University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Education Science College of Education 2018 CREATING IDENTITY: HOW STEVE BIKO CULTURAL INSTITUTE’S BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS AND CITIZENSHIP INFLUENCES STUDENT IDENTITY FORMATION IN SALVADOR, BAHIA, BRAZIL Sheryl Felecia Means University of Kentucky, [email protected] Author ORCID Identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9052-0709 Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/ETD.2018.112 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Means, Sheryl Felecia, "CREATING IDENTITY: HOW STEVE BIKO CULTURAL INSTITUTE’S BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS AND CITIZENSHIP INFLUENCES STUDENT IDENTITY FORMATION IN SALVADOR, BAHIA, BRAZIL" (2018). Theses and Dissertations--Education Science. 36. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/edsc_etds/36 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Education at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Education Science by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Sheryl Felecia Means, Student Dr. Beth L. Goldstein, Major Professor Dr. Jeffrey Bieber, Director of Graduate Studies University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Education Science College of Education 2018 CREATING IDENTITY: HOW STEVE BIKO CULTURAL INSTITUTE’S BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS AND CITIZENSHIP INFLUENCES STUDENT IDENTITY FORMATION IN SALVADOR, BAHIA, BRAZIL Sheryl Felecia Means Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits oy u. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third- party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The nivU ersity of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty- free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Sheryl Felecia Means, Student Dr. Beth Goldstein, Major Professor Dr. Jeffrey Bieber, Director of Graduate Studies CREATING IDENTITY: HOW STEVE BIKO CULTURAL INSTITUTE’S BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS AND CITIZENSHIP INFLUENCES STUDENT IDENTITY FORMATION IN SALVADOR, BAHIA, BRAZIL ______________________________________________ DISSERTATION ______________________________________________ A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Education at the University of Kentucky By Sheryl Felecia Means Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Beth L. Goldstein, Professor of Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation Lexington, Kentucky 2018 Copyright © Sheryl Felecia Means 2018 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION CREATING IDENTITY: HOW STEVE BIKO CULTURAL INSTITUTE’S BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS AND CITIZENSHIP INFLUENCES STUDENT IDENTITY FORMATION IN SALVADOR, BAHIA, BRAZIL The research presented in “Creating Identity” investigates Black identity formation within the Steve Biko Cultural Institute (Biko) in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, a pre- vestibular – or college entrance exam preparation course – for Afro-Brazilian high school and aspiring college students. The curriculum, Cidadania e Consciência Negra (Black Consciousness and Citizenship; abbreviated CCN) serves as a vital pillar to the institutional approach to Black identity. In a Eurocentric society like Brazil and a world where Black identity is largely discriminated against including in educational spaces, Biko represents a movement to combat the exclusion of Afro-descendant youth from university, improve self-esteem and perceptions of the value of Black identity, and change who graduates from Bahia state universities. Over the course of nine months, in 2015 and 2016, field data were collected in the city of Salvador, Brazil and at the Biko institute. Since the research was cross-linguistic, cross- cultural, and hosted internationally, I assumed a methodologically narrative approach. The research design incorporated a survey, interviews, observations, and document analysis. Forty-two students completed surveys, twenty-six Biko students, staff and alumni participated in interviews, and well over 400 hours of participatory field observation were completed. Policy, demographic and curricular documents were also analyzed. CCN heavily influenced participants’ identity development through student and teacher discourse. The institution is a center of critical activism in the community. Aside from being a major part of the instructional approach to preparation for the college entrance exam, CCN heavily influenced the relationships between participants and their families and friends over newly affirmed Black identities. Although Biko students and alumni became more socially alert to the racial issues in their communities, they remain at risk of being racially profiled. Additionally, understanding blackness through the eyes of participants required an understanding of class and gender structures in Brazil. One major implication of the research for the participants is: blackness is CCN is Biko. Thereby, knowledge production and interaction with universities by Biko students are heavily influenced by Biko tenets and ideologies discussing race and racism, prejudice, discrimination, women’s rights, and economic development. KEYWORDS: Bahia, Race and Education, Racial Identity Formation, Culture and Education, Black Identity _Sheryl Felecia Means__________________ _29 April 2018________________________ Date CREATING IDENTITY: HOW STEVE BIKO CULTURAL INSTITUTE’S BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS AND CITIZENSHIP INFLUENCES STUDENT IDENTITY FORMATION IN SALVADOR, BAHIA, BRAZIL by Sheryl Felecia Means _Dr. Beth L. Goldstein___________ Dissertation Chair _Dr. Jeffrey Bieber______________ Director of Graduate Studies _29 April 2018_________________ Date “May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.” Thank you, Abba, for the opportunity to do a mighty work. Thank you, mom, for giving me love and support while you were here to give it. Thank you, dad, grandma, Vin, for being my family; it is entirely optional and you still said yes. Thank you, grandpa Fred and grandma Helen; from Monroe to Salvador, you still call. Obrigada, os meus Bikud@s. Table of Contents ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION ii Introduction 1 Toward a Transnational Blackness 6 Biko and the Black Consciousness Movement 9 Race, Culture, and Identity in Brazil 13 The Community School 20 Educational Structures in Brazil 23 Positionality and Reflexivity 30 Dissertation Structure 33 CHAPTER TWO: Methods and Design 36 Proposed Methods 36 Implemented Methods 38 Participants 40 Table 1: Interviewees 49 Data Analysis 53 Table 2: Research Process 54 Table 3: Post-Defined Codes 56 Theoretical Framework 58 Ethical Considerations & Positionality 60 CHAPTER THREE: CCN