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QIXXXX10.1177/1077800418786303Qualitative InquiryOhito and Nyachae

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Qualitative Inquiry
2019, Vol. 25(9-10) 839–850
Poetically Poking at Language and © The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/1077800418786303
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Critical Discourse Analysis

Esther O. Ohito1 and Tiffany M. Nyachae2

Abstract
Entanglements of power, language, identities, and ideologies perturb Black feminist poets and Critical Discourse Analysis
(CDA) scholars alike. Here, we detail our use of Black feminist poetry to address concerns with rigor in CDA. We marry
Black feminist theorizing about language to feminist CDA to illuminate how—for qualitative data analysis—poetry can
foster rigor. Poetry also illuminates the suitability of feminist CDA for the Black feminist project of unveiling Black women’s
discursive subjugation. Through poetry, we deconstruct and reconstruct initial analysis of data, then construct new analyses
from emerging insights. Black feminist poetry provided a pathway for us to demonstrate rigor by (a) engendering precise
identification, distilling, and conveying of evidence substantiating findings; (b) enriching researcher triangulation by prompting
deepened dialogue—about and with data—to occur for coresearchers; and (c) stimulating reflexivity. We conclude with
questions useful for leveraging Black feminist poetry for rigorous, expressly political critical qualitative inquiry.

Keywords
feminist studies, Afrocentric feminist methodologies, investigative poetry, discourse, qualitative research & education

I prefer to make the claim that the poet is a human scientist. ideology, and social identity. Underpinning this article is the
Where many human science researchers focus on research following question: How might using poetry in critical
questions and methods, conclusions and implications, as a poet qualitative research—and particularly, in feminist critical
I am often more intrigued with how language works to open up discourse analysis (CDA)—“open possibilities for [de- and
possibilities for constructing understanding.
re-] constructing understanding” (Leggo, 2004, p. 30) of the
—Carl Leggo (2004, p. 30)
complex lives, lived experiences, and knowledges of Black
girls and women?
For women, then, poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of
our existence. It forms the quality of the light within which we Ideology and racial identity are intertwined for prolific
predicate our hopes and dreams toward survival and change, poet June Jordan (2003), who declares, “I am a feminist,
first made into language, then into idea, then into more tangible and what that means to me is much the same as the meaning
action. of the fact that I am Black” (p. 269). As Black feminists,
—Audre Lorde (1984, p. 37) our affection for poetry is premised upon the idea that this
narrative form is, as Jordan declares, “a political act”
Research is “formailized curiosity. It is poking and prying (Quiroz-Martinez, 1998, para. 2) that leverages language.
with a purpose” (Hurston, 1942/1996, p. 143). This article This anchors our poking and prying at the methodological
percolates from the curiosities of two poets and qualitative dimensions of feminist CDA. Connecting feminism and
researchers of education, bound by a shared love of lan-
guage and a shared interest in qualitative inquiry that cen- 1
Mills College, Oakland, CA, USA
ters and celebrates Black girls and women. We describe 2
The State University of New York - Buffalo State, Buffalo, NY, USA
ourselves as Black feminist poets who conduct research
using feminist Critical Discourse Analysis (Lazar, 2007), Corresponding Author:
Esther O. Ohito, Department of Black Studies & Department of
thus revealing our political investments in and methodolog- Education, Denison University, 100 West College Street, Granville, OH
ical approaches to probing how Black girls and women 43023, USA.
experience the connections among language, power, Email: [email protected]
840 Qualitative Inquiry 25(9-10)

