Digital Commons Network^™

Creating Whole Inclusive Worlds: The Impact Of Social Media Usage On Black Gender Expansive Millennials’ Experiences Of Social Support And Identity Development Processes, Meredith J. Holmes

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study explored the processes of finding community and developing one’s own intersectional racial and gender identity through the social media (SM) experiences of 8 Black gender expansive (GE) adults located around the United States. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) methodology and an intersectional theoretical framework, the research questions guiding the study were: “What is the relationship between Black gender expansive people, social media, and community?” and “What is the relationship between Black gender expansive people, social media, and identity development?” The researcher’s findings from in-depth interviews with participants included three major themes: A) Positive Resilience-Supporting Experiences on SM, …

Sacred Music Of African American Catholics: Understanding Usage In High Liturgy, William S. Harrison

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite steady progress toward honoring cultural identity in liturgy, the Roman Catholic Church has historically ignored the vast musical contributions of African Americans in the celebration of the Holy Mass. This study explores the historical, theological, and cultural application of music from the African and African American diaspora in urban Catholic churches that employ high liturgy as a practice in corporate worship. While many post-Vatican II documents govern culturally inclusive liturgical practices, little is known about the challenges in implementing and maintaining authentic Catholic African American corporate worship traditions in these spaces. The universality of the Roman Catholic faith is …

Community Formation And Effective Leadership In African American Churches In High-Poverty Communities, Kevin Laron Moore

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

African American church traditions were reputable for serving “the least of these" (Matthew 25:35 - 46) (TLOT) through intentional, Bible-based community fellowship and relationship. However, African American churches are moving away from community ministries to inside worshiping that does not fulfill God's agenda. As a result, the phenomenon of serving in isolation versus serving through community formation is incrementally deviating from the biblical worldview. This qualitative phenomenological study explores, community formation and effective leadership in African American churches in high-poverty communities in the aggregate city of Newark, NJ. This research aims to explore community formation and effective leadership in African …

Addressing Air Quality Mitigation As A Key Factor In Asthma Management And Prevention, Julia Buckles, Jewel Radford

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Asthma is the most prevalent disease in childhood and disproportionately affects African American (AA) populations in terms of prevalence and frequency of exacerbations. Air quality and environmental factors are strongly associated with the diagnosis and management of asthma and AA children are more likely to live in areas with poor air quality. An air quality flag program was implemented in a daycare located in a county with a predominantly AA population with a high prevalence of asthma diagnoses. The goal of the intervention was to increase staff awareness of air quality and the impact it can have on asthma diagnosis …

Overcoming Disparities In The Treatment Of Alzheimer’S Disease, Christian Gamboa, Tribhuvan Lanka, Elaine Flowers, Nayarith Lopez

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Background: Deaths due to Alzheimer’s have been increasing at an exponential rate for the last 24 years, with an astounding 145% increase between the years 2000-2024. Early detection is key to slowing down the rate of decline. Unfortunately, Latino and African American individuals delay seeking care, which predisposes them to worse outcomes. To date, socioeconomic limitations are the main factors leading to delayed care in Latino and African American communities. A service project was developed with the aim of addressing limitations that result in delays to seeking care within Latino and African American communities.

Methods: A systematic review of available …

From Silence To Interpretation: West Lawn Cemetery In Johnson, Tennessee And The Case For Cemeteries As Public History Sites, Julia Underkoffler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The preservation needs and historical significance located within West Lawn Cemetery in Johnson City, Tennessee, a historically African American Cemetery, show the potential cemeteries have as an impactful public history site. Similar to sites like historic houses, museums, and battlefields; cemeteries offer another insight into the past through interpretation and preservation. A cemetery's ethical and practical uses as a public history site can pose complex challenges. This thesis aims to provide a compelling argument for cemeteries as repositories of irreplaceable history, providing a space for their spot in the field of public history. Although little scholarly literature is given on …

The Perceptions Of Black Teachers Regarding The Work Environment In Predominately White Schools P-12, Rhonda Lankford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological study examined the experiences of Black teachers in predominately White P-12 schools, and focused on examining the external and internal challenges that Black teachers face who work in predominately White schools. Voices are sometimes ignored or muted in a society dominated by the majority White culture. This study will allow readers to experience the narratives of Black educators who work in these environments. The educators selected for this study were purposefully chosen from predominately White school districts. The researcher interviewed each subject in a semi-structured interview environment to gather data. Results of interviews lead to the emergence of …

Resilience In Fatherhood: Exploring The Impact Of Absent Fathers On Black American Men's Parenting Narratives And Practices, Ericah Thomas

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study explores the role of Black American fathers and how they parent in the absence of their fathers growing up. Though a common narrative frames Black fathers as largely absent in the lives of their children, recent literature has aimed to demystify societal factors that may lead to this judgment. Influences such as media representation, welfare policies, and child support laws may contribute to the preservation of this trope (Rambert, 2021). Considering this misconception, it is important to advance the knowledge regarding Black fatherhood through their lived experiences despite circumstances that may perpetuate this myth.

