MIAMI UNIVERSITY The Graduate School Certificate for Approving the Dissertation We hereby approve the Dissertation of Rhonda Gilliam-Smith Candidate for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy _________________________________ Chair Dennis Carlson _________________________________ Reader Kate Rousmaniere __________________________________ Reader Denise Taliaferro Baszile __________________________________ Reader Lisa Weems __________________________________ Graduate School Representative Mary Jane Berman ABSTRACT FREEDOM ACTS: A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE STUDENT NON-VIOLENT COORDINATING COMMITTEE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THEATRE OF THE OPPRESSED by Rhonda Gilliam-Smith There are two tensions in critical pedagogy. One is between the universalistic and the particularistic critical pedagogy models. The other tension exists between the community and the schools. Critical pedagogy as universalistic is good, but we need to know how critical pedagogy can be used more specifically on American soil by African Americans. Secondly, we also need to reclaim education as a community project. Understanding SNCC’s social dramas through the lens of Theatre of the Oppressed as reflected in Critical Pedagogical practice helps educators understand how they can best engage the community in reclaiming the task of educating its youth. This dissertation is a social history of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and its relationship to Augusto Boal’s, Theatre of the Oppressed. Theatre of the Oppressed (Boal, 1979) was developed out a community based educational program that uses theatre as a tool for social and cultural transformation. I focused on SNCC’s several freedom acts of the early 1960’s: The Sit-Ins, Freedom Summer, Freedom Schools, and the Free Southern Theatre. SNCC, a student lead social movement, was established February 1, 1960 with the first sit-in and is considered by many historians as the catalyst for social change during the civil rights movement that increased voting registration, civic engagement, collective and individual transformation. This dissertation thus represents a recovery of memory, and an attempt to make use of this historical memory to re-think critical pedagogy as dramaturgical and community-based. In re-covering and re-working the memory of SNCC’s militant pedagogy from the early 1960s, I am informed by Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed, which in turn is related to Paulo Freire’s pedagogy of the Oppressed, and through Freire to the work of Henry Giroux and others in critical pedagogy. An historical analysis was conducted on these freedom acts by examining archival data, interviews and secondary sources to understand the specific ways in which SNCC’s freedom acts reflects Augusto Boal’s (1985) Theatre of the Oppressed Forum Theatre’s main techniques: Protagonist/Antagonist, Spectator/Actor, and the Joker. I also explored the particular features of SNCC’s social dramas that don’t necessarily fit neatly into Boal’s model. In general, SNCC’s freedom acts exhibited critical pedagogical practices (Freire, 1996) by helping the oppressed and the oppressor reach conscientization, valuing dialogue, and providing opportunities for the oppressor and the oppressed to gain a greater understanding of oppression through carefully questioning every aspect of society. In the final analysis, I provide a conceptual framework (Giroux, 1992) from the techniques learned from studying SNCC’s community engagement work and its radical pedagogy and practices. SNCC’s Freedom Acts were, individually and collectively transformative, reflective of Forum Theatre, and can be used today as a radical pedagogical framework for black communities to reclaim education promote critical pedagogy in the community and in local schools. FREEDOM ACTS: A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE STUDENT NON-VIOLENT COORDINATING COMMITTEE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THEATRE OF THE OPPRESSED A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Educational Leadership By Rhonda Gilliam-Smith Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2008 Dissertation Director: Dennis Carlson © Rhonda Gilliam-Smith 2008 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract………………………………………………………………………….. Dedication……………………………………………………………………….. Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………… CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………1 Statement of Problem, Purpose, and Significance of Study ……………………………………………………..3 Boundaries of the Study…………………………………………………………………....9 Methodology Overview……………………………………………………………………13 Organization of the Dissertation……………………………………………………….14 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………17 Background of African American Social Drama……………………………………..17 Discourse of Freedom…………………………………………………………………26 Discourse of Non-Violence……………………………………………………………32 Theoretical Frameworks………………………………………………………………….34 Performance Theory…………………………………………………………………..34 Theatre of the Oppressed …………………………………………………………..37 Theatre of the Oppressed in America………………………………………45 iii Theatre of the Oppressed and Critical Pedagogy…………………………48 Description of Theatre of the Oppressed ………………………………....51 Spectator/Actor……………………………………………………….52 Protagonist/Antagonist………………………………………………53 The Joker……………………………………………………………..54 Scholarship on Boal and Theatre of the Oppressed……………………..58 Critical Analysis: Forum Theatre and SNCC………………………………………..60 Conclusion of the Literature Review…………………………………………………62 CHAPTER 3 METHODS Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..64 Social History Methodology…………………………………………………………….65 Living Black History……………………………………………………………...66 Re-Membering History…………………………………………………………..67 Research Design and Methods………………………………………………………...71 Interviews…………………………………………………………………………….70 Primary and Secondary Sources……………………………………………………72 Historical Scholarship: Chronologically…………………………………………….72 Freedom Acts as Social Drama……………………………………………………..75 The Greensboro Sit-Ins………………………………………………………………76 Freedom Summer…………………………………………………………………….78 Freedom Schools……………………………………………………………………..79 The Free Southern Theatre………………………………………………………….79 Historical Research Literature: Narratives………………………………………………….81 Analyses………………………………………………………………………………………82 iv CHAPTER 4 1. The GREENSBORO SIT-INS Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..86 History of the Sit-Ins…………………………………………………………………….87 Spectator/Actors………………………………………………………………….87 James Lawson………………………………………………………………..91 Merrell Proudfoot…………………………………………………………….93 Ralph Johns…………………………………………………………………..94 Wilma Player………………………………………………………………….97 Protagonist/Antagonist…………………………………………………………99 The Greensboro Four………………………………………………………100 Other SNCC participants…………………………………………………..105 The Joker………………………………………………………………………….107 Ella Baker……………………………………………………………………108 Congressman John Lewis………………………………………………….112 Summation………………………………………………………………………………..118 CHAPTER 5 2.FREEDOM SUMMER 3. FREE SOUTHERN THEATRE Introduction………………………………………………………………………………120 Freedom Summer Project……………………………………………………………..121 Freedom Summer Prospectus……………………………………………………..125 Freedom Schools……………………………………………………………………127 Critical Pedagogy Analysis......................................................................129 Community Engagement Programs………………………………………………133 Analysis……………………………………………………………………………..135 v Mississippi Theatre Project………………………………………………………..137 Bob Moses as the Joker……………………………………………………………140 The Free Southern Theatre……………………………………………………………143 John O’Neal………………………………………………………………………….145 Vision and Objectives………………………………………………………………148 Freedom Songs as Curriculum………………………………………………………..151 Analysis……………………………………………………………………………………..154 CHAPTER 6 OVERVIEW AND IMPLICATIONS FOR CRITICAL PEDAGOGY Radical Pedagogy and Practice Overview of the Research…………………………………………………………….162 SNCC Reflecting Critical Pedagogy………………………………………….……..165 Freedom Acts: Reflect Theatre of the Oppressed………………………………166 Freedom Acts: Uniquely different from Theatre of the Oppressed……………170 Freedom Acts: Success and Limitations………………………………………….173 Implications for Critical Pedagogy………………………………………………….176 Coming to self-understanding.................................................................177 Situating oneself in history.....................................................................178 Knowledge to power..............................................................................182 Understanding the limitations of our institutions, or even our age...............184 Final Words……………………………………………………………………………….186 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………….189 APPENDICES A Inform Consent Form……………………………………………………………..200 B (SNCC Archives) SNCC Suggested Readings.……………………………….201 vi C (SNCC Archives) Freedom Summer Prospectus…………………………..205 D (SNCC Archives Free Southern Theatre….…………………………………215 E (SNCC Archives) Freedom Summer Personal Notes….………………….217 F (SNCC Archives) John Lewis’s Intimidation Letter……………………….221 G (SNCC Archives) Peace Corps Western Union.…………………………….222 H (SNCC Archives) Western Campus Instruction Photos………………….223 I (Sites of Historical Archival Data Collection)……………………………….224 vii Dedication In loving memory of my mother, Joan A. Gilliam This one’s for you mama, this one’s for you. Your encouragement and love has remained in my heart and has been the source of inspiration in making this dissertation possible. viii Acknowledgement No person is an island, no person stands alone. Each one is his brother and sister. Each one is his or her