CDA (Fairclough, 2016), feminist CDA forwards a “radical Conceptual and Theoretical
emancipatory agenda” (Lazar, 2007, p. 145). Feminist CDA Frameworks
also seeks to answer “social and political questions” (Lazar,
2007, p. 151) about the entanglement of language, power, In this study, we connect the concept of rigor in the context
and gender, as intersecting (Crenshaw, 1989) with other of discourse analysis (Greckhamer & Cilesiz, 2014) to the
markers of identity. Both poetry and feminist CDA are fre- conceptualization of language in Black feminist thought
quently invoked as strategies for liberatory social action (Christian, 1987; Collins, 2000/2014).
and change. Their compatibility is strengthened by the fact
that while poetry has been praised for its affordances as Conceptualizing Rigor in (Feminist Critical)
research method (e.g., Faulkner, 2009/2016), CDA, con- Discourse Analysis
versely, has been critiqued for its limits with regard to
According to Greckhamer and Cilesiz’s (2014) synthesis of
research tools or techniques available for researchers’ use
literature, qualitative researchers aiming to show rigor face
(Mogashoa, 2014; Morgan, 2010). In addition—with defer-
challenges when endeavoring to illustrate their engagement
ence to van Dijk (1993, 1996)—Lazar (2007) states that,
in the following processes: “conducting systematic analy-
“of concern [to feminist CDA] are issues of access to forms
ses, explicating qualitative research processes, substantiat-
of discourse, such as particular communicative events and
ing results, and describing and representing data and
culturally valued genres . . . that can be empowering for
methodological processes” (p. 424). Discourse analysts, in
women’s participation in public domains” (p. 149). Within
particular, encounter these dilemmas as they toil to
Black culture[s],1 poetry is one such “valued genre,” having
been used, for instance, as protest form within the Black (a) perform a systematic discourse analysis that goes beyond
Arts Movement of the 1960s, and its descendant, hip-hop, descriptive “analysis” of texts in order to focus on the hidden
since the 1980s (Fiore, 2015). and naturalized functions the discourse fulfills; (b) do the
Our primary purpose in this article is to explore the pos- analysis transparently, which is particularly challenging
sibilities of poetry as a device for addressing the method- considering discourse analysis’s interpretive focus on the
ological issue of rigor in CDA. Our secondary purpose is to constructive effects of texts; (c) warrant with appropriate
evidence the methodological suitability of feminist CDA evidence the study’s rigorous and systematic analysis process
for the Black feminist project of uncovering Black girls and as well as its knowledge claims; and (d) represent the process
and results of discourse analyses to accomplish transparency
women’s discursive subjugation. To achieve these purposes,
and warranting of evidence, while producing sufficiently
we marry Black feminist theorizing about language and
succinct manuscripts. (p. 425)
feminist CDA to illuminate how—with regard to qualitative
data analysis—the former engenders rigor. Rigor is defined Several scholars have discussed the struggles associated
here as “systematic attempts to make clear how and why I with conducting discourse analysis in the context of empiri-
do as I do when conducting research” (Berg, cited in Byrne cal research (e.g., Hardy, 2001; Phillips, Sewell, & Jaynes,
& Lentin, 2000, p. 170).2 This (re)vision of rigor—grounded 2008). Greckhamer and Cilesiz (2014) state that a researcher
in the qualitative paradigm of inquiry—asks that research- employing discourse analysis in an empirical study will
ers “incorporate a reflexive account into their research likely struggle with showing that the inquiry has been con-
product by signposting to readers ‘what is going on’ while ducted “in a systematic and rigorous manner that is consis-
researching” and “bring to the research product, data gener- tent with its epistemological and theoretical assumptions”
ated, a range of literature, a positioning of this literature, a (p. 426). In response to this issue, Greckhamer and Cilesiz
positioning of oneself, and moral socio-political contexts” offer four provisions for researchers’ use: (a) chronicling
(Koch & Harrington, 1998, p. 882). the discourse analysis process, (b) tabulating the discourse
The demonstration of rigor can signify the trustworthiness analysis process, (c) narrating the process of interpretation,
or quality of a qualitative research project (Lincoln & Guba, and (d) crafting the description of findings. In this article,
1986). Yet the question of how to establish trustworthiness in we focus on our use of the latter two devices for achieving
qualitative inquiry, which, paradigmatically, embraces emer- rigor in discourse analysis.
gent research designs, has troubled many a scholar (e.g., Narrating the process of interpretation “serves to expli-
Guba, 1981; Lincoln, 1995; Lincoln & Guba, 1986; Morrow, cate the analysis through narrating the interpretative pro-
2005; Rolfe, 2006; Shenton, 2004). Lincoln and Guba (1985) cess” (Greckhamer & Cilesiz, 2014, p. 434). This tool can
contend that the inherent flexibility of qualitative research be beneficial because
“should not be interpreted as a license to engage in undisci-
plined and haphazard ‘poking around’” (p. 251). Thus, our by explaining the thought process and logic underlying
study tackles the question of how to systematically illustrate analysts’ interpretations moving from raw data to results,
rigor in the endeavor that is (feminist) CDA. process narratives enhance transparency and enable public
Ohito and Nyachae 841

scrutiny of the analysis. Second, narrating provides evidence of becomes an “impetus to creativity through the insistence on
rigor by showing the depth of analysis not apparent in the final self-definition” (Ater, 2007, p. 211). Artistic production,
description of results. Third, narratives of interpretation are an within a Black feminist framework, allows for both subver-
alternative tool for representing the complex analysis process. sion, and assertion of agency (Farrington, 2005). Also,
(p. 434).
within this framework, voice has literal and metaphorical
meanings, and “everyone must listen and respond to other
As a technique for rigor, crafting the description of findings
voices in order to be allowed to remain in the community”
requires demonstrating “a clear link to data, not only provid-
(Collins, 1990, p. 236). Metaphorically, voice gestures
ing examples of data units, but also interpreting how these
toward representation—that is, absences and presences in a
data units become the basis for these findings” (p. 436).
particular space. Literally, voice denotes speech or the act of
Greckhamer and Cilesiz (2014) recommend that researchers
speaking. Collins (1990) explains that “[d]ialogue is critical
use this device by
to the success of this epistemological approach, the type of
weav[ing] into their interpretations data units that constitute dialogue long extant in the Afrocentric call-and-response
evidence for the study’s findings and . . . are particularly poetic tradition whereby power dynamics are fluid” (pp. 236-237).
[emphasis added], concise, or insightful, and thus compelling This establishes the centrality of dialogic exchange within
in order to address the challenges of providing data as evidence Black feminist thought and provides rationale for the use of
of knowledge claims. (p. 436) dialogue in research conducted within this framework.

