Endarkened Narrative Inquiry Love as an Agent of Justice

Contents

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Introduction: The Vulnerable, Empowered, and Spirit-Driven Endarkened Narrative

How to Engage This Book

A Word About Who This Book Is For

A Note on Language, Which Shapes How We See and Are Seen

1: When Women of Color Are Free, All People Move Toward Freedom

How We Got Here

Early Feminism and Women’s Liberation

Feminism and Women of Color: A Complicated Relationship

Endarkened Feminist Epistemology

Womanism

2: Transformative Love: Shaping the Endarkened Narrative

            Narrative Inquiry

            Storytelling as Cultural Practice

            The Need for Culturally Situated Methodology

            Methodological Framework and Constructed Spaces of Inquiry

                        Endarkened Narrative Tenets

            Viola and Pamela’s Endarkened Narratives

                        A Life Lived in Testimony: Viola’s Narrative 

Grace and Mercy: Pamela’s Life Lived in the In-Between   

Reflections on Viola and Pamela’s Narratives 

3: Narrative as Data: Centering Trace-Making, Memory, and Meaning 

Epistemological and Ethical Foundations for Culturally Situated Methods 

Overview of Methods: Wisdom Whispers and Timelines 

Wisdom Whispers 

Power- Sharing and Researcher Positioning 

Eliciting Wisdom Whispers Through Artistic and Embodied Forms 

The Treasure Box Method 

                        Prompts for Wisdom Whispers 

    Timelines

Ethical Considerations for Vulnerable and Empowered Storytelling 

Pamela’s Timeline: A Critical Moment

Improvising Ethical Responses 

Improvisation to Heighten Creativity 

A Note on Language 

4: The Story Within the Story: Making Meaning from the Margins 

Narrative and Story: A Necessary Distinction 

An Example: Black Women’s Negotiations of Spirituality and Sexuality 

Narrative as Data: Endarkened Narrative Structure and Analytic Approach

Analytic Structure for Endarkened Narrative Inquiry

                        Life’s Lessons: Interconnected Aspects of Personhood

Sources of Strength and Barriers: Cultural, Spiritual, and Healing Traditions

Lives, Dreams, and Hopes: Relational Aspects of Experience

(Re)Presenting the Data Through Vulnerable, Empowered, and Spirit-Driven Narratives 

The Limitations of Bildungsroman

Vulnerable, Empowered, and Spirit-Driven (VES) Narratives

5: Reflexivity in Endarkened Narrative Inquiry 

The Role of Reflexivity in Endarkened Narrative Inquiry

The Researcher as Embodied Knower

Reflexivity in Endarkened Narrative Inquiry

Reflection and Reflexivity: Distinctions and Entanglements

How Endarkened Narrative Inquiry Deepens Reflexivity

Relational Reflexivity in Endarkened Narrative Inquiry

Embodied Reflexivity in Endarkened Narrative Inquiry

Relational and Embodied Experiences Represented

Creating Space for Relational Reflexivity

  Expanding Reflexivity in Endarkened Narrative Inquiry

Reflexive Cycle for Endarkened Narrative Inquiry

            Awareness

            Relational Engagement

            Spiritual and Cultural Integration

            Critical Examination

            Knowledge Transformation

            Documentation and Integration

6: Love as an Agent of Justice Through Endarkened Narrative Inquiry

The Tenets as Agents of Justice

                    Research that is Personal

                    Research that is Relational

Research that is Reflexive

                        Research that Represents

                    Research that Reclaims

What ENI Can Disrupt and Build

Methods for Data Collection and Analysis

This Work Is Not Finished

But Are Our Brothers Alright? An Open Invitation

Love as Praxis: A Closing Invitation

References

About the Author 

Biography

Keondria McClish Boyd’s work explores human development and the role narratives play in personal and academic growth through an intersectional lens, with particular attention to lifespan, adult education, leadership, and spirituality. She developed Endarkened Narrative Inquiry (ENI) in her 2018 dissertation and continues to extend its contributions across research and practice. Her work has been published in Qualitative Inquiry, the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, Departures in Critical Qualitative Research, the Journal of Continuing Higher Education, and the BYU Journal of Public Law.

She has presented widely at conferences and is a member of the Association of Leadership Educators (ALE), a Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) through the National Council on Family Relations, and an International Coaching Federation-certified coach. Through her company, Sienna and Slate, Keondria supports scholars, practitioners, and creatives in developing work that is both rigorous and aligned.  

'Keondria McClish-Boyd introduces a compelling new paradigm that transforms how we think about how social science and interdisciplinary research can and should be conducted. As she reveals ways in which possibilities for world-changing research emerge when we attend to the deep human nature of our subjects, McClish-Boyd offers readers enlightening points of reflection that help them put these insights into practice in their own work.'

- Jessica Adams, The University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus.

 

'McClish-Boyd takes you on a multi-faceted journey, teaching you how to uncover voices and stories while also rediscovering your own. If you're looking for a research methodology that shines a light on narratives typically hidden in plain view, ENI is a powerful approach.'

- Katie Starzec, Kansas State University, USA.

 

'Dr. McClish-Boyd's ENI participates in a much broader movement to interrogate power, restore dignity, and honor the complexity of human experience across diverse cultural and social contexts. The author invites readers into their personal qualitative inquiry through reflexivity throughout the book, thereby creating an immersive experience with the work. If you want to expand your ability to engage fully in the qualitative research experience, this book is a must read!'

-Dr. Kimmery Newsom, PhD, LMFT-S, Founder and CEO of Kimmery Newsom, LLC and Program Director, MA, Marriage and Family Therapy at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, USA.

 

 'An intentionally curated journey to self-discovery through inquiry. It is refreshing, creative, reflexive, and authentic. Endarkened Narrative Inquiry: Love as an Agent of Justice holds up a mirror that affirms, challenges, and invites growth. While remaining accessible, relatable, and refreshingly honest, offering academic depth with human clarity.'

-Teara Flagg Lander, Ed.D., Founding Executive Director & Assistant Professor.

 

'This book is a compelling endeavor in decolonizing ways of knowing, highlighting the necessity of intersectional perspectives that are relationally explored through long-ignored storytelling traditions. The wisdom within this text invites readers to step outside the Western ivory tower and experience how our work and our own understanding are best realized in and with community, alongside and inseparable from the pursuit of collective liberation.'

- Gargi Vyas, Assistant Professor in Interdisciplinary Leadership at Creighton University, USA.

  

'Endarkened Narrative Inquiry is both an invitation and a guide. With a love-centered, culturally intimate approach, Dr. McClish models how to honor participants as co-creators while gently questioning their own assumptions, offering a methodology that is as thoughtful and reflective as it is rigorous.'

- Dr. Leah Georges, Director of Creighton University’s EdD in Interdisciplinary Leadership Program, USA.