{"id":403675,"date":"2026-02-06T16:14:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T21:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/?p=403675"},"modified":"2026-02-10T13:59:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T18:59:36","slug":"york-researcher-highlights-power-of-black-matriarchal-storytelling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2026\/02\/06\/york-researcher-highlights-power-of-black-matriarchal-storytelling\/","title":{"rendered":"York researcher highlights power of Black matriarchal storytelling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Growing up in Scarborough, Stephanie Fearon<\/strong> was raised in a community with a rich tradition of Black matriarchal storytelling. <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Through oration, folk tales, music, dance and even cooking, mothers have continued to impart cultural knowledge across generations. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Stephanie Fearon <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

It\u2019s no surprise then, that as the inaugural assistant professor of Black thriving and education<\/a> at 快播视频, Fearon wanted to explore the ways Black mothers come together with their children to cultivate leadership and literacy skills within education systems and beyond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inspired by her grandmother and grandaunts, who came to Canada from Jamaica in the 1960s with limited access to educational opportunities, Fearon\u2019s research studies how Black mothers use storytelling in community-based literacy programs.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With an understanding of the barriers these women face in academic research spaces, Fearon was careful to develop a collaborative approach where Black mothers feel valued. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve complained, lamented, about the extractive nature of the research process,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd when we look at the histories and the current relationships between researchers in academia and Black communities, it's not positive.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fearon centres Black mothers as partners in the research process, grounding her work in respect and co-creation. To honour the cultural significance of storytelling, she uses an arts-informed approach that allows her to reimagine educational research as collaborative and cultural. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy studies involve participants throughout all phases of the inquiry process \u2013 from helping conceptualize the study to determining how insights are disseminated, reimagining how research can be for us and by us,\u201d she says. The arts, including storytelling, play a prominent role in the daily lives of Black mothers who use it to impart knowledge, deepen relationships and make sense of the world around them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fearon facilitates this by expressing her findings visually, through artforms like graphic narratives and short stories. It\u2019s an intentional approach, she says, because \u201cthe mothers I work with help determine the best way to engage in any particular research study.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n