Africana Studies Commons^™

The Creation Of Political Survival Strategies By Black Collegiate Women On Virginia’S Predominantly White Campuses, Maya Jenkins

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

The University of Mary Washington is a liberal arts institution founded in 1908 as a normal and industrial school for women (Our History - About UMW, 2015). Because of its small size, Mary Washington was historically known as Virginia’s “undiscovered gem” (Boyer, 2011). Mary Washington is described as a place built to support the “innovative, passionate, intellectual, and genuine” (Boyer, 2011). However, in 2020, the deaths of Breonna Taylor and Tony McDade and a racial protest that took place near the college’s campus caused many Black collegiate women at Mary Washington to question if their university was built to support …

Final Master's Portfolio, Oluwatobi Idowu

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

In this portfolio, Oluwatobi Idowu engages with texts and cultural artifacts that explore the concept of power, identity, oppression, and imperialism as they relate to Africa, African American and Indigenous cultures in North America. He also explores late capitalism in relation to Mark Fisher's central ideas about capitalist realism, and its effect on young people in the 21st century.

Catching Babies: Helping Students Understand Reproductive Justice Through Black Maternal Health, Jillian A. Tullis

Feminist Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

Giving Voice To The Body: Slam Poetry In The Poet X, Stefanny Leung Yu

Student Theses

When the world silences her, can slam poetry become her voice? Elizabeth Acevedo, an author and poet, uses her beautiful piece of slam poetry to explore how language can empower marginalized voices, speaking on behalf of those who are usually silenced. The Poet X is a verse novel that narrates the powerful story of a young Afro-Latina girl, Xiomara Batista, who navigates the intersecting pressures of school bullies, family issues, religious conservatism, patriarchal rules, and racialized body politics in her Harlem community. This research engages with Acevedo’s work to focus on how slam poetry serves as a powerful outlet and …

La Formación De La Identidad Afrodescendiente Y Su Manifestación En Movimientos Políticos, Simone Watson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The intent of this investigation is to identify the primary elements that have incited the emergence of the political movements of the Afro-descendants within Chile. Across the world people of darker hues, specifically those of African descent, face systemic discrimination and therefore oppression by the hands of states across the African Diaspora. Until 2019, Chile had not acknowledged the existence of Afro Chileans, their culture, nor their contributions to Chilean society. The intrinsic nature of racial discrimination in Chile alongside the lack of government recognition of the Afro Chilean identity has produced political movements within the country, most notably in …

An Exploratory Study Into Empowering Grade 10 And 11 Learners Through Critical Engagement With South African Literature: A Case Study In Cato Manor, Sally Fales

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This qualitative research project explores how critical engagement with Black South- African authored literature empowers the voices of grade 10 and 11 students in the Cato Manor township of South Africa. Located within a Freirean educational framework, this research utilizes a critical pedagogy approach to empower student voices through representation in texts, deconstruction of a knowledge hierarchy, problem-posing pedagogy, and exposure to themes of racial pride and self-agency in selected literature. This study employs a general qualitative design paradigm consisting of engagement with 3 focus groups of 10-11 learners spanning grades 10 and 11 in Cato Manor public secondary schools. …

Battling History: A Discussion Of How Controlling Images And The Matrix Of Domination Causes Recreations Of Oppression Affecting Black Female Athletes In Gymnastics Today, Nicole T. Cesanek

Student Publications

The history of the slave era led to the creation of several different tropes of African American women used throughout history including the jezebel and the strong Black woman. Coupled with the matrix of domination, researchers are able to understand how this history has led to recreations of oppression among Black female athletes. This has been particularly evident among the sport of gymnastics in which several athletes have experienced severe oppression, which in many cases, has prevented them from speaking up about other serious concerns within their sport such as sexual assault and mental health. The creation of tropes for …

"Are You Experienced'? The Life, Music, And Legacy Of Jimi Hendrix, Samuel K. Lavine

Student Publications

Jimi Hendrix is a household name for any fan of 60s rock music. His unique, effects-driven approach to music simultaneously revolutionized the genres of Rock and Blues. From his use of amplifier feedback, Wah Pedal, and hammer-on fingering in solos to his lyrics an outlet with which he processed his childhood, his music musicianship helped define a decade of music. He found success in England as a Black creator while African Americans continued their fight for Civil Rights back in America. England’s acceptance of Blacks and love of American Blues allowed him to hone his craft in London before leaving …

