Ground-truthing as Critical Race Feminista Methodology: toward an embodied and community-centered GIS in educational inquiry

This article extends the methodological proposal of "ground-truthing" in Critical Race Spatial Analysis (CRSA) to consider GIS as Critical Race Feminista Methodology (CRFM). Traditionally, GIS technicians are sent into the field to verify remote-sensing data via "ground-truthing." This process was repurposed in CRSA to "ground" mapmaking in the spatial wisdom of Communities of Color to examine "color-lines" and their everyday impact. Missing in this initial (re)conceptualization was the theoretical and methodological sensitivity to examine spatiality in these experiences—the more intimate aspects of space that center on identity and knowledge of place. The authors engage CRFM to extend ground-truthing to capture structural and embodied experiences in socio-spatial relationships by redefining technical GIS approaches key to ground-truthing—projection, layers, scale, and visualization. They conclude with implications for the ongoing practice of GIS, particularly the merits of ground-truthing as CRFM in educational research.