Inquiry for Social Transformation: Black Mother Scholars Redefining Scholarly Inquiry Through Black Artistic Expression

Abstract

Writing, dancing, drawing, spittin’ rhymes, and other artistic expressions have long offered us, Black mother scholars, opportunities to reaffirm our humanity amid oppression (Fearon, 2023).  Art offers Black mother scholars space to reconceptualise inquiry in ways that engage our families, challenge injustices, and usher social change within the educational milieu and beyond. The centring of Black artistic expression in educational research invites Black mother scholars to affirm the parts of ourselves, our families, and our communities that dominant forms of inquiry and anti-Blackness have sought to discredit. Educational research grounded in Black artistic expression compels us all to reimagine scholarly inquiry for social transformation. In this paper, I critically reflect on an arts-informed research study I led with a group of Black Canadian mothers who are adult literacy learners. In this reflexive piece, I explore how grounding research practices in Black art allows opportunities for storytelling, story listening, and Black refusal. Specifically, this paper explores the ways Black art supports researchers in addressing power differentials inherent in inquiry processes. The paper concludes with a series of reflective questions challenging scholars, especially Black mother scholars, to redefine traditional academic boundaries and recommit to social transformation through the arts.