African American Studies Commons^™

Malcolm X

Massachusetts Hall of Black Achievement

Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, NE. His mother, Louise Norton Little, was a homemaker occupied with the family’s eight children. His father, Earl Little, was an outspoken Baptist minister and avid supporter of Black Nationalist leader Marcus Garvey. In 1929, their Lansing, MI, home was burned to the ground. Two years later, Earl’s body was found lying across the town’s trolley tracks. Louise suffered an emotional breakdown several years after the death of her husband, was institutionalized, and her children were split up amongst various foster homes and orphanages.

Malcolm ...

Her-Story: Black, Middle-School Girls Exploring Their Intersectional Identities, Crystal Latanya Edwards

Theses and Dissertations

While intra-racial-group comparisons have lead scholars to argue that Black girls are succeeding academically and therefore require less explicit focus in educational research, there is little literature that focuses on the ways that Black girls’ experiences in formal educational spaces shape their emotional wellbeing and sense of intersectional identity—specifically, from their own perspectives (Paul, 2003; Townsend, Thomas, Neilands, and Jackson, 2010). In recognizing this relative invisibility, my research redirects focus to obstacles that typically go relatively unnoticed and unaddressed. Utilizing focus groups and diary/follow-up interviews as methods, I explore the subjective experience of Black girls within the educational ...

Opinion Editorial: Why Is It That So Many White People Fear Black Men?, Dmitri C. Westbrook

College Student Affairs Leadership

Why is it that so Many White People Fear Black Men?

Black Men Who Betray Their Race: 20th Century Literary Representations Of The Black Male Race Traitor, Gregory Coleman

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation, Black Men Who Betray Their Race, gathers a literary archive in order to identify and introduce the “race traitor” as a heretofore unrecognized yet important trope within 20^th century African-American Literature. In addition to coping with the burden of racism, African Americans have had to put considerable energy toward negotiating the possibility of being perceived as race traitors by others within the African American community. This study tracks the possibilities and perils of black group identity in literary representations of black men, neither privileging opposition to the white world, nor celebrating black unity beyond it. Focusing on ...

The Sisterhood: Black Women, Black Feminism, And The Women's Liberation Movement, Saraellen Strongman

Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations

This dissertation, “The Sisterhood: Black Women, Black Feminism, and the Women’s Liberation Movement” traces the development of second-wave Black feminism as an intellectual and activist tradition in the United States during the 1970s and 1980s. Drawing on published and unpublished literary and academic works and extensive archival materials including personal correspondence, I argue that a cohort of Black women novelists, poets, critics, and academics used their work and social networks to build a distinct Black feminist movement while simultaneously imagining and producing new possibilities for political and personal relationships with individual white women and the larger feminist movement.

This ...

"How Do You Reconcile A Lynching?"

The Black Bag Speakers Series

This program discusses the legacy of lynching in America, how we can find reconciliation, and how lynching is still a relevant topic to us today. It is led by Taylor Stewart, who started the Oregon Remembrance Project in the fall of 2018 to memorialize the history of lynching and memorialize Alonzo Tucker, Oregon’s only documented African American victim of lynching.

Mr. Tucker was lynched in Coos Bay, Oregon (then called Marshfield) in 1902 in front of a crowd of 300. Through dialogue in the community and a series of acts of remembrance, Taylor has been working with the community ...

"Oregon Black Pioneers: From Memories To Memorials"

The Black Bag Speakers Series

Since 1993, Oregon Black Pioneers has expanded the awareness of Oregon's African American heritage by revealing the larger stories behind scant historical references. OBP Executive Director Zachary Stocks shares some of the organization's key accomplishments, some of the Black people left out of mainstream "pioneer" narratives, and what OBP is working on currently in spring 2021.

This presentation, part of the Black Bag Speakers Series at Portland State University, is sponsored by the PSU Department of Black Studies. Zachary Stocks is introduced by Walidah Imarisha, Black Studies faculty and Director for the Center for Black Studies at PSU ...

The Colonial Roots Of The Racial Fetishization Of Black Women, Caren M. Holmes

Black & Gold

In my research, I examined the history of sexual debasement and abuse of black women throughout American history and its influence of modern racial fetishization. In my paper, I explore the influence of European colonial thought on these modern realities. I argue that the conquest and feminization of the New World led to the dehumanization and conquest of African women who were perceived by colonialists to be byproducts of manifest destiny. My research reflects how the sexual debasement experienced by black women throughout American history has led to the racial fetishization prevalent today. I also consider how this history of ...

Contemporary Portrayals Of Blacks And Mixed-Blacks In Lead Roles: Confronting Historical Stereotypes Of African Americans On The Big Screen, Melissa Garrett

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines portrayals of lead characters played by black and mixed-black men and women in four contemporary top-grossing box office films released from 2010-2015. The qualitative textual analysis assesses whether leads played by black or mixed-black people conform to or stray from Hollywood’s historical messages that have allowed for racial and gender inequalities on screen. By cross-analyzing characters in terms of genre and gender and forming an understanding of how each character functions in their respective narratives, my analysis identified four major themes. Lead characters played by black and mixed-black people are shown a) having broken or absent ...

Deconstructing "Chappelle's Show": Race, Masculinity,And Comedy As Resistance, Lyndsey Lynn Wetterberg

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

"Chappelle's Show" is a sketch comedy series that ran from 2003-2004 and that was created by and starred comedian Dave Chappelle. Chappelle focused on the issues of racism and race as gendered and as a social construction throughout the show's two full seasons. Using content analysis, my research highlights race and masculinity as a social construction within the context of "Chappelle's Show" by focusing on specific sketches within the series that play on issues of race and gender. The overarching theme of my analysis examines the idea of comedy as resistance to dominant society, specifically to race ...