African American Studies Commons^™

The Rape Of Recy Taylor [Film Review], Judith E. Smith

American Studies Faculty Publication Series

Nancy Buirksi’s documentary The Rape of Recy Taylor centers on a brutal sexual assault in Abbeville, Alabama in 1944. A 24-year-old African American wife and mother, coming home from a sanctified church service with a friend and her son, was forced into a car at gunpoint, and gang raped by six young white men. The beating heart of the film is the on-screen testimony of Taylor’s younger brother, Robert Corbitt, and her younger sister, Alma Daniels, who convey the unspeakably cruel and vicious character of the attack: Corbitt repeats the perpetrators’ directions to Recy: “They said they wanted her to …

Finding A New Home In Harlem: Alice Childress And The Committee For The Negro In The Arts, Judith E. Smith

American Studies Faculty Publication Series

Alice Childress’s performing career in the 1940s was primarily associated with the American Negro Theater, a collectively run professional theater company with a mission to nurture black talent and create compelling theater for Harlem audiences; as Childress would later comment, “We thought we were Harlem’s theater.” ANT made use of all available resources to accomplish this mission; producing plays written by black and white playwrights, hiring white teachers, and accepting white actors and technicians committed to its goals.

Unique And Diverse Voices Of African American Women In Engineering At Predominately White Institutions: Unpacking Individual Experiences And Factors Shaping Degree Completion, Ellise M. Davis Lamotte

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

In 2012, 1% of the African American women who enrolled in an undergraduate engineering program four years prior graduated, amounting to 862 African American women graduating with engineering degrees. This qualitative study, anchored in interpretive phenomenological methodology, utilized undergraduate socialization with an overarching critical race theory lens to examine the manner in which African American women in engineering, such as the 862, make meaning of their experiences at predominately White institutions.

The findings of the study are important because they corroborated existing research findings and more importantly, the findings in this study emphasize the importance of faculty and institutional agent …

Desperate Choices: Why Black Women Join The U.S. Military At Higher Rates Than Men And All Other Racial And Ethnic Groups, Julia Melin

New England Journal of Public Policy

The enlistment of black women in the U.S. military has been a persistent and growing demographic trend over the past three decades. Black women now constitute nearly one-third of all women in the U.S. military. At around 30 percent, this number is twice their representation in the civilian population and higher than that of men or women of any other racial or ethnic group. This article analyzes the changing economic, social, and political landscape in the United States to identify what has motivated this cohort to enlist at such high rates. Based on this analysis, a case can be made …

Recent African Immigrants’ Fatherhood Experiences In America: The Changing Role Of Fathers, Zacharia N. Nchinda

Trotter Review

This article examines the lived experiences of recent African immigrant fathers in the United States. It focuses specifically on recent African immigrant fathers with African women as wives and children below the age of 18. Its aim is a better understanding of these fathers’ involvement in the life of their children and the changes immigration has forced upon the fathers. Information for the study emanates from interviews carried out with African immigrant fathers in the Milwaukee area, supplemented by my knowledge of African immigrant communities. The categorization of the data uses a construct established by the mid-1990s DADS Project initiative …

Race In Feminism: Critiques Of Bodily Self-Determination In Ida B. Wells And Anna Julia Cooper, Stephanie Athey

Trotter Review

If, as Angela Davis has argued, "the last decade of the nineteenth century was a critical moment in the development of modern racism," the same can be said of the development of modern feminism. Late nineteenth-century feminism, like institutional racism, saw "major institutional supports and ideological justifications" take shape across this period. Organizations of American women, both black and white, were shaping political arguments and crafting activist agendas in a post-Reconstruction America increasingly enamored of hereditary science, prone to lynching, and possessed of a virulent nationalism. This essay takes a historical view of "womanhood," bodily self-determination and well-being, concepts now …

The “Who,“ “What,” “Where” And “How” Of The “Down Low”: A Personally‐Inspired Book Review Of Keith Boykin’S Beyond The Down Low: Sex, Lies And Denial In Black America, William H. Alexander

Trotter Review

In this review of Keith Boykin’s book on the Down Low, William H. Alexander draws generously from his own personal experience. According to Alexander, Boykin’s book is a wake up call and challenge to the Black community to stop wasting their time blaming and developing strategies that reject, exclude and oppress, but instead focus on their spirituality and humanity so that lives can be saved.

