Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies Commons^™

Omaha Star Exclusive Report: 2016 Nebraska Caucus (North Omaha), Preston Love Jr.

Black Studies Faculty Publications

The 2016 Presidential race came to Nebraska this past week. Recently Chelsea Clinton visited Big Mama’s Kitchen, Bill Clinton was in Benson and north Omaha’s own and Candidate Bernie Sanders’ National press Secretary, Symone Sanders also made a stop at Big Mama’s. Not since 1968 has North Omaha had such visits from the presidential campaign big hitters. It was about time that the community that gave President Obama historical split electoral Vote (2008) get the respect we deserve. Our community has needs and views on key issues and we need to be heard.

Breaking News: Its Official, The 2016 Nebraska Election Cycle Has Begun, Preston Love Jr.

Black Studies Faculty Publications

Black Votes Matter Initiative:
The initiative has been launched. To raise community consciousness and directed to increased voter turnout. The North Omaha Voter Project will place 1000 free Black Votes Matter yard signs in North Omaha. There will informational meetings, voter registration, ride to the polls, early voting assistance, community forums and Get Out The Vote (GOTV) door knocking and phone calls as well as numerous speaking engagements on voting. We will join with many partners in our efforts; Neighborhood associations, Social and civic organizations, Clergy and north Omaha leadership. We are supportive and partner with the league of …

Black Votes Matter 2016 Initiative Launched!!, Preston Love Jr.

Black Studies Faculty Publications

Saturday, January 23rd at a full house kickoff meeting, attended by over 100, the Black Votes Matter 2016 initiative was launched. Members from the community, neighborhoods, Clergy and leadership were joined by candidates Jake Seaman, Jill Brown and Dr. Larry Bradley who are running for the State Senate seat currently held by Senator Tonya Cook. Justin Wayne also may run. Senator Cook cannot run because of term limit laws. Also attendees were treated to presentations from all three Democratic Presidential candidates. Nebraska representatives for Clinton, Sanders and O’Malley made pitches and sought volunteers.
Attendees also were briefed on the upcoming …

2016 Nebraska Democratic Caucus: Everything You Wanted To Know About The Caucus But Were Afraid To Ask, Preston Love Jr.

Black Studies Faculty Publications

The process of becoming the President of the United States is complex and lengthy. It begins with each of the major political parties deciding who will get the party’s nomination and become the Democratic or Republican Party’s candidate to become the President. It is important to note that the first step is entirely within each party separately. The Democrats do their thing as do the Republican. In a later column I will dissect the anatomy of a presidential campaign. This article will focus on primary/caucus season, which begins February 1st in Iowa.

Leadership Bankrupt Of Unity Is Bankrupting Our Community, Preston Love Jr.

Black Studies Faculty Publications

In a community of great needs, we cannot afford to have dis-unity among our leadership. We have many assets, but North Omaha has many liabilities or needs; Economic Development, sustainable Jobs, small business ownership and growth. We need accountable leadership who see the value of unity for the good of the community, above all personal agendas.

Black Lives, Black Poverty And Black Votes Matter, Preston Love Jr.

Black Studies Faculty Publications

North Omaha it is time for our community to “straighten up and fly right”. That’s an old black phase and a line in an old song translated means let’s get our act together. Once again we have a major election year, 2016, facing us. Once again we have a lot at stake. Once again we have an opportunity to make a difference for our community by voting in our own interest. Once again I am pleading to our community to not again squander our power and our leverage by not voting. My beloved here is too much at stake.

The Changing “Face” Of North Omaha, Part 2, Preston Love Jr.

Black Studies Faculty Publications

In my last and most recent column entitled THE CHANGING “FACE” OF NORTH OMAHA”, I discuss the advent of a steady migration into North Omaha from a worldwide immigrant and refugee population. I listed: Sudanese, Somalian, Vietnamese, Laotian, El Salvadorian, Guatemalan, refugee, immigrant, Afghanistan. Mexican, Iranian, Burmese to name a few. All great people and cultures in their own right. But my focus was and is on the resulting dynamics. My focus is narrowed to North Omaha Only. I suggest you read part1 for understanding of my thrust. In summary I declare that these new communities by in large bring …

The Changing “Face” Of North Omaha, Preston Love Jr.

