Brock, Rochelle. (2005). Sista Talk:
The Personal and the Pedagogical. New York: Peter Lang
Publishing, Inc.
xx + 133 pp.
$29.95 (paperback) ISBN
0-8204-4953-9
Reviewed by Sherida Sherry Hassanali
University of Toronto
February 15, 2006
Books to me are like candy
to children. No words can truly express the glee and rush I get
from discovering the joys and wonders hidden between the pages of
books, especially, new books. The excitement that I gleaned from
Rochelle Brock's Sista Talk: The Personal and the
Pedagogical can hardly be contained. Not since the likes of
Freire, Giroux, and McLaren, has any author been able to seize,
capture and grab my attention so fully and completely. While the
works of these dynamic critical pedagogues absolutely and
profoundly changed both the way I read the world and the way I am
with the world, Brock's work gave me yet another gift, the gift
of breath. As strange as this sounds, this book allowed me, for
the first time, to breathe. The inhaled breath that I had been
holding, seemingly alone all my life, was let go. No other work
that I have ever read, has allowed or given me such a gift; such
freedom to be. This book freely spoke to me on so many levels: as
a woman, as a person of colour, as a PhD Candidate, as a
researcher, and as a university educator.
With the help of her internal
other Oshun, an African Goddess (of voluptuous beauty, love,
fertility, and strategy), Rochelle Brock's emotionally charged
work weaves critical ethnographic narrative, poetry, reflections,
interviews, storytelling, and social analysis into a grounded,
compelling and insightful seven-chapter book about "what can
happen to a person's soul when they have to fight constantly for
their humanity" (p. 8). This book is about struggle, survival,
and self-discovery. The intensity, flavor, and tone of the book
are set in the very first paragraph of the prologue where Brock
wants to say to every one,"You will never understand, so get the
hell out of my paradigm." In this one sentence, Brock created
for me a powerful image of a woman who is angry―angry at a
system that does not understand her, a Black, a woman educator.
A system that keeps her trapped within itself; a system that
keeps her trapped within herself. Brock's painful struggle to
understand what it means to be Black, not just in terms of a
skin colour, but also as a political experience comes into play.
The author writes of race, class and gender, the triad of
discrimination that women of colour "must wage an eternal war
against" (p.12). She writes from the heart about pain, healing,
teaching, and oppression. She writes in order to make sense out
of chaos for herself and her graduate students.
Together throughout the book,
Oshun and Rochelle write and speak their truth; Oshun brings
voice to the silence surrounding Rochelle, while Rochelle brings
life to the rich historical memory of Oshun (p.6). The first
chapter introduces the reader to the Theories of the Other with
regard to resistance and acceptance. Oshun and Rochelle engage
in a very heavy "mind-funk" dialogue about the other. The
reader quickly learns that the concept of a mind-funk is merely a
"consuming way of reading the world and reading the self" (p. 7)
and fosters the doubt that stops a person from moving beyond
their prescribed boundaries. Brock demonstrates that this
concept is both useful and necessary when people must "survive
beyond the boundaries of their otherness" (p. 19). Madrid (1988,
p.12) writes that Otherness is "[feeling] different; is
awareness of being distinct; is consciousness of being
dissimilar. It means being outside the game, outside the circle,
outside the set. It means being on the edges, on the margins, on
the periphery. Otherness means feeling excluded, closed,
precluded, even disdained and scorned. It produces a sense of
isolation, of apartness, of disconnectedness, of alienation."
Collins (1991, p.68) adds to this: "the other is a
paradoxical relationship that threatens the moral and social
order, as well as being essential for its survival because those
individuals who stand at the margins of society, [also] clarify
its boundaries." The threads of these definitions are important
as they weave their way both throughout the book and throughout
the stories of the eight research participants who, for over a
three year period, form and frame the basis of "Sista
Talk."
The second chapter sees Oshun
and Rochelle conversing about "Afriwomanist" theory which stems
from Black feminist, Afrocentric, and Womanist thought. The
epistemology of this theory aims to raise the political
consciousness of people with an Afrocentric world view, placing
them at the center of their own reality, while at the same time
challenging patriarchal structures and gender inequalities.
Additionally, Afriwomanist theory is centered in Black women's
spirit and within an ethic of caring. Within this, Black women
hold the belief of the uniqueness of individuals, of being human
and being part of a larger collective. Further, they hold that
for an ethic of caring to work, there must be the appropriateness
of emotions in dialogue. Additionally, for an ethic of caring to
be cultivated, there must be the development of the capacity for
empathy; and lastly, an ethic of personal accountability.
