Listen to her: Re-finding culturally responsive poetic inquiry as home knowing for women of African descent

Abstract

In response to critical turns in knowledge production, scholars of African descent have developed culturally responsive arts-based methodologies. Congruent with culturally responsive research is incorporating home knowing practices such as the poetics of many African and Africentric storytelling practices. This article presents my reflections as a Canadian researcher of African descent on “re-finding” culturally responsive poetic inquiry to interpret, represent, and re-tell the HIV service work experiences of African immigrant women living with HIV. I argue that researchers should strive to decolonize their research with, for and by peoples of African descent by incorporating knowledge precepts and practices grounded in participants’ home knowing. Using arts-based methodologies such as poetic inquiry creates an opportunity to critically reflect on knowledge production in research: who produces knowledge, what ways of knowing are valued, and what messages are conveyed through knowledge production and dissemination.