Stories From Within: A Black Feminist-Centered, Intergenerational Community of Practice

• In Event: "I Am Because We Are": Critical Narratives of Community and Identity Among Black Women

Abstract

In the final presentation, “Stories from Within: A Black Feminist-Centered, Intergenerational Community of Practice,” the third and fourth presenters (a high school student and her teacher) will share examples of lived experiences with oppression (e.g. being silenced), with resistance (e.g., protecting self from racist acts), and with survival (e.g., enduring classist and sexist behaviors). Reflecting on some of their lived experiences as participants, as researchers, as interviewers, and interviewees within and across this intergenerational Black women’s community of practice allows them to investigate the larger impact and influence of connectivity among Black women. As they do so, they think about the following questions that were derived from our group-designed dialogic conversations: What do our stories and the stories of other Black women in this intergenerational community of practice say about our resilience and attempts to talk back to multiple forms of oppression? What do our stories tell us about identity, race, and fictive kinship? Why should our stories be centered in educational research and in activist practices? Who are some of the Black women from whom we gain inspiration? How do we individually and/or collectively navigate multiple forms of oppression? In what ways do we navigate oppression and inequities within educational and/or community contexts?
Bringing to life the theoretical framework—communities of practice and Black feminist thought—and the methodological orientations—critical narrative inquiry and projects in humanization—discussed in detail by the first two presenters, this final presentation will respond to the aforementioned questions by showcasing stories that were derived from our dialogic conversations. The inclusion of Black women’s stories about oppression and resilience offers important perspectives by which to examine Black cultural ways of knowing (e.g., being, learning, cultural histories) against the backdrop of homogenized, or mainstream, discourses. Relying on Black women’s stories—from our intergenerational group and from the scholarly writings by and about Black women (Collins, 2000; Gay,
2000; hooks, 1994, 2009; Kinloch, Moss, & Richardson, 2013; Ladson-Billings, 1994)—supports our participation in, and inquiry into, an intergenerational community of practice by, about, and for Black women across the lifespan.

Authors

• Taryn A Lewis-Smith, Columbus City Public Schools

• Tori Washington, Columbus City Schools