Coloring Our Positionality: A Proposal for Identifying Black Positionality in Qualitative Research

• In Event: 34.096 - MTCC Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: 34.096-5 - Research/Me-Search/We-Search

Abstract

This study explored the experiences of four African American educational lobbyists and their role in lobbying for education. For the purpose of this study I reviewed positionality from multiple vantage points – the researcher, the African American educational lobbyists individually, the African American educational lobbyists in comparison to one another, and the African American educational lobbyists in comparison to the researcher. The purpose of this framework was to ensure that the researcher recognized potential seen, unseen and unforeseen dangers in research (Milner, 2008). The results of failing to recognize the seen, unseen and unforseen will be shared in this paper session in order to argue the validity of coloring our positionality and identifying Black Positionality when studying people of color.

Author

• Aaron Jermaine Griffen, DSST Public Schools