African American Studies Commons^™

African American Environmental Ethics: Black Intellectual Perspectives 1850-1965, Vanessa Fabien

Doctoral Dissertations

The historical scholarship in environmental history centers around the narratives of elite white men. Therefore, scholars such as William Cronon, Dorceta Taylor, Noël Sturgeon, and Carolyn Merchant are calling for research that uncovers the political and moral stances of people of color on nature, land ownership, and environmental pollution. This dissertation addresses this call by engaging William H. Sewell Jr.’s cross-disciplinary approach between history and the social sciences to introduce a nuanced historical analysis that interrogates the channels via which African Americans’ environmental ethic sculpted the development of North American environmental history and activism. This dissertation contends that African Americans …

Transnational Gestures: Rethinking Trauma In U.S. War Fiction, Ruth A.H. Lahti

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the need to "world" our literary histories of U.S. war fiction, arguing that a transnational approach to this genre remaps on an enlarged scale the ethical implications of 20th and 21st century war writing. This study turns to representations of the human body to differently apprehend the ethical struggles of war fiction, thereby rethinking psychological and nationalist models of war trauma and developing a new method of reading the literature of war. To lay the ground for this analysis, I argue that the dominance of trauma theory in critical work on U.S. war fiction privileges the "authentic" …

Ferguson, The Black Radical Tradition And The Path Forward, Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua

Sundiata K Cha-Jua

Can't you feel it? Feel the temperature dropping? Feel the icy winds blowing? It’s winter in America. Spring and fall seem to have enveloped summer. The chill comes sooner and lasts longer. It’s winter in America. There’s a blizzard coming. The first frost has already fallen, in Ferguson, Missouri, of all places. Ferguson has ripped the veil off. It is now clear for the world to see how the U.S. plans to deal with its black internal colony.

It’s getting dark; it’s nearly midnight. Yes, repressive episodes will continue to increase in frequency and grow in intensity. It’s nearly midnight. …

Revolution Or Reform: Contradictions Within The Ideology And Actions Of The Black Panther Party, 1969-1970, Jana Cary-Alvarez

Honors Program Theses

Surprisingly limited scholarship exists on the Black Panther Party, and much of that scholarship has an extremely divided view of the Party; either the Party is separatist or built alliances, either the Party is revolutionary or reformist. By studying the Black Panther newspaper in the year 1969, "The Year of the Panther," it becomes clear that the Party was all of these things. The party created alliances with a wide variety of groups while maintaining that they were a Black Power organization. It practiced revolutionary Communism while advocating reform of the American system. In short, the Black Panther Party was …

Compositions In Black And Brown: Manifestations Of Afro-Latinity In U.S. Black Latino/A Literary Discourse, Janelle Chevon Coleman

Doctoral Dissertations

Through an analysis of the literature by Afro-Latino writers Junot Díaz, Evelio Grillo, Piri Thomas and Loida Maritza Pérez, my dissertation shows how the multifaceted nature of Afro-Latino/a identity and culture is reflected in the works of three novels written by Spanish-speaking authors who self-identify as Afro-Caribbean Americans. I use criticism from such scholars as Juan Flores, Miriam Jiménez, and Jorge Gracia to show that U.S. Afro-Latinity is not representative of an essence, but rather of a set of common manifestations resulting from conflicting concepts of race and ethnicity. I assert that U.S. Black Latinos not only possess a unique …

The Interethnic Communication Apprehension Of Students Of Color At The University Of Arkansas, Angela Courage-Mellott

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Interethnic Communication Apprehension of students of color with white faculty members was studied at the University of Arkansas, a predominantly white university with predominantly white faculty. Interethnic Communication Apprehension is defined as a psychological response of fear or anxiety which causes avoidance of interaction with people from ethnic groups that are different from one's own (Neuliep & McCroskey, 1997). This study was conducted using the PRECA (Personal Report of Interethnic Communication Apprehension) measure created and validated by Neuliep and McCroskey (1997). Students of color who frequent the Center of Multicultural and Diversity Education were polled using the PRECA. Students of …

Black Radicals And Marxist Internationalism: From The Iwma To The Fourth International, 1864-1948, Charles R. Holm

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This project investigates historical relationships between Black Radicalism and Marxist internationalism from the mid-nineteenth through the first half of the twentieth century. It argues that contrary to scholarly accounts that emphasize Marxist Euro-centrism, or that theorize the incompatibility of “Black” and “Western” radical projects, Black Radicals helped shape and produce Marxist theory and political movements, developing theoretical and organizational innovations that drew on both Black Radical and Marxist traditions of internationalism. These innovations were produced through experiences of struggle within international political movements ranging from the abolition of slavery in the nineteenth century to the early Pan-African movements and struggles …

“Finding Coping Skills To Empower”: Black Mothers’ Survival Strategies In Environments With High Levels Of Violence, Lakendra Fort

Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference

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Musical Influence On Apartheid And The Civil Rights Movement, Katherine D. Power

Student Publications

Black South Africans and African Americans not only share similar identities, but also share similar historical struggles. Apartheid and the Civil Rights Movement were two movements on two separate continents in which black South Africans and African Americans resisted against deep injustice and defied oppression. This paper sets out to demonstrate the key role that music played, through factors of globalization, in influencing mass resistance and raising global awareness. As an elemental form of creative expression, music enables many of the vital tools needed to overcome hatred and violence. Jazz and Freedom songs were two of the most influential genres, …

I Am Who I Am: The Book Of Exodus And African American Individuality, Joseph L. Kirkenir

Student Publications

Scholars often attempt to construct collective ideologies in order to generalize the beliefs and views of entire populations, with one target population frequently being the African American community during the latter half of the nineteenth century. Unfortunately, doing so fails to recognize the individuality of the population’s members and, especially in the case of the country’s oppressed Blacks, establishes a system where assumed notions and ignorant ideas abound. One might argue that the popularity of the book of Exodus in the time’s African American expressive outlets indicates that there did exist a collective ideology based upon the biblical narrative. However, …

Reproductive Rights And State Institutions: The Forced Sterilization Of Minority Women In The United States, Maggie Lawrence

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

We Believe It Was Murder, Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua

Sundiata K Cha-Jua

This paper explores how Black men in Champaign-Urbana Illinois mobilized the Black community’s critical social capital to respond to what many believe was the murder of Kiwane by either Officer Norbits, or Chief Finney, as Manning-Carter claimed. I argue that the men in the NORTH END BREAKFAST CLUB responded to what they believed was the murder of Kiwane Carrington in a variety of civic engagement activities that sought to mobilize the community’s transformative resistant capital to variously expand critical Black social consciousness, organize Black men into a militant social force, and mobilize the community to resist anti-black racial oppression across …

Factors That Affect The Decision-Making Process Of African American Students, Marcella Genise Dial

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

There is only a 9 % representation of African American students on colleges campuses across the country compared to 72.9% of Caucasian students. There are many reasons that affect African American students' decisions to participate in higher education. Colleges across the country are making strides to recruit minority students. However, in order for colleges to increase their minority enrollment, particularly with African American students, they must understand the factors that affect African Americans students' decisions to participate in higher education. Personal, economic, academic, and social factors were examined to understand African American students' reasons for enrolling or not enrolling in …