Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Program Name/Specialization

Community Psychology

Faculty/School

Faculty of Science

First Advisor

Ciann L Wilson

Advisor Role

Vanessa Oliver

Second Advisor

Melody Morton Ninomiya

Third Advisor

Natalie Kivell

Abstract

My name is Ann Marie. I am a Two-Spirit L’nu’k, that is African Nova Scotian and Mi’kmaq from the territory of Mi’kma’ki, and the West Coast of Afrika. I am Indigenous to both Turtle Island and the Motherland. In this dissertation, I discuss at length current public education in the settler nation-state known as Canada and how European man’s idea of education promotes gendered violence against Black, Indigenous, and Afro-Indigenous Peoples. In this dissertation, for Chapter One, titled, “The Conceptualization of Liberatory Curriculum from the Proclaiming Our Roots Project,” I articulate my vision for future research by conceptualizing a curriculum grounded in pedagogies of hope and liberation, emphasizing the curriculum as a means of resistance and community care praxis. In the ground-breaking Proclaiming Our Roots project, community members shared insights through their oral digital stories in understanding identity and connection to the land, colonialism and the reversal of the white man’s gaze, and their eurocentric educational experiences. Community members come to comprehend how family and kin can support each other and our communities, while critically engaging in understanding the influence of colonial internalized racism. In “The Intersections of Mixed-Blood Indigenous-Black Women, Girls, Two-Spirit, and Transgender People: Identity, Violence, Trauma, and Healing,” I investigate the underlying causes of the persistent issue of disproportionate gendered violence experienced by Afro-Indigenous, Black, and Indigenous Peoples within this colonial nation-state. Using sharing circles and semi-structured interviews from the Proclaiming Our Roots project, I discuss the effects of gendered violence on identity and healing. Within a critical Indigenous research paradigm based in theoretical thinking of decoloniality, Black feminism, intersectionality, and critical race theory, I connect how public education can play a central role in addressing gendered violence by raising awareness, understanding historical root causes, providing support as opportunities for collective healing, and nurturing community care. By integrating discussions on gender equality and respectful relationships into educational settings within a critical Indigenous lens that reverses the colonial gaze, we can work towards raising critical consciousness that supports a more just and equitable society.

Convocation Year

2024

Convocation Season

Fall

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