The notion that knowledge claims are situated is founda- Review of Literature on Poetry in
tional to feminist theory. Feminist researchers reveal—or
revel in—the situatedness of knowledge claims through the
Qualitative Education Research
practice of reflexivity, defined here as the process of per- Poetry has been described as a “precise way of seeing at the
forming “an intersectional critique, an illumination of power, same time that it is conditional and partial and interested in
and acknowledging one’s relationality to all of this (Calafell, approximations of something like truth” (Faulkner, 2007, p.
2013, pp. 6-7). Reflexivity is deemed cardinal to feminist 224). Many a researcher has been intrigued by the points of
research (Luttrell, 2010), hence an important dimension of connection between poetry and qualitative inquiry. A key-
the conceptual framework dictating our data generation and word search for the term poetry in the electronic database of
analysis in this study. Qualitative Inquiry yielded almost 500 results. This, per-
haps, is because, as Richardson (1994) posits, “[p]oetry is
. . . a practical and powerful method for analyzing social
Theorizing Language in Black Feminist Thought
worlds” (p. 522). Poetry’s utility as a method has been has
Our commitment to conducting feminist CDA that responds been highlighted in research (e.g., Faulkner, 2009/2016;
to Black girls and women’s (discursive and material) expe- Prendergrast, Leggo, & Sameshima, 2009; Sameshima,
riences of social marginalization drives this inquiry. Thus, Fidyk, & James, 2017), and its potential for easing the
we turn toward Black feminism as a theoretical framework. relaying of the results of scholarly inquiry has been extolled
Relevant is Black feminist theorizing of language (Christian, (e.g., Butler-Kisber, 2002; Lahman, Teman, & Richard,
1987; Collins, 2000/2014). Christian (1987) explains that 2019; Sparkes, Nilges, Swan, & Dowling, 2003).
“people of color have always theorized—but in forms quite With regard to poetry in inquiry about education,
different from the Western form of abstract logic . . . often Cahnmann (2003) writes that “[i]ncorporating the craft,
in narrative forms, in the stories we create, in riddles and practice, and possibility of poetry in our research enhances
proverbs, in the play with language” (p. 52). Christian adds our ability to understand classroom life and support stu-
that the women of color theorists she encountered in her dents’ potential to add their voices to a more socially just
youth “speculated about the nature of life through pithy lan- and democratic society” (p. 34). Specific to this review, we
guage that unmasked the power relations of their world.” pursued literature linking poetry to education research,
For them, “language . . . is both sensual and abstract, both given that our site of analysis was an extracurricular pro-
beautiful communicative.” gram for Black schoolgirls. We limited our search to litera-
In this study, we foreground Black feminist theorizing ture appearing on the educational landscape in and after
of two language-related concepts: creativity and voice. 2010, which is when Lahman et al. published a review on
Regarding Black women’s use of creativity, Collins the uses of poetry in qualitative research. Working with
(2000/2014) remarks that “for Black women who are agents Wakeman’s (2015) reflections on the varying ways that
of knowledge, the marginality that accompanies outsider- poetry is generally encountered in research as an organizing
within status can be the source of both frustration and creativ- framework, we discovered that we could filter the corpus of
ity” (p. 268). The key idea here is that creativity can stem from literature collected into three categories: (a) education
subjugation. Therefore, Black women’s marginalization research about (the uses of) poetry (e.g., Certo, 2015; Hanauer,
842 Qualitative Inquiry 25(9-10)

