The Power of Voice: Challenging Racism and Oppression
Abstract
This paper investigates the intricate link between voice and power with a strong focus on the role of the ally in advocating that the voices which have been silenced may be heard and granted authority. Understanding the implications of voice and power in the context of colonialism, racism, oppression, and privilege is a prerequisite for the role of the ally in the work toward a more just social order. Educators, as allies, must open up spaces for the disenfranchised to voice pain, fear, anger, and hope for more equitable distribution of power. With an understanding of the deep wrongs that have been perpetrated and with the opening up of spaces for alternate ways of thinking and knowing, educators can strive to ensure that the voices of the marginalized, be they those of the disabled, of the young, of women, or of Aboriginal people be heard and granted authority and power. How can educators become allies in advocating for the voices of those who have been marginalized? This paper examines four approaches to anti-oppressive education and cites recent developments in Canadian education with a particular focus on current initiatives in Saskatchewan.References
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http://blog.ted.com/2009/10/07/the_danger_of_a/
Applebaum, B. (2008). “Doesn’t my experience count?” White students, the
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Beard, L. (2000). Giving voice: Autobiographical/testimonial literature by First Nations
women of British Columbia. Studies in American Indian Literatures, 12(3), 64-83. Retrieved from
http://iportal.usask.ca/index.php?sid=349329067&id=25409&t=details&having=1319928
Cole, B. A. (2009). Gender, narratives, and intersectionality: Can personal experience
approaches to research contribute to “undoing gender”’? International Review of Education 55, 561-578. Doi: 10. 1007/s11159-009-9140-5
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http://www.jstor.org.cyber.usask.ca/stable/pdfplus/1170593.pdf
Legg, S. (2007). Reviewing geographies of memory/forgetting. Environment and Planning, 39 (456-466)
Lloyd, A. (1972). Freire, conscientization, and adult education. Adult Education Quarterly, 23(1), p. 3-20.
McKegney, S. (2007). Magic weapons: Aboriginal writers remaking community after residential school. Winnipeg, Man: University of Manitoba Press.
Simpson, L. (2001). Aboriginal peoples and knowledge: Decolonizing our processes. The Canadian Journal of Native Studies, XXI, 1, pp. 137-148).
Simpson, L. (2004). Anticolonial strategies for the recovery and maintenance of Indigenous Knowledge. American Indian Quarterly, 28(3&4), 373-384. Retrieved from http://muse.jhu.edu.cyber.usask.ca/journals/american_indian_quarterly/v028/28.3 simpson.pdf
Sperling, M. & Appleman, D. (2011). Voice in the context of literacy studies. Reading
Research Quarterly, 46(1), 70-84.
Ungar, M. (2007). Playing at being bad: The hidden resilience of troubles teens. Toronto, Canada: McClelland & Stewart Ltd.
Valandra, E. (2005). The as-told-to Native [auto]biography: Whose voice is speaking? Wicazo Sa Review, 20(2), 103-119. Retrieved from http://muse.jhu.edu.cyber.usask.ca/journals/wicazo_sa_review/v020/20.2valandra.html
Wentz, C. (1998). Jackpine roots: Autobiography, tradition and resistance in the stories of three Yukon elders. American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 22(1), 1-21.
White-Kaulaity, M. (2006). The voices of power and the power of voices: Teaching with Native American literature. The ALAN Review, Fall, 2006, 8-16. Retrieved from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/v34n1/kaulaity.pdf.
Wise, T. (2008). White like me: Reflections on race from a privileged son. Berkley, Ca: Soft Skull Press.
Adichi, C. (2008). African authenticity and the Biafran experience. Transition, 9, 42-53. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20204260
Adichi C. (2009, October 07). The danger of a single story. Retrieved from TED Talks:
http://blog.ted.com/2009/10/07/the_danger_of_a/
Applebaum, B. (2008). “Doesn’t my experience count?” White students, the
authority of experience, and social justice pedagogy. Race, ethnicity, and Education, 11(4), 405-414.