Introduction, Castellano Turner

Trotter Review

In addition to reporting research and providing analysis, the Trotter Review has always been a forum for presenting a range of perspectives on timely public issues in the Black community. In the fall of 2003 the Institute staff discussed the possibility of publishing a special issue of the Reviewdevoted to exploring the topic of “homosexuality and the Black community.”

Gay Marriage And The Black Community, A Policy Maker’S Perspective: Interview With State Senator Dianne Wilkerson, Castellano Turner

Trotter Review

A vocal supporter of gay marriage, Senator Dianne Wilkerson explains in this interview that her support stems from her own reality as a Black person, a child of the Civil Rights movement, and her personal experiences with discrimination stemming from her skin color. As a policy maker, Wilkerson asserts her unwillingness to subject other human beings to the same treatment that she has been subjected to, because of their sexual orientation.

Sorting It All Out: Book Review Of Delroy Constantine‐Simms’S The Greatest Taboo: Homosexuality In Black Communities, Anne W. Gathuo

Trotter Review

With contributors from an impressive array of scholars and journalists, The Greatest Taboo: Homosexuality in Black Communities, edited by Delroy Constantine‐Simms, attempts to tackle a wide variety of issues pertaining to homosexuality in Black communities in various parts of the world. While the book cannot claim to have satisfactorily explained all the issues, a fair attempt has been made. Certainly the book succeeds in illustrating the complexity of Black homosexuality.

Homosexuality And The Black Community, A Church Minister’S Perspective: Interview With Rev. Richard Richardson, Castellano Turner

Trotter Review

In this interview, Rev. Richard Richardson asserts that the Black church has always been the foundation on which the Black community has built its values. While not condoning the “sin” of homosexuality, Richardson maintains that the church does not turn away homosexuals and instead embraces them and attempts to teach them what God wants of them.

Homosexual And Racial Identity Conflicts And Depression Among African‐American Gay Males, William H. Alexander

Trotter Review

What does it mean to be male, Black and homosexual in the United States? In this study of 191 such men, William H. Alexander examines whether racial identity conflict and homosexual identity conflict contribute to depression in Black gay men. Alexander reports that being Black, a Black male, and a homosexual puts one in a vulnerable position that requires that he cope with a variety of stereotypes from every society with which he interacts. This pressure contributes to depression in this population.

Front Matter: Trotter Review, Vol. 16, Issue 1

Trotter Review

Front Matter: Publication Information and Contents for Trotter Review, Vol. 16, Issue 1

Homosexuality And The Black Community, A Church Minister’S Perspective: Interview With Rev. Irene Monroe, Anne W. Gathuo

Trotter Review

In this interview, Rev. Irene Monroe points out that the issue of “Black homophobia” is a complicated one that can only be explained by examining racism and all the pertinent economic, social and cultural dynamics that emanate from the discrimination of the Black race in the United States. According to Monroe, the failure of Black communities to embrace their gay and lesbian sons and daughters stems partly from their lack of understanding of the racial dynamics affecting Black Gay and Lesbian people, as well as the rhetoric of the Black Evangelist right which is heavily influenced by White racist thought.