2015; Scarbrough & Allen, 2014; Wandera, 2016); (b) poetry Unlike Evans’s seemingly self-referential poem, Weems’s
contained within education research (e.g., McKnight, Bullock, (2012) nine-stanza “Sadie Stories” gestures toward the
& Todd, 2017; Walsh, 2012; Ward, 2011), most often written Other, centering Black girls and women as subjects. The
by either the researcher, the researched, and/or both; and (c) researcher’s data sources are “informal conversations with
education research represented entirely in poetic form (e.g., an African-American mother and young African-American
Evans, 2018; Weems, 2012). Below are examples of literature homeless women,” and the intent of the poem is to cause the
belonging to each bracket. reader to “empathize with homelessness from a daughter’s
perspective” (p. 169).
Education Research About the Uses of Poetry
Gaps in Extant Literature
We found two types of studies for this category: first, those
regarding the uses of poetry in education research (e.g., There are several studies that discuss poetic forms—such as
Lahman et al., 2011) and, second, those investigating the found and free verse (e.g., Patrick, 2016)—as well as the
practicing of poetry in classrooms (e.g., Scarbrough & craft of poetry. The most apparent gap in the literature
Allen, 2014; Wandera, 2016). Cousins’s (2017) study, con- reviewed was the lack of attention paid to the epistemologi-
cerned poetry as a methodological approach to better under- cal construct within which poetry was crafted. Notable
standing love in the context of early childhood education, is exceptions are literature from Fiore (2015), who addressed
an example of that in the former category. Certo’s (2015) (spoken word) poetry as related to the Black Arts Movement
case study, which inquired into the reading and writing and hip hop; Weems (2012), a self-described “language
practices (vis-à-vis poetry) of fifth-grade students, exempli- artist-scholar and imagination-intellect theorist working in
fies the latter strand. interpretive methods around issues of race, class, and gen-
der,” and “us[ing] poetic inquiry to explore the importance
of empathy in imagination-intellectual development” (p.
Poetry Contained Within Education Research 169); and Hanley and View (2014), who connect Critical
Görlich (2016) provides examples of products of “poetic Race Theory to poetry, as a component of Arts Based
inquiry,” a phrase describing the poetic representation of dia- Education Research. Discovering this gap led us to ponder
logic exchange between the researcher(s) and researched, as how researchers engage the politics of poetry. Harkening
well as “a web of relations in the research process” (p. 525). back to Hanley and View’s study, we wondered how poetic
Fiore (2015), however, features poems penned solely by study forms are employed across critical schools of thought, and
participants, including youth like 19-year-old Eli, who writes, the affordances, for example, of a found or free verse poem
for a Black feminist project. Our analysis of extant literature
Out there I go and look also revealed that although addressed (e.g., Faulkner, 2016;
Nobody cares Lahman et al., 2010), poetry—with regard to qualitative
But all I see here in NYC is data analysis—remains understudied.
Racism, sexism, phobia extraordinaire
Just take a good look out there baby
You just have to be aware. (p. 30) Theoretical and Methodological Implications
In summary, our review of extant literature revealed limited
knowledge with regard to the presence of poetry in CDA,
Education Research Represented in Poetic Form
and even more specifically, the use of poetry for the process
Evans’s (2018) “White Girl Teaching” also appears to refer- of data analysis within this methodology. Our research
ence the researcher’s racialized and classed positionalities, design is responsive to this. Moreover, our invocation of
and thus, may be interpreted as a reflexive poem. The narra- specifically Black feminist poetry allowed us to attend to
tor remarks gaps in the literature vis-à-vis the utilization of poetry
crafted within particular theoretical frameworks and episte-
I’m this mologies. By using Black feminist poetry in feminist CDA,
White Girl we addressed this challenge. Concomitantly, by using Black
suburbs white sorority white savior college student studying feminist poetry to make meaning of data in feminist CDA,
psychology
we addressed a challenge specific to qualitative research—
White Girl
blind
that of “conducting data analyses that are systematic and
walking around fine properly informed by their respective theoretical and episte-
by my privilege that begged me stay mological underpinnings” (Greckhamer & Cilesiz, 2014, p.
White Girl 424). In addition, penning Black feminist poetry allowed us
it covered my eyes to rattle the (rather positivistic) researcher/researched
color blind. (p. 158) dichotomy, and reject the notion that “[w]hile the research
Ohito and Nyachae 843