Battiste, M. (2004). Discourses of difference; cognitive imperialism; culturalism and diversity. [Power Point]. March 25, 2004, University of Calgary. Retrieved from
http://www.usask.ca/education/people/battistem/pdf/diversity.pdf
Battiste, M., Kovach, M., Balzer, G. (2010). Celebrating the local, negotiating the school: Language and literacy in Aboriginal communities. Canadian Journal of Native Education, 32, 4-12. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.cyber.usask.ca/docview/759756216
Beard, L. (2000). Giving voice: Autobiographical/testimonial literature by First Nations
women of British Columbia. Studies in American Indian Literatures, 12(3), 64-83. Retrieved from
http://iportal.usask.ca/index.php?sid=349329067&id=25409&t=details&having=1319928
Cole, B. A. (2009). Gender, narratives, and intersectionality: Can personal experience
approaches to research contribute to “undoing gender”’? International Review of Education 55, 561-578. Doi: 10. 1007/s11159-009-9140-5
Cook-Lynn, E. (1987). “You may consider speaking about your art. . . “. In B. Swann and A. Krupat (Eds.), I tell you now: Autobiographical essays by Native America writers (57-63). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
Cook-Lynn, E. (1993). The American Indian fiction writer: “Cosmopolitanism, nationalism, the Third World, and First Nation sovereignty”. Wicazo Sa Review, 9(2), 26-36.
Cook-Lynn, E. (1995). Life and death in the mainstream of American Indian biography. Wicazo Sa Review, 11(2), 90-93. Retrieved from http://www.jstore.org/stable/1409107
Freire, P. (1997). An incredible conversation [Video file]. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFWjnkFypFA&feature=related
Goulding, W. (2001). Just another Indian: A serial killer and Canada’s indifference. Calgary, AB: Fifth House.
Grant, A. (1990). Contemporary Native women’s voices in literature. Canadian Literature. Native Writers & Canadian Writing, Spring/Summer. 124–132. Retrieved http://cinema2.arts.ubc.ca/units/canlit/pdfs/articles/canlit124-Contemporary(Grant).pdf
Haldane, S., Lafond, G., & Krause, C. (2012). Nurturing the learning spirit of First Nation students: The report of the national panel on First Nation elementary and secondary education for students on reserve. Ottawa, On: National Panel on First Nation Elementary and Secondary Education for Students on Reserve. Retrieved from http://firstnationeducation.ca/2012/02/09/news-release-%E2%80%93-national-panel-on-first-nation-elementary-and-secondary-education-delivers-final-report-to-national-chief-atleo-and-minister-duncan/
Kumashiro, K. (2000). Toward a theory of anti-oppressive education. Review of Educational Research, Spring 2000, 70, 1, pp. 25-53. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org.cyber.usask.ca/stable/pdfplus/1170593.pdf
Legg, S. (2007). Reviewing geographies of memory/forgetting. Environment and Planning, 39 (456-466)
Lloyd, A. (1972). Freire, conscientization, and adult education. Adult Education Quarterly, 23(1), p. 3-20.
McKegney, S. (2007). Magic weapons: Aboriginal writers remaking community after residential school. Winnipeg, Man: University of Manitoba Press.
Simpson, L. (2001). Aboriginal peoples and knowledge: Decolonizing our processes. The Canadian Journal of Native Studies, XXI, 1, pp. 137-148).
Simpson, L. (2004). Anticolonial strategies for the recovery and maintenance of Indigenous Knowledge. American Indian Quarterly, 28(3&4), 373-384. Retrieved from http://muse.jhu.edu.cyber.usask.ca/journals/american_indian_quarterly/v028/28.3 simpson.pdf
Sperling, M. & Appleman, D. (2011). Voice in the context of literacy studies. Reading
Research Quarterly, 46(1), 70-84.
Ungar, M. (2007). Playing at being bad: The hidden resilience of troubles teens. Toronto, Canada: McClelland & Stewart Ltd.
Valandra, E. (2005). The as-told-to Native [auto]biography: Whose voice is speaking? Wicazo Sa Review, 20(2), 103-119. Retrieved from http://muse.jhu.edu.cyber.usask.ca/journals/wicazo_sa_review/v020/20.2valandra.html
Wentz, C. (1998). Jackpine roots: Autobiography, tradition and resistance in the stories of three Yukon elders. American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 22(1), 1-21.
White-Kaulaity, M. (2006). The voices of power and the power of voices: Teaching with Native American literature. The ALAN Review, Fall, 2006, 8-16. Retrieved from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/v34n1/kaulaity.pdf.
Wise, T. (2008). White like me: Reflections on race from a privileged son. Berkley, Ca: Soft Skull Press.
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2014-07-23
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