Black Studies Faculty Publications

Amid my constant cry for north Omaha Blacks to wake up and realize how much our vote matters for our self-interest and in spite of my understanding of the deep and profound reasons poverty stricken communities do not vote, it is time to step back and review the true faces of North Omaha and assess our options.

Lessons From The University Of Missouri, Preston Love Jr.

Black Studies Faculty Publications

There are many stories, many angles, many perspectives and many opinions as to the impact of the recent events at the University of Missouri (UM). While I find these reactions and opinions interesting my focus will continue to be our community. However, what lessons can we deride from UM and apply to our challenges right here in river city.

Latinos Throughout The City: A Snapshot Of Socio-Demographic Differences In Omaha, Nebraska, Jasney Cogua-Lopez, Lissette Aliaga-Linares, Lourdes Gouveia

Latino/Latin American Studies Reports

Researchers from OLLAS have released a new report detailing the demographic makeup of Latinos throughout Omaha. This is the first detailed analysis of the trends of Latinos living in various parts of the entire city. It confirms and challenges generalizations that are frequently made about this population in Omaha.

The report chronicles the dispersion of Latinos throughout the city and their increasing diversity. This publication highlights that geographic location is predictably tied to socioeconomic conditions. The farther west in the city Latinos live, the more advantaged they are. This pattern also holds true for indicators such as educational attainment, income …

Voter Turnout: Ferguson, Mo Is A Teachable Moment In History In Why Black Votes Matter, Preston Love Jr.

Black Studies Faculty Publications

Earlier this month I visited Ferguson, Mo. I stood by the signs saying welcome, and population 21,203. What the signs did not say: “here lies the grave of a young Black male named Michael Brown who should not have died”, “here is a city that has a population of nearly 70% Black” and “here is a black population that voted at only 8%”. Yes only 8% voter turnout. Ferguson, Mo black residents contributed to the environment that killed young Brown. Mostly all of the elected officials and all but 3 of the police in Ferguson are white. That is the …

Breaking News: How To Vote, Preston Love Jr.

Black Studies Faculty Publications

In this column, we have been and will continue to discuss the need to vote and why to vote. Now, let’s focus on “How to Vote”. Maybe you think you already know how to vote. Maybe you do, maybe you don’t. Before I send you off to vote “half baked”, let’s make sure you know how. Knowing how to vote will maximize your vote. With only a small percentage of us voting, let’s make sure that we voters get the most out of our vote. Black Votes Matter.

I Learned More From Them Than They Did From Me: Shifting From Deficit To Asset-Based Perspectives In Service-Learning, Sandra Rodriguez-Arroyo

Scholarship of Metropolitan Mission

Research is presented on a Conceptual Model for Cultural Engagement (CMCE) service-learning course for inservice teachers.  The teachers worked with tweens from a non-profit youth organization to showcase their Latino community.  Research data reveals that the course did implement the CMCE, emphasizing asset-based perspectives of the youth and their communities.

The Resurrection Of Jim Crow And The Birth Of A Non-Voting Black Community, Preston Love Jr.

Black Studies Faculty Publications

THE RESURRECTION OF JIM CROW AND THE BIRTH OF A NON VOTING BLACK COMMUNITY. BOTH NEED A QUICK BURIAL. After the passage of the 15th amendment to the US constitution in 1870, Black folk were given the right to participate as citizens and given the right to vote.

This Column Began Last Month With A Hopeful Call For Our Community To Energize And Understand That Black Votes Matter, Preston Love Jr.