poet may borrow from the poetic methods used by literary “married.” Thus, we decided to create a list poem (see Franco,
poets, the academic poet’s express purpose is to represent 2005, for a detailed description of this form). This, as the name
data in ways that stay true to the essence of the participant suggests, is composed of an inventory. Our process involved
experience being represented” (Patrick, 2016, p. 386). using line-by-line coding to identify declarative statements in
the documents, creating a list of these statements, and then
arranging them in the order of their appearance in the texts. We
Modes and Methods of Inquiry then reorganized the statements thematically, paying close
Our data for this qualitative project were gathered from two attention to repeating words, phrases, and ideas, thereby recon-
locations: first, raw data, and second, textual artifacts from structing the data. The list poem allowed us to distill our find-
our initial analyses of the data. In our preceding rounds of data ings and convey them in a poetic format. Stylistically, this
analysis, we scrutinized raw data—which took the form of poem was formulated in the lineage of several Black feminist
documents (e.g., programming and curriculum materials) col- poetic texts and poets. Jamaica Kincaid’s (1978) “Girl,” which
lected from an extracurricular program for primarily working- reads as an older woman’s litany of directions to a younger
class Black girls in the United States3—for respectability woman (Ohito, 2016), provided the impetus for the poetic
discourses (Higginbotham, 1993). These discourses, which form selected. Our “pithy language” (Christian, 1987, p. 52)
are premised on respectability as a “constructed imaginary was inspired by Lucille Clifton, who—in an interview with
with conceptual, behavioral, and attitudinal aspects” (Smith, Farai Chideya (2007)—explained her word choice as an
2018), function to maintain social stratification vis-à-vis race, endeavor to “write in that poem particularly the way people
gender, class, and other such categories. Our second corpus of speak.” Nayyirah Waheed’s (2013, 2014) sparse esthetic—
data consisted of artifacts from that initial process of analyz- with regard to word choice, capitalization, punctuation, and
ing raw data. These were analytic and reflective researcher manipulation of the “white space” on a page—oriented our
memos (Horvat, 2013; Luttrell, 2010) and transcripts of con- visual organization of the data, bringing intentionally to, for
ferrals/conversations between the researchers. In an effort to instance, our line breaks (or lack thereof).
ensure that our preliminary interpretations and conclusions
were trustworthy, we turned to poetry, which we used to make
more meaning of our (a) raw data and (b) prior analysis. Poem 1: “Poem About How to Be a Black Girl”
Specifically, using poetry, we deconstructed and reconstructed promote sisterhood not dissension
our initial analysis of that data, and then constructed new anal- promote sisterhood not dissension
yses. Our Black feminist orientation informed our choice of promote sisterhood and not dissension
the poetic forms used, and our construction of the poems build stronger personal relationships
themselves. For example, in terms of word choice, we were move on from past experiences and learn who your sister is
careful to use “pithy language” (Christian, 1987, p. 52). today. moreover, you have to let things go
don’t put anyone in a box or judge them
give sincere compliments
Findings show genuine kindness
Poetry provided a pathway for us to demonstrate rigor by love
inspire others
(a) engendering precise identification, distilling, and con-
care for others
veying of evidence substantiating findings; (b) enriching help and care for each other
researcher triangulation by prompting deepened dialogue— connect with other people
about and with data—to occur for coresearchers; and (c) make a plan as to who you need to separate from and/or how
stimulating reflexivity. you can encourage others to be leaders
keep in touch with family members and friends
text friends. you’re actually more likely to supercharge your
Poem 1: “Poem About How to Be a Black Girl” bond by having frequent casual contact
This poem allowed us to demonstrate rigor by crafting quit being jealous of other friendships
the description of findings (Greckhamer & Cilesiz, 2014). This listen to hear others
technique asks that researchers “weave into their interpreta- listen and respond
be clear and concise . . . so that the person listening completely
tions data units that constitute evidence for the study’s findings
understands
and . . . are particularly poetic [emphasis added], concise, or use correct grammar
insightful” (p. 436). In our initial analysis, we discovered that speak to be understood
respectability discourses in the documents analyzed took the speak with confidence. understand the correlation between
form of declarative phrases and sentences, such as “use correct self-awareness and self-confidence
grammar” (Sisters of Promise, 2012). We also noticed that sev- control body language. understand the correlation between
eral phrases and words were repeated in the data, for example, self-awareness and self-control
844 Qualitative Inquiry 25(9-10)

stay on topic get married

communicate effectively stay married
lean a bit from the chair when any other person is speaking. this buy a house
is to show that you are really interested in what the other person have $1 million dollars [sic]
is saying establish a promising financial future
when you are unsure of what someone is communicating, it is donate money
always best to ask for clarification. understand how income is earned
understand what self-awareness is understand the benefits of saving vs. spending
understand why health awareness is important explore the process of budgeting and determining personal
develop and maintain healthy habits expenses
engage in daily physical activity participate in activities involving the practice of balancing a
develop positive mental health checking account
eat a healthy breakfast discuss the pros and cons of utilizing credit
drink at least 8 glasses of water set and live by high standards
eat fruits and vegetables travel
spend at least 30 minutes outdoors take some quiet time for yourself
get outside and enjoy the scenery around you while you exercise take a break.
you must exercise at least 30 minutes a day in order to be accept who you are.
physically healthy
do something physically active
do something you’re good at Poem 2: “Listen and Respond: A Three-Voice
keep regular sleep hours
if you have a flight of stairs, go up and down them a few times.
Poem About Black Girlhoods”
(you could even grab a load of laundry as you’re going that To reconstruct our initial analysis of the raw data, we devel-
way anyway!) this will help to tone up your legs, while getting oped a second poem putting language from that data in con-
some low impact aerobic exercise as well versation with language from our initial analysis (e.g.,
pushups: do them on your knees, instead of keeping your legs
words from analytic memos), and putting us in dialogue
straight
eat well
with each other. This second poem shows us “crafting a
exercise description of results that balances showing data and inter-
lead through positive actions and words preting” (Greckhamer & Cilesiz, 2014, p. 436); ergo “it
possess the qualities of a leader helps address two challenges of discourse analysis: provid-
know your fears of being a leader ing evidence of data and representing that evidence effec-
make a plan to deal with the fears so that those fears do not stop tively” (p. 436). Titled, “Listen and Respond: A Three-Voice
you from achieving your dreams Poem About Black Girlhoods,” it is a multivoice piece (see
express your emotions appropriately Franco, 2005). By definition, a multivoice poem is polyvo-
talk about your feelings cal. The three voices in this text are that of the data (in the
understand the difference between needs and wants first column), and those of the two researchers (in the sec-
ask for help when you need it
ond and third columns). The three-column structure of the
enjoy all these phases in life in a balanced way
be balanced in mind, body, and soul
poem allows for precision with regard to the identification
be responsible & conscientious of relevant data. Each column can be read in isolation, as
respect self and be respectful single poem. The second and third columns, for example,
display respect represent each researcher’s individual line of analysis.
display confidence within to develop self These illustrate our different ways of thinking about what
develop confidence specific sentences were commanding the intended audience
develop a good personality (i.e., working-class Black girls) to do. The (italicized) lines
be honest and trustworthy or rows whereby the researchers “speak” in one voice
carry self with poise, grace, and dignity reflect shared analyses or interpretations. Thus, in this
mind your manners . . . jokes about hair, clothes, weight, the poem, the researchers are narrating the individual and col-
way someone speaks, and grades are especially off-limits
lective processes involved in interpretation during collab-
be virtuous
know the correlation of having an education and being a lady
orative research (Greckhamer & Cilesiz, 2014), triangulating
get on the merit roll findings, and engaging in a dialogic exchange. The poem
get on the honor roll illustrates how we, as researchers, are listening and respond-
get into a high quality high school ing to each other and to the data.
receive scholarship to college Listen and Respond: A Three-Voice Poem About Black
pay for college Girlhoods
Ohito and Nyachae 845

