Using a Decolonial Oral History Methodology: “Pa’lante (Como el Elefante, Siempre Pa’lante)”

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 8:00 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Preserving Narratives: The Intersection of Oral History and AI Innovations (Table 12)

Abstract

This paper is based on my dissertation, an oral history project on the liberatory educational experiences of Puerto Ricans in the diaspora. I provide a frame for historicizing not only Puerto Rican experiences but the experiences of traditionally marginalized students to disrupt the ravages of coloniality, neoliberalism, poverty, xenophobia, ableism, sexism, anti-blackness, homophobia, the school to prison pipeline, and other forms of violence towards students in our educational systems. This paper highlights the agentic power of a participant-centered decolonial oral history methodology where interrogations, discussions and knowledge created are guided by the interests and desires of the participants creating generative spaces for people to collaboratively theorize about identities, discourses, and history to materialize imaginings for dismantling oppressive systems.

Author

• Daicy Diaz-Granados, Center for Puerto Rican Studies