Dancing the Archive: Rhythms of Change in Post-Volcano Identities on Montserrat, West Indies

In this dissertation, I demonstrate how improvisations within the structures of performance during Montserrat’s annual festivals produce “rhythms of change” that contribute to the formation of cultural identities. Montserrat is a small island of 39.5 square miles in the Caribbean’s Leeward Islands, and a volcanic disaster in the 1990s led to the loss of villages, homes, and material possessions. The crisis resulted in mass displacement and emigration, and today’s remaining population of 5,000 is now in a stage of post-volcano redevelopment. The reliability of written archives for establishing cultural knowledge is tenuous, and the community is faced with re-energizing cherished cultural traditions. This ethnographic research traces my embodied search for Montserrat’s history through an archive that is itself intangible and performative. Festivals produce some of the island’s most visible and culturally political events, and music and dance performances prompt on- and off-stage discussions about the island’s multifaceted heritage. The festival cycle provides the structure for ongoing renegotiations of what it means to be “Montserratian.” I focus especially on the island’s often-discussed and debated “triangular” heritage of Irishness, Africanness, and Montserratianness as it is performed during the festivals. Through my meanderings along the winding hilly roads of Montserrat, I explored reconfigurations of cultural memory through the island’s masquerade dance tradition and other festival celebrations. In this work, I introduce a “Cast of Characters,” each of whose scholarly, artistic, and public service work on Montserrat contributes to the shape and transformation of the island’s post-volcano cultural identities today. This dissertation is about the kinesthetic transmission of shared (and sometimes unshared) cultural knowledge, the substance of which echoes in the rhythms of Montserrat’s music and dance practices today.

BLACK, MALE, AND HIGH-ACHIEVING: AN EXAMINATION OF A RISK FACTOR AND CULTURAL RESOURCES FOR BLACK MALE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

Black boys are confronted with unique educational circumstances. They are often misdiagnosed and misplaced into special education programs (Bush-Daniels, 2008; Patton, 1998; Terman et al., 1996). Additionally, they are less likely to be enrolled in gifted and talented programs, even if their former achievements reflect their aptitude to succeed (Black Alliance for Educational Options, n.d.; Moore & Flowers, 2012). Given these statistics, a considerable emphasis has been placed on the causes and the consequences of low/under achievement for this population. As a result, the experiences of Black males who are achieving have been greatly neglected. Moreover, little is known about the factors that facilitate academic achievement among high-achieving Black boys. In an effort to bring the heterogenic nature of schooling experiences for Black boys to light, the present study examined the influence risk and protective factors had on the academic experiences of high-achieving Black boys. Grounded in the risk and resilience framework and the Integrative Model for the Study of Minority Youth Development, this study explored whether the high-achieving Black high school boys in this sample (n =88) reported experiencing discrimination (i.e. academic-based) and how this academic-based discrimination related to their 1) academic performance (i.e. GPA), 2) perceptions of math ability, and 3) race-based academic self-concept. In addition to exploring how academic-based discrimination was linked to academic achievement, this study examined how cultural resources such as racial socialization messages and racial identity related to academic achievement. Specifically, cultural socialization, preparation for bias, egalitarianism, private regard and public regard were evaluated alongside the three academic outcomes under study. Finally, the study explored whether aspects of racial socialization or racial identity buffered the effects of discrimination on any of the outcomes. Interestingly, the race/ethnicity of the student mattered for how students perceived their math ability. The risk factor academic-based discrimination was linked to academic performance. Cultural resources cultural socialization, preparation for bias, and private regard were linked to various academic outcomes of interest. There was only one significant moderating effect: a high private regard buffered the relationship between academic-based discrimination and race-based academic self-concept. Limitations and implications of this study are discussed.

The New Bottom Line: Black Women Cultural Entrepreneurs Re-Define Success in The Connected Economy

Black women cultural entrepreneurs are a group of entrepreneurs that merit further inquiry. Using qualitative interview and participant observation data, this dissertation investigates the ways in which black women cultural entrepreneurs define success. My findings reveal that black women cultural entrepreneurs are a particular interpretive community with values, perspectives and experiences, which are not wholly idiosyncratic, but shaped by collective experiences and larger social forces. Black women are not a monolith, but they are neither disconnected individuals completely devoid of group identity. The meaning they give to their businesses, professional experiences and understandings of success are influenced by their shared social position and identity as black women. For black women cultural entrepreneurs, the New Bottom Line goes beyond financial gain. This group, while not uniform in their understandings of success, largely understand the most meaningful accomplishments they can realize as social impact in the form of cultural intervention, black community uplift and professional/creative agency. These particular considerations represent a new paramount concern, and alternative understanding of what is typically understood as the bottom line. The structural, social and personal challenges that black women cultural entrepreneurs encounter have shaped their particular perspectives on success. I also explore the ways research participants articulated an oppositional consciousness to create an alternative means of defining and achieving success. I argue that this consciousness empowers them with resources, connections and meaning not readily conferred in traditional entrepreneurial settings. In this sense, the personal, social and structural challenges have been foundational to the formation of an alternative economy, which I refer to as The Connected Economy. Leading and participating in The Connected Economy, black women cultural entrepreneurs represent a black feminist and womanist critique of dominant understandings of success.