Line/Row Data Author 2’s voice Author 1’s voice

1. promote sisterhood and not dissension
2. show genuine kindness
3.a this world is cruel to Black girls like me—
full of curiosity and questions
4.
5. love
6. who loves me?
7. care for others
8. who cares for me?
9. keep in touch with family members and friends
10.a what if family is a source of pain?
what of the joy of solitude?
11. use correct grammar
12. I bite my tongue
13.a who will understand me if I speak this way?
14. speak to be understood
15. I just want to be heard
16. speak with confidence
17. where do I hide this fear?
18. understand the correlation between self-
awareness and self-confidence
19. control body language. understand the correlation
between self-awareness and self-control
20. sometimes I don’t even know what
my body is doing
21. sometimes I want to live
outside of my skin
22. stay on topic
23. I talk in circles, hoping to find my
way back
24. engage in daily physical activity
25. I am not able
26. develop positive mental health
27. but what if I am not able?
28. where do I rest this
anxiety and depression?
when do I rest?
29. eat a healthy breakfast
30. eat fruits and vegetables
31. spend at least 30 minutes outdoors
32. get outside and enjoy the scenery around you
while you exercise
33. I live in a concrete jungle
34. am I not good?
35. lead through positive actions and words
36. I don’t want to be good, to be
obedient, to do what the adults in
my life tell me to do
37. express your emotions appropriately
38. I can’t always control my emotions
39. I don’t want to control my
emotions
40. talk about your feelings
41. why should I?

(continued)
846 Qualitative Inquiry 25(9-10)

Line/Row Data Author 2’s voice Author 1’s voice

42. carry self with poise, grace, and dignity
43. I’m too rough to be graceful
44. get married
45. I don’t want to be married
46. stay married
47. what if I’m in a union that is
harmful to my mind, body, and
soul?
48. take some quiet time for yourself
49. take a break.
50. can Black girls like me ever really
take a break?
51. accept who you are
52.a how will I know who I really am?
how will I learn to love who I might be?
how will I see who I can be, or if I can ever be free?
a
Author 1 and Author 2 “speak” in one voice, reflecting shared analyses or interpretations.

