Congregation Meeting Methodology

In conversation with qualitative researchers regarding culturally responsive and anti-racist methods, I detailed a critical qualitative method that came about from my work with Black high schoolers in the Midwest called congregation meetings as our group met during 2021–2022 in the wake of the #BlackLivesMatter resurgence. Congregation meeting methodology is a response to the need for reflexive and participatory projects that honor Black life and the nuanced knowledges that come from collective experiences. In addition, congregation meeting methodology recognizes the historical and current need for spaces outside of “formal” social institutions, such as schools, that welcome critical epistemologies and action plans for resistance. Following this historical tradition, congregation meetings connect community and creativity as ontological facets of Black meeting spaces. This methodological approach disrupts the prescribed ways of distancing ourselves from the people participating in our research studies as means of generating research which tells nuanced truth that counters deficit discourses that is prevalent in social science research.