Solange, Storytelling, and Sankofa: A Conversation on Black Women’s Joy and Intellectual Traditions

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Thursday 2:15pm
  In Poster Session: Creative Pedagogies: Storytelling, Joy, and Radical Imagination in Black Education

Abstract

This conceptual poster presentation showcases the work of Solange Knowles, a multi-hyphenate singer, songwriter, visual artist, actress, entrepreneur, and vibe curator. I’ll use lyrics from Knowles’ soulful anthem, “Don’t Touch My Hair”, as a mirror to highlight the distinctions and convergences across four theoretical frameworks that have been frequently used in research about Black women in academia and institutions of higher learning: Africana Womanism (Hudson (Weems), 2023), Black Feminist Theory (Collins, 2022), Endarkened Feminist Epistemology (Dillard, 2006), and African Womanism (Dove, 1998). I use lyrical analysis, autoethnography, and cultural textual analysis to work towards theorizing Black women's intellectual storytelling traditions.

Author

• Linnsey McFerguson, Florida Atlantic University