Research as (re)vision: laying claim to oral history as a just-us research methodology

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article provides analysis of and commentary on the Indigenous roots of oral history. Drawing from our experience with our institutional review board determining that our work was not research, we review literature to engage in a (re)vision of oral history research while asserting the legitimacy of our research process. From this, we argue that a racially-just approach to scholarship must acknowledge and redress the racist past of the development of methodologies and methods including, but not limited to, oral history. We align our research with Indigenous traditions that not only shaped our methodology but guided our ability to create a community in which we each learned to better understand ourselves. Through our analysis and storying of ourselves, we posit that connecting research practices to our Indigenous roots becomes a tool for establishing racially-just approaches to scholarship with/as Black and Latinx peoples.