Media Exploitation Of Black Athletes: Challenges, Consequences, And Empowerment, Spencer K. Myler

Student Publications

This paper examines the issue of media exploitation of Black athletes and its detrimental impact on their lives, careers, and public perception. It explores the historical context, underlying factors, and consequences of this exploitation, while also providing empowerment strategies and potential solutions. Through an analysis of media representation, athlete experiences, stereotyping, endorsement deals, and social media influence, this paper aims to raise awareness about the issues impacting Black athletes. Media exploitation of Black athletes is a problem that needs immediate attention, and this paper provides a detailed look into the athlete experience to better understand the issues at hand, in …

Song Of The South: The Silence Of A Song, Magdalena E. Fernald

Student Publications

A persuasive essay explaining the history of the film Song of the South and the Uncle Remus stories that its based on, and why the film deserves to be re-released with educational materials.

Gentrifying While Black: Exploring The Concept Of An African Homeland Through Gentrification In Accra, Ghana, Amaya Davis

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

No abstract provided.

Unveiling Anti-Blackness In Moroccan Society: A Historical And Contemporary Analysis, Olivia Talbert

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this investigation is to delve into the complex dynamics of how blackness is perceived and negotiated within the intricate social fabric of Moroccan society. Drawing on the theoretical framework of black political thought, this study examines the interrelated systems of race, colonialism, and diaspora to trace the formation of black identity in Morocco, its navigation, and its manifestation in contemporary times. The Moroccan state has recently come under scrutiny for its treatment of Sub-Saharan migrants, who have been subjected to racism both from the police and the Moroccan people. This is even though black Moroccans with indigenous …

It’S What Our Grandmas Did: Decoding Black Wellness, Joy, And Liberation In Contemporary Digital Hoodoo Practice Through A Cooperative Healing Literacies Framework, Patrick Li , '23

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

Hoodoo, Conjure, and Rootwork refer to the constellation of African American traditions of spiritual and physical healing, ancestral devotion, retaliation, and protection created in response to chattel slavery. The current study investigates the multimodal potentials of Hoodoo for holistic healing in the contemporary digital age. Expanding on Erika Gault’s definition of digital Black religion studies as “the study of Black folks’ digital pathways to healing and wholeness (freedom) and their religious contribution to the development of digital technology,” I triangulate a framework of Hoodoo Healing Literacies (HHLs) using practices of Rootwork, Conjure, and CyberHoodoo. These practices correlate to bio-psycho, psycho-spiritual, …

Let’S Stop Calling Them “Slave Narratives”: Anagrammatical Blackness In Our Academic Discourse, Joseph L. Coulombe

College of Humanities and Social Sciences Departmental Research

The label “slave narrative” is a damaging misnomer that leads to critical distortions and misrepresentations. These important texts were written by free men and women, not slaves, who had emancipated themselves from America’s slave system, and they function as testimonials of self-determination that document their escape from enslavement and help to enact their own freedom. The label slave narrative, which emerged in the late 1930s during the Federal Writers Project, exemplifies “anagrammatical blackness,” as theorized by Christina Sharpe. The term perpetuates a reductive framework that de-centers the writers’ accomplishments and sustains the afterlives of slavery.

Black Feminist Thought: Black Women's Emerging Power As Agents Of Knowledge, Oluremi Alapo

Open Educational Resources

To understand the black 21st woman’s struggle to reclaim herself from her experiences from the oppression of Structural Oppression. To discover the new standards of womanhood set after the years of the Atlantic slavery. To examine ways in which Black women can be empowered and also be known as an Agent of Knowledge.