Poem 3: “Be a Bad Black Girl” with her or him

with her and him
Our final poem, “Be a Bad Black Girl,” is written in free with them
verse (see Franco, 2005). We crafted a free verse poem, Be free
which does not adhere to predetermined rules regarding Eat what you want
structure, because it subverts the conventions of “tradi- Exercise—or don’t
tional” English verse poems, thereby inspiring creativity. Take a break
This poem percolated from insights gleaned during the pro- free
from expectations
cess of crafting the first two poems. For example, we dis-
Accept who you are.
covered that the documents analyzed contained explicit
directives with regard to how to be a proper Black girl.
Implicit, however, were messages about an imagined From Rigor to Relevance in CDA
improper Black girl. We decided to foreground the dis-
At the conclusion of our feminist CDA project, we found
courses about said “bad” Black girls that were circulating in
ourselves posing and pondering the following question:
the written texts—hidden in plain sight—to more clearly
Poetry has provided us, as Black feminists, with a route to
show how the poem was covertly constructing Black girl-
research that is rigorous—but so what? Moreover, what are
hood along a rigid good/bad binary. With regard to style, we
the affordances of rigorous research for the expressly politi-
turned to Alice Walker’s (1979) “Be Nobody’s Darling,” in
cal aims of (feminist) CDA?
which the narrator states, “Be nobody’s darling;/Be an out-
Before providing an answer to this question, we offer a
cast.” The poem is a proclamation of one’s power, and a call
brief discussion about poetry’s function in our feminist CDA
for the defiant self-acceptance of one’s marginalized posi-
study. CDA is a useful approach for “revealing the textual
tionality. Walker’s lived experience inspired her writing of
techniques by which texts attempt to position, locate, define,
the poem (White, 2004, pp. 245-246). This was the case for
and in some instances, enable and regulate readers and
us, as well. Ergo, we practiced reflexivity by incorporating
addressees [sic]” (Mogashoa, 2014, p. 108). Evidence of this
our lived experiences into the poem.
is in Poem 1. This poem illuminates how declarative state-
Be a Bad Black Girl
ments are used as a device used to define girlhood for the
intended audience (i.e., Black girls). The sheer number of
Be (un)desirable
Be single directives in the poem, as well as the repetition of specific
or married words and phrases—like “lady” and “married”—makes
to him clear not only what types of messages about (self) control of
or her behavior, attitudes, speech, and such this Black girl audience
or them is being bombarded by, but also how and how intensely this
Be sexual inundation is happening. Referencing Bordieu (1991), Lazar
with her (2007) points out that “modern power (and hegemony) is
Ohito and Nyachae 847

effective because it is mostly cognitive, based on an internal- qualitative inquiry. As our study shows, this approach to
ization of gendered norms and acted out routinely in the writing poems as part of the data analysis process is espe-
texts and talk of everyday life” (p. 148). Whereas Poem 1 cially fruitful with regard to the practice of reflexivity and
delineates the discursive dimensions of that “modern the process of researcher triangulation. Given this, we pres-
power,” Poem 2 and Poem 3 work to unsettle the sedimented ent the following 10 questions to researchers interested in
(racialized, classed, gendered, and the like) norms present in leveraging the affordances of Black feminist poetry for rig-
the texts. Poem 1 was a restatement of those norms, but orous, expressly political critical qualitative inquiry.
Poem 2 features us, as researchers, voicing experiences from Researchers may ask themselves these questions during the
our youth, and using those as the basis for our rethinking of inquiry process, or may pose them to—and use them with—
the meanings of Black girlhood put forth. In this poem, we study participants:
contest the singular image of Black girlhood discursively put
forth. This is in line with Lazar (2007), who remarks that 1. What does your poem convey about your racialized/
(trans*)gendered/queer(ed)/classed, etc., identities
the prevailing gender ideology is hegemonic and routinely and lived experiences?
exercised in a myriad of social practices, it is also contestable. 2. Whose voices are present in this poem? Conversely,
The dialectical tension between structural permanence and whose voices are absent? How are voices in dialogue?
the practical activity of people engaged in social practices . .
3. How does your poem speak (back) to dominant dis-
. means that there are ruptures in the otherwise seamless and
natural quality of gender ideology. (p. 147) courses about identities?
4. What does your poem reveal about your data? How
Our final poem is an attempt to poetically fissure “the other- does the poem reveal your analyses of the data?
wise seamless and natural quality of gender ideology.” It is a How does the poem speak to (or with) your core-
pronounced refusal of the discourses conveyed in Poem 1. searchers’ analyses of the data?
The three poems that we constructed are in conversation 5. What deepened or different understandings about
with each other. For example, Poem 2 takes a fraction of its your participants, your coresearchers, and/or your-
title, “Listen and Respond: A Three-Voice Poem About self do you have as a result of writing and rereading
Black Girlhoods,” from a line in Poem 1. The last two lines this poem?
of Poem 1—“Take a break./Accept who you are.”—are 6. How did you engage creativity in the construction
mirrored in Poem 3, where they also appear at the close. of this poem? How does your poem reflect
Read individually, the poems convey different messages wordplay?
about Black girlhood. Read together, the poems provide 7. What word, phrase, sentence, or image in the poem
the reader with a textured understanding of how Black girls most resonates? Why?
experience girlhood. This polyvocality and intertextuality 8. Did you use language that sits on the emotional and
illustrates the expansiveness of Black girls’ lived experi- affective register? In other words, does your poem
ences, thereby discursively pluralizing Black girlhoods. provoke feeling?
Hence, our response to our “so what” question is that poetry 9. How did you experience the writing of this poem?
can provide a path to research that is not only rigorous but also Where did you feel most viscerally provoked (that
relevant to the project of critiquing “discursive dimensions of is, affectively or corporeally-charged) as you wrote
social (in)justice” (Lazar, 2007, p. 141). This is an agenda or reread the poem? Why?
shared by critical discourse analysts and feminists alike, and 10. What segment of the poem was most/least challeng-
one that is of particular significance to Black girls and women, ing to construct? Why?
who are especially vulnerable to and victimized by racialized
and gendered oppression (e.g., Johnson, 2017). Our ultimate hope is that by responding to these questions,
researchers who—in the present or in futurity—use poetry
to conduct critical qualitative inquiry will not only deepen
Inspiring Rigor in Critical Qualitative the rigor of their scholarship but also be able to affirm, riff-
Research Using Black Feminist Poetry ing on June Jordan (2003):
This study advances knowledge regarding the use of poetry
I am a researcher
for data analysis—and specifically, for establishing rigor— what that means
in feminist CDA. Furthermore, the findings of our study to me
highlight the utility of poetry constructed within a Black is much the same
feminist framework. Thus, we conclude this article by posing meaning
a series of related questions potentially useful for researchers that
employing feminist CDA and other approaches to critical I am a poet.
848 Qualitative Inquiry 25(9-10)