Black Studies Faculty Publications

This column began last month with a hopeful call for our community to energize and understand that Black Votes Matter. We have celebrated the 50th anniversary of the important 1965 Voting Rights Act and the one-year anniversary of the tragedy of Ferguson, Mo which includes a total lack of voter recognition that Black Votes Matter in a city with 67% Black population.

Documentary As Exorcism: Resisting The Bewitchment Of Colonial Christianity, Michael Broyles

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Documentary as Exorcism: Resisting the Bewitchment of Colonial Christianity by Robert Beckford.

Is Service-Learning The Answer? Preparing Teacher Candidates To Work With Ells Through Service-Learning Experiences, Sandra Rodriguez-Arroyo

Scholarship of Metropolitan Mission

In an effort to address the gaps in preparing teacher candidates (TCs) to work with English Language Learners (ELLs), service-learning experiences (SLE) were integrated into two courses within a teacher education program. This exploratory case study sought to explore the outcomes of teacher candidates (TCs) engaged in SLE with diverse students and families, particularly ELLs. Content analysis of students’ reflections provided insights of the impact of the SLE. Findings indicate that participating in service-learning with ELLs provides opportunities for TCs to engage in positive interactions that help to address misconceptions about students, families, and communities. TCs also began to confront …

Conversatorios About Inequality And Social Mobility In The Latino Community, Lourdes Gouveia, Jasney Cogua-Lopez, Claudia Lucero, Claudia García, Yuriko Doku

Latino/Latin American Studies Other Publications

OLLAS has reported on the socio-economic characteristics of Latinos in Omaha and Nebraska for many years. For the past couple of years, OLLAS and other organizations have shared concerns about the barriers that may block the full deployment of this population’s talents and abilities, and their full and equitable integration into the city of Omaha. To explore these concerns, we organized a series of conversations (conversatorios) in March 2015 with proportionate participation of Latinos at the grassroots and in leadership positions. Eventually, these conversations were to be extended to include a wider array of stakeholders from the larger community.

Hispanic Entrepreneurship In Nebraska: Trends And Economic Profile, Lissette Aliaga-Linares

Latino/Latin American Studies Policy Briefs

The growth of the Hispanic population in Nebraska was accompanied by a significant increase in Hispanic entrepreneurship at the beginning of the 2000s. From 2002 to 2007, the 3,065 Hispanic-owned businesses constituted a small but dynamic and resilient segment of business growth in the state. Did participation in self-employment decrease for Hispanics after the economic crisis of 2008? What are the characteristics of Hispanic-owned businesses and Hispanics business-owners in Nebraska? Do some of these characteristics reveal social or economic barriers that could prevent these businesses from succeeding?

Cloud Atlas’ Queer Tiki Kitsch: Polynesians, Settler Colonialism, And Sci-Fi Film, Gabriel S. Estrada

Journal of Religion & Film

Polynesian theories of film reception, visual sovereignty, feminisms, and worldview offer critical insights into The Wachowskis' and Tykwer's 2012 film Cloud Atlas. From Indigenous and Native feminist film perspectives, Cloud Atlas offers a sci-fi future deeply entrenched in the queer tiki kitsch of settler colonialism as situated within a comparative context of other queer Indigenous film. As an example of heteropatriarchal settler colonialism, the Cloud Atlas plot supports the heterosexual triumphs of cross-racial couples and sublimates the possibilities of transgender reincarnation. Although Cloud Atlas attempts to critique Christian slavery and defend a secular abolitionist stance in the 1848 South Pacific, …

A Demographic Portrait Of The Mexican-Origin Population In Nebraska, Lissette Aliaga-Linares

Latino/Latin American Studies Reports

A study released from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) Office of Latino and Latin American Studies (OLLAS) chronicles the current state of Mexican-origin residents of Nebraska, finding that while the numbers of immigrants moving into Nebraska has slowed in recent years, the population continues to grow and become more a part of the state’s demographic makeup.