As a foundational and
transitional piece of this chapter, Brock then explored what she
believed to be her manifesto or philosophy of education. Brock
accepted that she must provide her students with not only the
tools to make connections to and with the larger world, but to
more importantly, make her students realize the significance of
their humanity.
After first being privy to
Brock's "slamming" chili recipe, the methodology behind the
author's research became the focus of the third chapter. The
critical lens in which Brock casts her gaze was through an
Afriwomanist "pedagogy of wholeness" which "fostered and guided
her Black female students into a new consciousness and sense of
who they were" (p.32). According to Brock, Black women learn
from and are taught through a "pedagogy of life" (p.32), by
numerous female figures, including friends, family, teachers, the
media, and the like. Brock explained that she appropriated her
pedagogy from her classroom and then used it to construct a
"negotiated learning environment―sista dialogue". The
group consisted of eight participants who were selected from a
pool of past, Black female students. The research was conducted
in the author's apartment (in March) and lasted a total of six
hours over the course of one evening. The conversations were
captured by two video cameras and several tape recorders set up
around the room. Brock served as a facilitator so that the
dialogue would run smoothly and so that the group of eight felt
safe participating. Brock stated that the "group was an
epistemological journey into how they construct[ed] knowledge
about self." In addition it served to illustrate how "they
negotiated their understanding of self" (p.33). Numerous themes
emerged from the dialogue: "awareness, self-reflection, a strong
sense of family, spirituality, a Black woman's consciousness,
commitment to the struggle of Black people and Black women"
(p.33).
As a reflection piece at the
end of the third chapter, Brock shared with her readers a very
painful account of a surreal conversation on the evening her
marriage came to a crashing halt. The images of that evening (and
subsequent time frame) she recounted are excruciatingly difficult
to read, but her candor does provide further insights into the
personal, the political, and the pedagogical essence that molds
and shapes the Brock that will go on to successfully write this
book.
The following three chapters
(four, five and six) are not considered to be typical analysis
chapters, as Brock felt that taking "chunks out here and there"
(p. 36) would not do justice to the time the eight women spent in
her home, trying to "give [me] what they knew". Throughout the
dialogue, Brock provided essential theory that supported the
research findings which added to the readers comprehension and
understanding of the issues at play. The transcripts of the
dialogue revealed a shared felt anger from the eight women; this
tied nicely back into the first paragraph of the
prologue―"you will never understand, so get the hell out of
my paradigm." These women did not feel understood by their
teachers, the media, their families, society, and most
imperatively, due to internalized racism, themselves. The
language of the narratives conveys issues of the aforementioned
triad of discrimination: racism, classism, and sexism. The daily
battles these graduate students named were similar if not the
same across the board. The voices of eight seemingly became the
powerful and moving voice of one, conveying a multitude of
feelings. Anger. Frustration. Fear. Annoyance. Futility.
Hostility. Damn stereotypes. Media portrayals. Feelings of being
controlled and manipulated. Feelings of being disrespected and
continually offended. Silence. Misunderstood. Sick. Physically
ill. Breaking point. Falling apart. Disconnection. Mad. Always
mad. Pain. Pain. And more pain.
From this piece of sharing,
Brock goes on to ask her students how they theorize away their
pain, and to further tell her what their purpose is. The women
responded by saying they were afraid of their own vulnerability;
their purpose is maintaining the public face that is of the
strong, Black woman. This must come first. It's expected. A
wholeness of self is seemingly not supported by the larger
community and society at large. This wholeness of self must come
from the Afrocentric community, from within themselves, and from
making connections.
At the end of chapter four,
Brock provides a reflection entitled "I really don't breathe,
that's part of my problem." Recalling at the beginning of this
review, I expressed the fact that this book allowed me for the
first time to breathe. After reading this book, I felt like the
women in this study. Brock suggested that each woman in her
study acted as a mirror, their reflections into/onto the soul of
the other woman. I believe, like me, they were searching for
self, and trying to articulate what we feel inside is
difficult. Until we find someone who shares a common experience,
we cannot let go. We cannot let go of that breath. If we let
go, we become vulnerable. Holding our breath is a survival
technique for those who live on the margins.