Author’s Note Collins, P. H. (1990). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, conscious-

ness, and the politics of empowerment. London: Unwin Hyman.
Esther O. Ohito is now afiliated to Denison University, Granville,
Collins, P. H. (2014). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, con-
OH, USA.
sciousness, and the politics of empowerment. New York, NY:
Routledge. (Original work published 2000)
Declaration of Conflicting Interests Cousins, S. (2017). The use of poetry in a spiral-patterned method-
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect ology for research about love in early childhood. International
to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 30, 323-339. doi
:10.1080/09518398.2016.1250173
Funding Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race
and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doc-
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, trine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. The University of
authorship, and/or publication of this article. Chicago Legal Forum, 1, 139-167.
Evans, E. (2018). White girl teaching. International Journal of
Notes Qualitative Studies in Education, 31, 158-161. doi:10.1080/
1. We use this phrase tentatively, as we dare not reductively 09518398.2017.1350300
imply that shared a racial identity produces a monolithic Fairclough, N. (2016). Critical language awareness. London,
experience for a group of people. England: Routledge.
2. The appropriateness of the notion of rigor for qualitative Farrington, L. E. (2005). Creating their own image: The history
research has been the source of vigorous debate among qualita- of African-American women artists. New York, NY: Oxford
tive and quantitative researchers alike for the last three decades University Press.
(e.g., Bronfenbrenner, 1977; Koch & Harrington, 1998; Faulkner, S. L. (2007). Concern with craft: Using ars poetica as
Krefting, 1991; Lincoln & Guba, 1986; Rolfe, 2006). criteria for reading research poetry. Qualitative Inquiry, 13,
3. Nyachae (2016) has described this program in more depth 218-234. doi:10.1177/1077800406295636
elsewhere. Faulkner, S. L. (2016). The art of criteria: Ars criteria as dem-
onstration of vigor in poetic inquiry. Qualitative Inquiry, 22,
662-665.
ORCID iD Faulkner, S. L. (2016). Poetry as method: Reporting research
Esther O. Ohito https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7827-7945 through verse. New York, NY: Routledge. (Original work
published 2009)
Fiore, M. (2015). Pedagogy for liberation: Spoken word poetry
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Walker, A. (1979, February 13). Alice Walker reading her poems Author Biographies
in the Whittall Pavilion, Feb. 13, 1979. Retrieved from https://
Esther O. Ohito holds a joint appointment at Denison University
www.loc.gov/item/91740729/
as an assistant professor in the Department of Black Studies and the
Walsh, S. (2012). Contemplation, artful writing: Research with
Department of Education, and is affiliate faculty in the Women’s
internationally educated female teachers. Qualitative Inquiry,
and Gender Studies Program. She is an interdisciplinary Black
18, 273-285.
feminist scholar concerned chiefly with race and gender issues that
Wandera, D. B. (2016). Teaching poetry through collaborative
reside at the nexus of curriculum, pedagogy, embodiment, and
art: An analysis of multimodal ensembles for transformative
emotion. Dr. Ohito’s publications have appeared in journals such
learning. Journal of Transformative Education, 14, 305-326.
as Curriculum Inquiry, Equity & Excellence in Education, Gender
doi:10.1177/1541344616650749
and Education, and Race, Ethnicity and Education.
Ward, A. (2011). “Bringing the message forward”: Using poetic
re-presentation to solve research dilemmas. Qualitative Tiffany M. Nyachae is an assistant professor at Buffalo State
Inquiry, 17, 355-363. doi:10.1177/1077800411401198 College in the School of Education, where she teaches literacy,
Weems, M. E. (2012). Sadie stories. International Journal of social studies, and social foundations courses. Her current research
Qualitative Studies in Education, 25, 169-172. doi:10.1080/ interests include supporting the ideological becoming, racial liter-
09518398.2011.649699 acy, and social justice teaching of urban teachers committed to
White, E. C. (2004). Alice Walker: A life. New York, NY: W.W. social justice and educating students of color for liberation. Dr.
Norton. Nyachae recently published in Gender and Education.