"We Were Bound Before We Were Shackled": (Re)Membering Our Lives in Ghana, West Africa

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

This session is a deliberate reconnection of educational researchers and practitioners consciously exploring their past as they seek to liberate the US educational system. The panel includes Black women visual and performing artists, educational non-profit directors, and teacher educators who share how their lived experiences, identities, and development were influenced by time spent in Ghana, West Africa, for the “W(right)ing Our Lives” Full Circle Retreat led by Dr. Cynthia B. Dillard (Nana Mansa II of Mpeasem, Ghana, West Africa). The panelists discuss Dillard’s (2022; 2012) (re)membering as the impetus for embracing and (re)claiming their African identity and conducting research to challenge anti-Blackness across the educational landscape.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Research Focus on Black Education

Chair

• Lynnette K. Mawhinney, Rutgers University - Newark

Papers

• (Re)Claiming Praxis - Keara L. Williams, University of California - Los Angeles; M. Billye Sankofa Waters, University of Washington - Tacoma; Tynisha N. Worthy, Youth At The Center

• (Re)Claiming Critical (Other)Mothering and Motherscholaring: A Building of Legacy - Kim McAloney; Tehia Starker Glass, University of North Carolina - Charlotte; Lynnette K. Mawhinney, Rutgers University - Newark

• (Re)Claiming Wellness and Self-Care - Tiffany Hollis; Angela Jones; Micia Mosely, Black Teacher Project

Discussant

• Cynthia B. Dillard, Seattle University