacher, Mrs. Rochelle Furbert Bean, who assured me that I was “likeable and capable” and encouraged my love of words by tolerating my declaration—as a precocious 7 year-old—that she was “being facetious.” I am also grateful to the other formal and informal educators in the various iv schoolhouses and community-based pedagogical spaces in which I was nurtured: “I am because we are.” I am particularly grateful for the educators, colleagues, mentors, and friends at Bermuda College, Oakwood University, The University of Alabama in Huntsville, and The University of North Carolina at Greensboro who helped me foster a love of learning. I am particularly appreciative of my department chair, Dr. Carol Mullen, who helped ensure that my UNCG experience was a fruitful one, and Dr. Lora Bailey who mentored and supported me as an AACTE Holmes Scholar. My sincere gratitude must be extended to the 12 border-crossing brothas who participated in this study. From each of you I drew wisdom, strength, and perspective. Your insights and stories inspired me to write and live with greater purpose. Living with purpose is possible in large part because of my loving and supportive family. I thank my bride, Bobbie. You are and will always be “My rib, My love, My Eve.” You deserve a Ph.D! To my fellas, Jalen and Essien, I am grateful for the tangible reminders that my first and highest calling is to my role in our home. Thank you for the impromptu football (soccer) games and the crashing sound of drums that drew me from the computer to learn more intimately what fun and fatherhood is all about. I love you both! I am also especially grateful to my dad, Stanley, my mother, Lucy, my sister, Zakiya, and Nana Bean for your love and support. I know I won’t be the last Ph.D. in the family. Thank you to my papas, aunts, uncles, friends, and the rest of the Village. Finally, thank you to God for the wisdom, strength, and opportunity to complete this portion of my journey. Through this dissertation I have come know and experience Proverbs 16:3: “Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established.” v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE OF THE STUDY ...................................1 Problem Statement ......................................................................................4 Overview of Literature and Conceptual Framework ...................................6 Description of Key Concepts and Variables ..............................................10 Overview of Research Methods and Research Questions .........................12 Summary ....................................................................................................14 II. LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................16 Defining “Man” .........................................................................................16 Power and Identity .....................................................................................17 Defining “Masculinity” ..............................................................................18 Masculinities as Variables of Identity ........................................................19 Typical Notions of Western Masculinity ...................................................20 Exploring Black Masculinities ...................................................................22 Hegemonic Masculinity .............................................................................25 Transmitting Masculinities in Social Institutions ......................................26 Transferring Westernized Black Masculinities in School .........................28 Critiquing Progressive Black Masculinities ...............................................30 Schoolhouse Pathways ...............................................................................32 Learning Spaces Outside Schools: Embracing the Breadth of Education ..........................................................................................33 Educative Spaces Outside Schools: Focus on the Black Church ...................................................................................................37 Educative Spaces Outside Schools: Focus on the Black Barbershop ............................................................................................39 Educative Spaces Outside Schools: Focus on the Black Neighborhood and Sports Clubs ...........................................................41 Evaluating the Bermudian Educational Context ........................................45 Summary ....................................................................................................48 III. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK .......................................................................49 Amalgamating Theories, Constructing a Conceptual Lens to Study Black Bermudian Identity Development ...............................49 Postcolonial Theory: Defined, Situated, and Explained ............................52 vi Key Postcolonial Theorists ........................................................................54 Border Theory: Defined, Situated, and Explained .....................................60 Intersections Between Postcolonial Theory and Border Theory ....................................................................................................62 Putting Theory into Practice: Black Identity and Bermudian Males .....................................................................................................68 Summary ....................................................................................................72 IV. METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................73 Overall Research Goals ..............................................................................73 Research Questions ....................................................................................74 Oral