The primary goal of …

Amplify Your Narrative: Exploring The Power Of Storytelling With African American And Indigenous Communities In Pediatric Cancer Treatment, Trinity K. Perry

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This literature review investigated the empowering nature of storytelling with Black and Indigenous communities undergoing pediatric cancer treatment. It explored the roles of systemic racism, anti-Black racism, culture, spirituality, and intersectionality in shaping narratives about westernized healthcare. Furthermore, the review examined the concepts of anti-black racism, systemic racism, racial disparities in westernized healthcare, marginalized children’s experience in pediatric cancer treatment, storytelling in African American and Indigenous communities, and storytelling through the lens of drama therapy. Evidence is presented that underlines the psychological impact of the previously mentioned components, and how community engagement and storytelling provide a means of attunement, hope, …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Perception Of Racial Unity In Evangelical Churches In Chicago, Amber L. Harvey

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

“Racism in the United States is part of a much older and global phenomenon” that has effects that are seen “today in hearts, minds, and institutions” (Lovelace, 2021, p. 67). Regarding the African American population, housing discrimination continues to be an obstacle to families (Burke et al., 2018), racist systems have led to collateral damage in the health of adults (Bleich et al., 2019), and African American men constitute approximately 25% of police shooting victims (Schwartz, 2020). This study seeks to examine if racism has infiltrated into the local church. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore …

Police Brutality: The Nexus Between Historical Injustices, Police Culture And The African American Experience, Claude M. Rhone

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study focused on the harassment, maltreatment, and brutality of African Americans by police officers. The recent widespread condemnation and social justice protests in response to incidents of police brutality point to historical injustices inherent to the culture of policing. Slavery provides the overarching backdrop; however, Jim Crow laws cultivated the structural adaptations necessary to fulfill segregation between African Americans and Whites. The American policing model, which evolved from slave patrols to public entities, continued as an apparatus in the marginalization and disenfranchisement of African Americans. The narrative of “defunding the police” suggests that the past’s cultural proximity renders the …

Just What They Have Been Looking For: The Significance, Importance, And Journey Of The Negro Motorist Green Book In The State Of South Carolina And The City Of Columbia In The Twentieth Century, Justice Iyana Briscoe

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Travel and tourism in the United States had become an essential pastime for all social classes by the end of the nineteenth century going into the twentieth century. Due to segregation, however, only whites were able to thoroughly enjoy this glorious luxury openly. African Americans during this time had to find ways to enjoy this pastime while avoiding the constant discrimination, humiliation, and embarrassment that came with traveling. From this need were created black travel guides such as the highly successful Negro Motorist Green Book produced by African American businessman and entrepreneur Victor Hugo Green. From 1936 to 1966, Green’s …

African American Women’S Perceptions Of A Group Based, Diabetic Medical Nutritional Therapy Intervention: A Qualitative Study, Megan Mcmahon, Laura Gray

DNP Scholarly Projects

Background: African American women exhibit lower rates of attaining recommended diabetes management goals such as optimal blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure numbers compared to other racial and gender groups. As a result, they bear a disproportionate burden of the adverse outcomes associated with poorly managed type 2 diabetes, including increased complications and mortality rates compared to other demographic groups. Despite favorable qualitative findings regarding group-based interventions for African American women with other chronic diseases, a notable gap in the literature exists regarding the women’s perceptions of a group-based medical nutritional therapy tailored to type 2 diabetes. Purpose: This scholarly …

"Great Injustice In American Literature": African American Girlhood In Black And White Authored Children's Publications, 1887-1920, Becca Driggs

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines the role of African American girls in creating and dismantling nineteenth-century race myths through a comparison of publications in black and white authored presses. Fictional stories published in St. Nicholas, the most popular turn-of-the-century children’s magazine, reveal that white authors, specifically Southern women, intentionally crafted narratives demeaning African American girls to cement a national racial hierarchy. Their work indoctrinated white children in racism and undermined African American legitimacy in the decades following the Civil War and Reconstruction. Concurrently, black authors recognized these attacks and in their press explored the lived experiences of African American girls to counter …

Diabetic Coaching Program To Improve African American Patients Glycemic Control, Shonda Moore

Student Scholarly Projects

Practice Problem: The purpose of the practice problem was to find out if, among African Americans with type II diabetes who are over 18, adopting a diabetic coaching program that emphasizes diet management can result in better glycemic control over 10 weeks than for those who do not receive coaching.

PICOT: In African Americans with type II diabetes over 18 years of age (P), does a diabetic coaching program on diet management (I), compared to no coaching program (C), improve glycemic control (O) over 10 weeks (T)?