The study, which was also funded in part by the Sherwood Foundation, examined more than a century of census data from the United States, finding that the more than 140,000 Mexican-origin residents in Nebraska as of 2012 has rapidly increased since …

Statement Of Concern, Heartland Workers Union, Office Of Latino/Latin American Studies (Ollas)

Latino/Latin American Studies Other Publications

The Heartland Workers Center (HWC) and the Office of Latino/Latin American Studies (OLLAS) have issued a statement of concern about the humanitarian crisis confronting refugee children from Central America. We support our local partner organizations in their work to address this crisis. Please feel free to distribute widely.

El Centro Laboral y OLLAS han publicado un documento sobre la crisis humanitaria afectando a miles de niños centroamericanos. Adáptela para sus tareas educativas y de incidencia política y distribuyan ampliamente.

Quick Facts About South Omaha, Office Of Latino/Latin American Studies (Ollas)

Latino/Latin American Studies Other Publications

Quick facts about South Omaha, produced by OLLAS for the Midwest Sociological Society (MSS) Annual Meetings, which took place at the Hilton Omaha, Thursday, April 3 - Saturday, April 5. The MSS hosted a tour of South Omaha on Saturday, April 5 from 9:30-11:00am.

Uno Native Film Festival, Brady Desanti, Michele M. Desmarais, Beth R. Ritter

Journal of Religion & Film

This is the first year for the University of Nebraska at Omaha Native Film Festival. The Festival was presented Nov. 1-3, 2013, by the Native American Studies Program of the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Vision Maker Media. In addition to the movies reviewed below, the Festival included a program of children/family films, a program of short films, an acting workshop with Chaske Spencer (Lakota Sioux), and a workshop on how to use visual media in the classroom presented by Vision Maker Media. Vision Maker Media is a non-profit organization that shares Native stories with the world by advancing …

The Sociocultural Functionality Of Afrikan Syncretism: The Case Of Spirituality, Nikitah O. Imani

Black Studies Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Presented at the National Council of Black Studies meetings in Miami, Florida on March 8^th, 2014.

An Invitation To Debate: Envisioning An Africa-Centered Perspective, Engaging Sociological Endeavor, Nikitah O. Imani

Black Studies Faculty Publications

This article frames the focus of this special Africana studies issue of Critical Sociology, discussing its theoretical and epistemological necessity for the discipline, its potential for critical informing inquiry within the discipline with respect to Africana social phenomena as well the human experience, the challenges it poses for the traditional conduct of sociological inquiry and what the particular pieces selected for this issue contribute to each of these.

Quick Facts On Inequality, Office Of Latino/Latin American Studies (Ollas), Lourdes Gouveia

Latino/Latin American Studies Other Publications

Data about inequality and Latinos in Nebraska. This information was presented by Dr. Lourdes Gouveia, OLLAS Director and Professor of Sociology, at a special screening of the film Inequality for All on February 6, 2014.

Invisible & Voiceless: Latinos In Council Bluffs Iowa, María Teresa Gastón, Lourdes Gouveia, Christian Espinosa, Clare Maakestad, Christopher C. Blue

Latino/Latin American Studies Reports

While Latino immigrant workers in Council Bluffs, Iowa have contributed significantly to the Iowa and Nebraska economies, they remain virtually invisible and lack a voice in the city’s key venues and institutions – this according to a new report being released by the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) Office of Latino/Latin American Studies (OLLAS) and funded in part by the Iowa West Foundation.

The report, titled “Invisible & Voiceless” combines data from the 2010 Census with 26 interviews with members of Council Bluffs’ civic, government, education, religious, non-profit and business communities as well as Latino voices gathered at interviews …

The Butler, Carol Miles

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of The Butler, directed by Lee Daniels.

An Invitation To Debate: Envisioning An Africa-Centered Perspective, Engaging Sociological Endeavor, Nikitah O. Imani

Black Studies Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Presented at the 2013 James Madison University Africana Studies Conference October 18, 2013