Granados De La Rosa, Erica2014-12-052014-12-051/1/2013http://hdl.handle.net/11274/3590In this thesis I propose that "collective vulnerability" created through the culture of spoken word performance poetry in local communities creates and embodies relevant spiritual and libratory frameworks for connectional epistemologies. The methodological approach employed in this thesis draws from autoethnographic analysis as well as textual interpretation and analysis. Using these two particular methods allows me to reconceptualize and build on valuable theories and frameworks that explore concepts beyond intellectual and written word, by connecting them with knowledge and theory learned and created through lived experience.en-USWomen's StudiesEthnic studiesSpiritualityCommunity activismEpistemologyPoetrySpiritual activismSpoken wordUp next: The epistemic power of spoken word poetryThesis