Black Women In Durham Politics, 1950-1996: From Grassroots To Electoral Politics, Grace Walton

New England Journal of Public Policy

Based on the author's senior thesis in African-American history; this article about black women by a black woman was conceived to educate Americans about a different kind of history. It illustrates the silent political struggles of black women in Durham, North Carolina, and their gradual acceptance into American politics from 1950 to 1996. The oral history design demonstrates that black women's political activity underwent a transformation from grassroots politics to full electoral participation, which brought them to the forefront of Durham politics. Through both types of political activity, the unique political consciousness of black women continues to have a great …

Women Creating Social Capital And Social Change, Marilyn Gittell, Isolda Ortega-Bustamante, Tracey Steffy

Trotter Review

As Community Development Organizations (CDOs) are the primary vehicle for development in low-income neighborhoods, scholars have begun to examine them in terms of the degree to which they increase citizen participation, increase civic capacity, as well as stabilize and revitalize neighborhoods through the creation of social capital. According to Putnam, civic action requires the existence of social capital; he defines social capital as "norms, trust, and networks." As Gittell and Vidal note, there has been a "virtual industry of interest and action created around the implication of Putnam's findings for the development of low-income communities."

This article is an excerpt …

Black Women In The Economy: Facing Glass Ceilings In Academia, Bette Woody, Diane Brown, Teresa Green

Trotter Review

The shrinking population of Black male doctoral degree holders may hold much of the key to the problems of Black women. Declines in Black male interest in doctoral degrees, has clearly not spelled gains for the recruitment of Black female scholars. New evidence of these patterns is visible in the latest government data on academic achievement of Black women and teaching job success. While Black women are achieving at high rates, they are also systematically by-passed by an expanded recruitment of African and Caribbean males to fill teaching positions in doctoral and research institutions. This new trend has probably reduced …

Race, Poverty And Education In The 21st Century, Joan Wallace-Benjamin

Trotter Review

I am here as the president of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts. I am here as a woman. I am here as a partner in the struggle for equal opportunity and access for - women, men, young people, the elderly, Black, white, Latino and Asian, who are not able to fully enjoy the educational, economic and social benefits of our American society. I am here as a colleague of Mary's, [Mary Lassen, Executive Director, Women's Educational and Industrial Union] who works with commitment and passion on these same issues and with whom I have collaborated and will continue to …

An Interview With Brooke Stephens, Nina Lanegra

Trotter Review

Desperate women losing a daily battle against the stranglehold and cycle of poverty: this is what comes to mind when I think of Women and Economic Development. It's an international picture, Third World countries struggling with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. I was challenged to think of any linkage between Women and Economic Development on both an international and domestic level. My search led me to this interview with Brooke Stephens, author and Wall Street veteran of 15 years who has been a senior investment consultant. Stockbroker, and a Registered Investment Advisor. Ms. Stephens comments on financial …

African-American Female College Presidents And Leadership Styles, Runae Edwards Wilson

Trotter Review

The leadership characteristics of African-American female college and university presidents have rarely been studied. The lack of research in this area is due, in part, to the absence of African-American females in leadership positions at four year higher education institutions. A contributing factor to the shortage of African-American female top level administrators is the "double whammy," or belonging to two groups that are discriminated against, African-Americans and females. The wage gap, institutional kinship, the old boy system, and role prejudice (a preconceived preference for specific behavior by the visibly identifiable group) are factors that have proved prohibitive to the ascension …

Black Women In Antebellum America: Active Agents In The Fight For Freedom, Sandra M. Grayson

William Monroe Trotter Institute Publications

The most prominent images of Black women in antebellum America depicted in classes across the United States are of passive victims as opposed to active agents of change. The names and deeds of Black women like Frances E. W. Harper, Maria Stewart, Sarah Mapps Douglass, and Sarah Jane Giddings are not an integral part of American education. Further, most history books overlook Black women's roles in antebellum America — oversights which can be considered suppression through historical omission. In order to reflect a more accurate picture of American history, public and private school curriculums need to include texts by and …

Black Women And The American Political System, Dorothy A. Clark

Trotter Review

Black women and politics—it is an association rarely made by the American electorate. As a group, black women have never been prominent players in the nation's political arena. In a system of decision making and power holding designed and dominated by white men, black women are an alien group in the formal political process. Their participation in that process has been limited—indeed often blocked—by a hierarchical system of race, gender, and class oppression that relegates black women to the lowest rungs of the political power ladder.