Evidence: The evidence used to guide this project came from databases, including PubMed, …

Antislavery White Supremacists And The Mistreatment Of African Americans In Indiana, 1787-1870, Mark A. King

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Conventional wisdom holds that Indiana was always predominantly antislavery because it had begun as a territory of the United States under the Northwest Territory Act of 1787, which prohibited slavery; however, this is incorrect. This northern state had about as much proslavery sentiment as most states in the South. The state wrestled with the issue in the legislative session after the legislative session and court case after court case for decades during the antebellum period. Prominent settlers and state organizers petitioned Congress to allow the Indiana Territory to become a slave region. After statehood, proslavery forces continued to push for …

Addressing Weight In Primary Care: Perspectives Of African American Young Adults With Serious Mental Illness, Sang Qin, Lindsay Sheehan, Janis Sayer, Kristin S. Williams, Julius Mercer, Ashley Scott, Tevin Anderson

Journal of Human Services Scholarship and Interprofessional Collaboration

Young adults with serious mental illness (SMI) experience disproportionate rates of physical illness. Morbidity and mortality are even worse for young African Americans with SMI, especially those who are overweight. Primary care physicians (PCPs) have an important role in addressing weight management. Current research explored these young patient’s perceptions of weight management and how PCPs can best address their weight concerns. Using community-based participatory research, we interviewed 25 African American aged 18-30 who were overweight and had a SMI. Results revealed 1) patient perceptions around weight and 2) patient preferences. Participants identified both positive and negative aspects of being overweight, …

Microvascular Vasoregulatory Dysfunction In African Americans - An Enhanced Opportunity For Early Prevention And Treatment Of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease, Renee Bullock-Palmer, Panithaya Chareonthaitawee, Ervin Fox, Garth Beache

Division of Cardiology Faculty Papers

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and its risk factors and precursors are a major driver of disparities in cardiovascular health. This review examines reported evidence that vascular endothelial dysfunction, and its manifestation as coronary microvascular dysfunction, underlies observed excess morbidity and mortality in African Americans. Advanced imaging insights that reveal patho-mechanisms, along with population evidence from the Jackson Heart Study, and the growing evidence emanating from national and international clinical trials and registries are presented. We examine a physiological framework that recognizes insulin-resistant cardiometabolic underpinnings of the conditions of the American Heart Associations' Life's Essential Eight construct of cardiovascular health as a …

Continuing The Legacy: Navigating Grief And Loss While Pursuing A Degree, Sharon Lewis, Hope Charles, Nivischi Edwards

National Cross-Cultural Counseling and Education Conference for Research, Action, and Change

A 2013 study found 74.8% of Black girls graduated high school, while only 37.6% of the Black females in early adulthood were enrolled in college (Kalu, 2022). The added pressure of navigating grief while also endeavoring higher education only exacerbates that statistic. Learning to process grief healthfully is a useful lesson to ensure one’s ability to thrive during their grief.

Disability Representations And Portrayals In Picture Books With The Coretta Scott King Award, Sohyun Meacham, Shuaib J. Meacham, Irenea Walker, Bryce Davis

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This study analyzed how people with disabilities are portrayed in picture books with the Coretta Scott King Award (CSKA) to address the intersectionality of African/African American racial identity and disabilities. Disability critical race theory was foundational for this study. The pool of 134 picture books that received the CSKA from 1971 to 2020 was used as the data for the systematic content analysis. For analysis, the researchers utilized a qualitative approach that guided axial coding and selective coding in looking for emerging themes. They found that 13 picture books portrayed African/African American characters with disabilities. The majority of these books …

The Mirror Project: Reflections On The Experiences Of African-American Female Adolescents Experiencing Foster Care, Bahia Anise-Cross Degruy Overton

Dissertations and Theses

As the author Zora Neale Hurston says, "If you're silent about your pain, they'll kill you and say you enjoyed it." The Mirror Project (MP) aims to break this silence by giving voice to Black women who have experienced foster care in Portland, Oregon during their adolescence. In focus groups and interviews, participants shared their stories. Racial identity development theory, phenomenology and Afrocentric feminist epistemology provided lenses for gaining insight into their experiences in a predominantly white city. The MP revealed six themes: lack of youth engagement in foster care decisions, the need for a cultural lens in social work, …

Race-Related Stress, Medical Mistrust, Covid-19 Worry, And Covid-19 Vaccination Behavior Among African Americans, Lisa A. Cash

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the United States, nearly 104 million cases and over 1.1 million deaths from novel coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) have been reported overall, but African Americans have been disproportionately affected. Nevertheless, this population has demonstrated the lowest intention to be vaccinated and lowest vaccination rates of all racial/ethnic groups in the United States. The research problem addressed by this study is African American COVID-19 health disparities. The purpose of this investigation was to examine factors that influence COVID-19 vaccination behavior among African Americans, which is important to better understand how to achieve health equity. Using the health belief model …