Chapters five and six
concentrate on the concept of a pedagogy of wholeness; the theory
and the practice. These chapters integrate the dialogue between
Oshun and Rochelle, and juxtapose pieces of the Sista Talk
interviews to illustrate the theory and practice being
discussed. The main point Brock suggested was that "the
sociopolitical realities of African Americans and all minorities
engender pain. The economic realities of African Americans
engender pain. If I can effectively help myself and my Black
female students theorize away the pain that dominant structures
have made synonymous with being Black, then that knowledge is
also valuable to all students.... I need to operate within a
Black way of knowing which draws a connection between learned
knowledge and actual experience, either personal experience or
that of the community in general." Effectively naming and giving
voice to the problems that the eight women were facing made it
possible for the participants to have a choice. Along with this
choice came responsibility (self- and community imposed) (p. 87)
to do something about the situations that the women discussed; to
hopefully become "critical cultural agents of change and
revolution" (p. 88).
Oshun and Rochelle continued
to discuss their truths. The "dehumanization and
despiritualization" for many Black students; the denigration or
silencing of African American students; the colonial school
system across the USA that was set up to ensure the failure of
African American students; poor housing; unequal political
representation, high unemployment, and the lack of Black men and
women in positions of power are but a few of the true obstacles
that Black children must face. Despite these obstacles, Rochelle
and Oshun began to discuss what to teach students so that they
become complete human beings. Ultimately, Brock says that the
development of their own language, "one filled with truth,
honesty, spirituality, pride―to critique the war against
[us] (p.94)" was an imperative first. In the traditions of
Freire, Giroux and McLaren, creating a language of critique is an
important framing tool that questions the structures of the
status quo. A transformative and critical pedagogy should
concern itself with collective action and is grounded in cultural
understandings, experiences, and ways of knowing the world.
However, Brock says that this approach is somewhat problematic.
For this approach to work with Black students, it still requires
an Afrocentric consciousness that understands the historical
connections between struggle and survival (p. 97). As Brock
stated in her philosophy of education, Black students must become
aware and realize the importance of their own humanity. This is
freedom.
Concurring with Brock, I
stated early in my opening paragraph that this book allowed me
the freedom to be, as I believe "being free is based on knowing
one's humanity from within" (p. 98). This book helped to capture
a glance of my humanity from within. I felt awake. This state
of "awakeness" can be defined as a form of human vitality; my
human spirit was alive; I was connected.
For me, this book was about
journeys and discoveries situated within dichotomies, binary
oppositions, contradictory phenomena, and the positionalities of
either/or, self/other, black/white, perceived/received
identities, colonizer/colonized, and object/subject. It is hoped
that Brock's journey has led her, (and others reading this book)
to the conclusion that the personal IS the pedagogical; the
pedagogical IS the personal. These two issues are not and cannot
be separate entities. Who Brock is as a person is not separate
from who she is as a teacher. There is a symbiotic relationship
between the personal and the pedagogical. Additionally, I
believe, her journey through the personal and the pedagogical is
a spiral, cyclical one, continually folding and unfolding onto
itself through reflection and connection.
Overall, Sista Talk is
an impressive exploration into the issues surrounding negotiating
identity, self, and otherness. While the author writes
specifically about the experiences of Black Women, I believe that
Brock's work provides "a spiritualness connecting [the] self to
something deeper in the education of oppressed peoples" (p.19).
Certainly, I, as a non-Black, non-White, Caucasian woman, was
delighted, happy and thrilled when this book (that actually spoke
to me and mirrored my own life experiences) came to me for
review. Further, as a teacher educator, I wholeheartedly embrace
Brock's viewpoint that education should provide students "care
for their being" with a pedagogy that teaches love of self and
others, inner strength, humanity and humanness, survival and
struggles, and hope and knowledge" (p.18). The space for this
pedagogy of hope and possibility is found within the pages of
Sista Talk.
This beautifully woven
"tapestry of hope and humanity" (p. 21) should be considered
essential reading for anyone choosing to become a critical and
transformative educator.
About the Reviewer
Sherida Sherry Hassanali is nearing
completion of a Ph.D. in Education from the Ontario Institute for
Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT) where
she is specializing in curriculum studies, social and cultural
studies, and teacher education and development. She teaches at
Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the
Faculty of Education.
Copyright is retained by the first or sole author,
who grants right of first publication to the Education Review.
No comments:
Post a Comment