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The Natural Hair Transformation : A Journey Of Resilience And Resistance, Melissa H. Cranston-Bates

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The study sought to explore the self-identity motives, challenges, and rewards of the natural hair transformation experienced by Black women college students. Women in this study made the decision to stop the use of chemicals that alter the natural state of their hair. The study found that while many participants faced resistance and negative reactions from their families and individuals in their social circles, most described the natural hair transformation as one that was ultimately empowering across several categories of identity. At the same time, participants described immediate and lasting injuries, both physical and psychological, resulting from the use of …

The Hidden Help : Black Domestic Workers In The Civil Rights Movement., Trena Easley Armstrong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

During the 1960's, nearly ninety percent of black women in the South worked as domestic servants. While much has been written depicting the dehumanizing and exploitative conditions in which they lived, their contributions to human rights garnered from their subtle acts of resistance and specifically, their involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, has either been undocumented or documented quite minimally. Despite their historical roles and socioeconomic disadvantages, their reach for human agency was beneficial to society. This thesis examines their labor as domestic workers and their participation in the Civil Rights Movement using the qualitative research method of interviews and …

Resisting Internalized Oppression: Black Women's Perceptions Of Incarceration, Emily R. Williams

College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Theses and Dissertations

In 2010, I attended two anti-incarceration events where formerly incarcerated Black women spoke against incarceration. While it seemed to me that the motivation to engage in anti-incarceration resistance could only allow for so much variation, I soon became painfully aware of the vital importance of considering formerly incarcerated Black women's stories while being critical of the broader context of American history and dominant political-economic paradigms. Specifically, as a result of synthesizing the messages I received at each of these events, I understood the importance of utilizing a politicized racial consciousness when considering the context within which Black women are the …

The Trauma Of Chattel Slavery: A Womanist Perspective Women On Georgia In Early American Times, Dionne Blasingame

English Theses

This thesis explores the psycho-socio-cultural dynamics that surrounded black womanhood in antebellumGeorgia. The goal is twofold: first, to examine how slave narratives, testimonies, and interviews depicted the plight of enslaved black women through a womanist lens and second, to discover what political and socio-cultural constructions enabled the severe slave institution that was endemic toGeorgia. Womanist theory, psychoanalytic theory, and trauma theory are addressed in this study to focus on antebellum or pre-Civil WarGeorgia.

Influences Of Health Insurance And Primary Care On Breast And Cervical Cancer Screening Among Black Women In Boston, Gail Barlow Gall

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Healthy People 2010 promoted breast and cervical cancer screening to reduce cancer among all women and reduce disparities in cancer deaths between Black and White women. The REACH 2010 program targeted improving screening rates among Black women and funded a demonstration project to provide outreach, screening, patient navigation and case management for Black women in Boston. The purpose of this study was to describe associations between health insurance and primary care (having a primary care provider [PCP], quality of communications and relationship with PCP) on differences in breast and cervical cancer screening reported by Black women born in the United …

The Self-Efficacy Beliefs Of Black Women Leaders In Fortune 500 Companies, Latonya R. Jackson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Black women are underrepresented in leadership positions within organizations. The extent to which self-efficacy influences the advancement potential of Black females is unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine the self-efficacy beliefs of black women in leadership positions and to determine how Black women leaders' careers are influenced by their self-efficacy beliefs. Participants for the study were determined using convenient random sampling. The objectives of this study were to determine the profile and level of self-efficacy, and leadership practices of participants based on tenure (length of time in a leadership position), age comparison and work experience (total number …

Black Women’S Perceptions Of The Relationship Among Nepotism, Cronyism Job Satisfaction, And Job-Focused Self-Efficacy, Johnson Lavoria Chandler

Doctoral Dissertations

Corporate America struggles with inclusion of certain groups such as Black women. Although Black women have met or surpassed their Caucasian, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American female counterparts and their Black male counterparts in education, and sit on boards of Fortune 500 companies, too many Black women are stymied in attempts for advancement as a result of nepotism and cronyism. Oftentimes, Black women are left with feelings of incompetence and believing they are undervalued in the workplace.

This study examined Black women's perceptions of nepotism and cronyism in the workplace. Further, the study was conducted to establish to what extent …

Barriers To Diabetes Self-Management In African American Women, Christine Little-Gregory

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Diabetes is a global epidemic and is a leading cause of disease-related death. In the United States, diabetes is the most common chronic disease affecting 23.6 million Americans or 7.8% of the population (Centers for Disease Control, 2010a). African American women have the highest prevalence of diabetes. Health promotion in the form of diabetes self-management is the key to reducing this urgent disparity. This descriptive study sought to identify barriers to diabetes self-management and identify relationships associated with self-management in this population. This study was conducted using a convenience sampling of African American women with diabetes who were surveyed to …

We're Paid To Take Care Of The Movement. The Movement Ain't Paid To Take Care Of Us: The Promise And Challenges Of Workplace Strategies Of Black Feminist Organizations, Jazmine Walker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Reproductive justice is a social justice movement based on black feminist principles that is also a direct response to women of color's invisibility within white mainstream feminist organizations and workplaces. This ethnographic case study of WomenUnited, a woman of color reproductive justice organization, demonstrates that a key difference between black feminist and white feminist workplace cultures is black workplace's centralization of and emphasis on their intersectional identities in their definitions of work and the ways they enact emotional labor. I find that identity within black feminist workplaces is managed differently as the organizations: (1) embrace alternative standards of beauty through …