Understanding Complicated Grief, Resilience, And Coping Skills In African American Women: A Phenomenological Study, Gyna M. Grant

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Complicated grief can have an impact on the resiliency and coping skills of African American women in ways that can be damaging in their daily life routines. Research studies have focused on the female population affected by complicated grief, but none of these studies have looked specifically at the African American female population. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine the lived experiences and resiliency of African American women coping with complicated grief following significant loss utilizing an open-ended survey. The population for this study was African American women, living in the southern areas of Connecticut, who …

Exploring The Teacher Perceptions Of The Overrepresentation Disciplinary Actions Against African American Male Elementary School Students, Amber Hill

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Leadership, teachers, and parents have observed significantly disproportionate discipline of African American students at urban elementary schools located in Ohio, despite the implementation of positive behavior intervention supports (PBIS). This basic qualitative study explored teacher perceptions of the overrepresentation of disciplinary actions amongst African American male elementary students in a regional school system in Ohio. The conceptual framework for this study was derived from Ladson-Billings’ theory of culturally relevant pedagogy and Skinner’s operant conditioning, which supports the PBIS framework. The research questions focused on the teachers’ perceptions and recommendations about training, resources, and support they need to address the overrepresentation …

Personal Power Tactics African American Female Superintendents Employ To Overcome Four Identified Self-Sabotaging Behaviors, Angela Brantley

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed-method study was to identify and describe personal power tactics that African American female superintendents employ to overcome the four identified self-sabotaging behaviors from the Self Sabotaging Framework adapted from Lerner (2012), Ryder and Briles (2003).

Methodology: This study identified and described the lived experiences of seven female African American superintendents across the United States. This research design encompassed a sequential data collection method using an electronic survey instrument, followed by one-on-one interviews. Based on the quantitative and qualitative data, the researcher was able to triangulate data using the trends, categories, and patterns …

“And So My Soul Shall Rise”: Enslaved And Free African American Christianity Before Emancipation, Holly J. Lawson

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

The Christianity of enslaved and free African Americans in the years immediately following the first Great Awakening through the end of the Civil War (roughly 1750-1850) evidences a complex cultural fusion and a complicated theological depth. There were many different aspects of the religious and spiritual practices of these African American Christians, including preaching, baptism, ecstatic spiritual experiences, evangelism, violent and non-violent forms of resistance to slavery, and, possibly the most prevalent of all, music and singing. The hundreds of thousands of African people unwillingly brought to America brought with them their African heritage, but the survival of their African …

The Black Arts And Black Power Movements In The Artwork Of John T. Riddle, Jr., Isabella Vitti

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the under-studied work of the Black sculptor John T. Riddle, Jr. and how he was influenced by the politics of Los Angeles in the 1960s and 1970s. Police brutality, the Vietnam War, the Black Power Movement, and the Watts uprising had a major impact on Riddle’s work.

Guide To The Godwin Sadoh Collection, Columbia College Chicago

CBMR Collection Guides / Finding Aids

Dr. Godwin Sadoh is a Nigerian composer, educator, church musician, organist, pianist, choral conductor, and ethnomusicologist. He holds music degrees from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria; the University of Pittsburgh; the University of Nebraska-Lincoln; and Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, where he became the first African to receive a doctoral degree in organ performance from any institution in the world. The collection holds scores, publications, books, and recorded music

Addressing Disparity: A Waiting Room Intervention For Preeclampsia Prevention In African Americans, Morgan Semana

Nursing | Senior Theses

Maternal mortality is a pressing, global concern that particularly affects African American women in the United States. African American women face disproportionately a high maternal mortality rate (MMR), with rates more than double that of white women. Preeclampsia emerges as the leading cause of maternal mortality in African American women, driving the need for targeted interventions. To address this issue, a proposed research study aims to investigate the impact of a nurse-led, waiting room, preeclampsia and aspirin effectiveness educational intervention on the knowledge and preeclampsia rates among African American women. The study draws upon existing evidence that supports the use …

Relations Between Adverse Childhood Experiences And Substance Use In Adolescents And Emerging Adults: The Moderating Role Of Exposure To Community Violence And Community Support And Community Recognition, Kiara Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Due to historical and current systemic racial inequities, African American adolescents and emerging adults living in low-income urban communities bear the burden of higher rates of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and exposure to community violence. Both exposure to ACEs and community violence are linked to higher levels of substance use. However, limited research exists on how exposure to community violence exacerbates the association between ACEs and higher frequencies of substance use in adolescence and emerging adulthood. There is also a need to understand how community-level protective factors may weaken the relations between ACEs and higher rates of substance use. The …