To Be African Or Not To Be: An Autoethnographic Content Analysis Of The Works Of Dr. Asa Grant Hilliard, III (nana Baffour Amankwatia, II)

The purpose of this research was to explore the work of Dr. Asa Grant Hilliard, III (Nana Baffour Amankwatia, II) in three areas: (1) traditional African education and socialization, (2) responsibilities of African teachers, and (3) the need for inter/multicultural teacher education programs. It was also the purpose of this research to explore my African identity development and transformation as I interacted with, studied, and read works by Dr. Hilliard. Data used in the study include a selection of works by Dr. Hilliard, fieldnotes, fieldletters, original poetry and essays, and memory data (St. Pierre, 1997). Qualitative content analysis and autoethnography were combined to present an autoethnographic content analysis (ACA) of Dr. Hilliard’s work. The ACA method is unique to this study and provided a reflexive analysis of documents (Altheide, 1987) complimented by recognition of the events that contributed to my African identification. Findings from the study revealed several major themes in Dr. Hilliard’s work: (a) African socialization to challenge the MAAFA, (b) traditional African education for all children, (c) African teachers as responsible teachers, and (d) teacher education for inter/multicultural perspectives. The final product is an amalgamation of academic and literary writing, and includes poems, vignettes, and autobiographical narratives.