Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2021, Educational Leadership

This conceptual research uses an Afro-Pessimistic lens to analyze the lack of Black Self-Determination in the United States of America (U.S.A). It sought to find out if counter-narratives could play a cultivating role. Upon completion of the analysis several concepts to deepen and expand understanding of the lack of Black Self-determination was revealed. Collectively the concepts help dissect counter-narratives into four types (counter-narrative moments, movements, periods, and permanents). This occurred by considering the conditions that make up counter-narratives and the functional possibilities of the counter-narratives given such conditions. Accounting for the make-up (substance) and the function of counter-narratives indicated two cultivating categories: liminal and permeant. To deepen understanding of and conceptually test counter-narratives within these categories, they were put into an Afro-Surreal Futuristic script (chapter 4). The script engaged the Afro-Pessimistic while aiming towards the Afro-Futuristic, by drawing upon the Afro-Surreal as a bridge. It was the bridge because it focused attention on the strengths in what had survived over time and could aid moving forward towards distinctly different realities. By doing so, counter-narratives that cultivated Black Self-Determination had to functionally help move beyond the current states maintaining the problem (Afro-Pessimistic conditions) and get to new states (Afro-Futuristic conditions) with levels of permanence. My exposure to being Black and living a Black Self-Determined existence is foundationally shaped by: 1) being born in the latter part of the 20th century in the U.S.A; 2) consistently sharing life with people born across generations; and 3) having grown up around countless responsible elders who were blood related or like family. The oral histories, witnessed accounts of racism, racial diversity of my grade-school classmates, slew of examples where adults chose to uphold certain values de (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Thomas Poetter PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Denise Baszile PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Michael Dantley EDD (Committee Member); Paula Saine PhD (Committee Member); Lisa Weems PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Aesthetics; African American Studies; African Americans; Black History; Black Studies; Curricula; Education; Educational Leadership; Ethics; Families and Family Life; Individual and Family Studies; Pedagogy; Performing Arts; Philosophy; Public Health Education; Rhetoric; Social Research; Social Work; Sociology; Systematic; Teaching; Urban Planning; Womens Studies