Utopian Promises, Dystopic Realities: Teaching Bell Hooks “No Love In The Wild”, Naimah H. Ford

Feminist Pedagogy

This original teaching activity discusses bell hooks’ film review of Beasts of The Southern Wild and explains how it can be used to encourage students to recognize how popular culture reproduces and reinforces disturbing paradigms. This original teaching activity, based on hooks’ review “No Love in The Wild,” encourages students to be informed while navigating visual images in popular culture. This activity also explains how hooks’ film review and the film can be used to empower students with strategies to analyze film and other visual images that are seemingly progressive but support the strictures and structures that reinforce patriarchy, racism, …

A Captive’S Subjectivity, Rebeca J. Blemur

Theses and Dissertations

The project discusses the effects of Haiti’s colonization as the space transitions from Hispaniola to Saint-Domingue and later to the free state of Haiti. This is done by studying the concept of the right to conquest and the absurdities that exist around the first appearances of international law. The project focuses on the pre-revolutionary period starting around the 1750s, the revolutionary period that began in the 1790s, the French oligarchical class’s attempt for social equality, and the war for ultimate colonial conquest between the French, Spanish, and British. The project will display how legally objectifying a human being manifests subjects …

Development Of Southern Interracial Marriage And Divorce: Why Our Children Are Code-Switching, Zoe R. Grant

Crossings: Swarthmore Undergraduate Feminist Research Journal

The fundamental basis of my final paper will be of my own lived experience. In my paper, I will argue that as a result of an interracial divorce, mixed-race children are learning to code-switch leading to a greater sense of empathy and community. I will pull from the theoretical framework of Gloria Anzaldua’s “Borderlands La Frontera: The New Mestiza” as well as other sources to support my claims.

By focusing heavily on a southern perspective, I will question whether or not a history of southern interracial marriage causes a strain on nuclear families. Are interracial children having new experiences, and …

Mommy, Me, And We: Why Black Mothers Have Turned To Doulas, Janessa Harris

Crossings: Swarthmore Undergraduate Feminist Research Journal

Maternal mortality rates have disproportionately affected black mothers for far too long due to the lack of value that black bodies hold in medical spaces. Because of this concerns voiced by black people are often disregarded and ignored until the very last minute. But what if this was changed? This paper will focus on how black mothers have worked against Western medical systems that silence our voices, but instead turn to doulas who work to make these mothers feel seen, heard, and cared for. Through this, we make birthing a careful and collective effort to turn Mommy&Me to Mommy&We.

Àṣẹ After Man: The Rupture Of The Christian-Colonial Project As Decolonial Ceremony, Eden Segbefia

Crossings: Swarthmore Undergraduate Feminist Research Journal

This project is a theoretical exploration of the Yoruba concept of àṣẹ and its role in unsettling the hierarchies imposed by Christian colonialism. Sylvia Wynter's explanation of the ways in which Christian colonialism has affected the very concept of Man proves crucial here. Àṣẹ is an example of a decolonial concept because of its ability to rearrange animacy, especially as it is conceived in Western European epistemology. Wynter and other interlocutors are utilized to support this argument and imagine new possibilities in considering the relationships between Christian colonialism, alterity, plasticity, and animacy.

Sitting Here With You In The Future: Reimagining The Human Through Digital Art, Jared Z. Sloan

Crossings: Swarthmore Undergraduate Feminist Research Journal

This paper presents a novel construction of the Human that arises from digital art. Taking an interdisciplinary approach incorporating perspectives from queer theory, afropessimism, science and technology studies, and more, I analyze the works of three digital artists: Lucas LaRochelle, Arafa Hamadi, and Natalie Paneng. I chart the ways in which these artists negotiate borders between the physical and digital, human and non-human, and real and fantastical to challenge hegemonic Western ideas about humanity and the individual. I claim that by restricting the information available to the user in various ways, the picture of the Human that emerges from each …

“The Work We Came Here To Do”: Crossings, An Introduction, José E. Valdivia Heredia , '23

Crossings: Swarthmore Undergraduate Feminist Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Girls’ Education And Child Marriage In Central Africa | Insights From Qualitative Fieldwork Part Ii: The Republic Of Congo, Jean-Christophe Boungou Bazika, Wolf Ulrich Mféré Akiana, Quentin Wodon

Journal of Global Catholicism

Child marriage is defined as a formal or informal union before the age of 18. As in much of sub-Saharan Africa, the prevalence of child marriage remains high in the Republic of Congo (RoC), in part because educational attainment for girls is low. Based on qualitative fieldwork, this article looks at communities’ perceptions of child marriage and girls’ education and their suggestions for programs and policies that could improve outcomes for girls. The article also discusses potential implications for Catholic and other faith-based schools, as well as faith leaders.

