Acts of Survival: Theory, Methods, and Lived Experiences in Writing Race

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

“Whitestreaming is a coercive force that imposes White history, mores, morals, language, customs, individualism, cultural capital and other forces as the norm or standard U.S. in society. It is argued by whitestreamers, in teleological fashion, that the whitestream represents the epitome of civilization, development, and democracy….” (Urrieta, 2010, p. 47) This coercive force shapes lives as well as life writing methodologies. This panel features three distinct projects that illustrate how authors of color can use life writing projects as acts of survival in the academy and society against whitestreaming, as theoretical touchstones to consider what it means to write race, and as tools in advancing methodology in life writing research.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Biographical and Documentary Research

Chair

• KaaVonia Hinton, Old Dominion University

Papers

• Excavating the Methodological Terrains of Life Writing: How and Why We Engage in Re-Memberings of Black and Chicana/Latina Lived Experiences - Crystal Shelby-Caffey, Southern Illinois University; Paty Abril-Gonzalez, University of Texas at Austin; Michelle Salazar Perez, University of North Texas

• Living With the Monsters and Ghosts: Theorizing Race Through Unresolved Writing - Ezekiel Joubert, California State University - Los Angeles; Oona Fontanella-Nothom, California State University - Los Angeles

• Doing Biographical Research on Black Teacher Activists During Civil Rights - Autumn Brown, Oklahoma State University