Abstract
This manuscript examines how Black families interpret dis/ability through faith, caregiving, and communal life using Sacred Narrative Inquiry (SNI), a collaborative approach that treats family stories as sources of sacred and cultural knowledge. Grounded in disability theology and informed by Black liberation theology and Womanist epistemology, the study explores how families understand dis/ability as sacred and embodied, shaped by struggle, endurance, and hope. Through shared storytelling and collective interpretation, the analysis identifies recurring patterns of early moral formation, embodied knowledge that precedes institutional recognition, faith as a sustaining practice under constraint, and moments of recognition that affirm dignity and interrupt shame. These moments do not resolve suffering; rather, they reveal how meaning is cultivated amid educational and medical misrecognition through relational care and spiritual discernment. By centering family wisdom as ethical and spiritual knowledge, this study offers insight for educators, faith communities, and families seeking more humane, justice-centered approaches to dis/ability and care.
Recommended Citation
Becknell, Charles E. Jr.; Morris, Pricella; Matute-Chavarria, Monique; and Williams, Deirdre A.
(2026)
"Our Children Are Sacred: Faith, Disability Justice, and Educational Hope,"
The Journal of Faith, Education, and Community: Vol. 8:
Iss.
1, Article 8.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/jfec/vol8/iss1/8
Included in
Africana Studies Commons, Disability and Equity in Education Commons, Disability Studies Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons, Social Justice Commons, Special Education and Teaching Commons
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