Girls’ Education And Child Marriage In Central Africa | Insights From Qualitative Fieldwork Part I: The Democratic Republic Of Congo, Geneviève Bagamboula Mayamona, Jean-Christophe Boungou Bazika, Quentin Wodon

Journal of Global Catholicism

Child marriage is defined as a formal or informal union before the age of 18. As in much of Sub-Saharan Africa, the prevalence of child marriage remains high in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in part because educational attainment for girls is too low. Based on qualitative fieldwork, this article looks at communities’ perceptions of child marriage and girls’ education and their suggestions for programs and policies that could improve outcomes for girls. The article also discusses potential implications for Catholic and other faith-based schools, as well as faith leaders.

Overview & Acknowledgments, Marc Roscoe Loustau

Journal of Global Catholicism

No abstract provided.

Exhibiting Blackface Puppets From The German Imaginary, William T.F. Condee

Representing Alterity through Puppetry and Performing Objects

German puppet collections face the problem of how—and whether—to display their extensive holdings of blackface puppets that are built on grotesquely racist stereotypes, including the Imagined Turk, the Imagined African, the Imagined African American, and the Imagined Multicultural German.

Amjambo Africa! (January 2023), Kathreen Harrison

Amjambo Africa!

In this Issue

War in eastern DRC ............2-3

Updates from Africa ................4

Depression/refugee camps...... 5

Editorial .....................................6

Amjambo Arts: Phuc Tran ......7

Advice: Someone to trust .....8-9

In 7 languages

Notable inaugurations .....10-11

Coastal resilience ...................11

All about the Workforce ........12

Financial literacy/New Year ..12

Legislative Update ..................13

MCA Giraffe awards ..............14

Tips & Info ..............................15

Year in Review .................. 16-17

Health & Wellness.......18-23, 25

Protecting vision

Health in winter

In 7 languages

Portland Adult Ed. .................27

Abolitionist movement ..........27

Languages are similar ............27

Ukrainian perspective ...........28

(Transforme Des Mines De Plomb En Or): Webster Et L'Alchimie Du Nous (En Rap), Peter Schulman

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

[Introduction] Auteur de plusieurs disques et de nombreux ateliers d'écriture internationaux, d'un livre pour enfants et d'une d'exposition sur des escclaves fugitifs au Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec¹, le rappeur <> Webster (de son vrai nom Aly Ndiaye) est connu pour la profondeur de ses chansons, nourries d'Histoire (fidèle à sa formation d'historien), mais surtout d'un humanisme qui fait face non seulement aux attitudes racistes qu'il a dû affronter pendant sa jeunesse, et aussi à l'isolement créé par des barrières artificielles imposées par la société québecoise dont il fait partie.

Black October: The Migration Of Black Americans To The Soviet Union In The Interwar Period, Alice Volfson

Slavic Studies Honors Papers

Through an in-depth look at first-person accounts, primary documents, and archival research, this project broadens the scope of information available about the interwar migration of Black Americans to the Soviet Union for agricultural, industrial, and artistic initiatives which helped advance the Socialist Project. These men and women had different motivations for their emigration stemming from racial solidarity with various Soviet peoples, economic reasonings, and safety from American racism. This paper hopes to bring to life the stories of those whose legacies have been lost to history by uncovering their lives under communism, their achievements and recognitions, and that of their …

(Special Section, Hymns Beyond The Congregation Ii): “We’Ll Understand It Better By And By:” Nomenclature, Negotiation, And Naming Our Neighbors, Emmett G. Price Iii

Faculty Works

Hymns, whether composed for religious contexts or as expressions of spiritual reflection, are historically revered for their redemptive nature. For generations, Black Hymnody has cried out for Christological interventions to end shambolic and systemic oppression against Black people. The vicious murder of George Perry Floyd, Jr. on May 25, 2020 reverberated and initiated, as a catalyst, an overdue global awakening that sparked a catalytic moment for conversations too long deferred. Conversations that question how we experience and name things; how we negotiate trauma; and how we engage one another as neighbors. In many ways, the redemptive nature of hymns has …