African American Studies Commons^™

Ua19/16/1 Women's Basketball Media Guide, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

2018-19 women's basketball media guide produced by WKU Athletic Media Relations, includes athletic records and statistics, photographs, schedule and information regarding opponents.

The Effect Of Gender And Racial Stereotypes And Education-Related Beliefs On The Academic And Social Identity Development Of Urban African American Girls, Wanda Marie Shealey

ETD Archive

This qualitative, ethnographic study explores various tensions and struggles around gender and racial stereotypes that three urban teenage African American girls encounter as they try to develop a sense of oneself as an individual and in relation to the world. The purpose of this study was to explore Black high school girls’ experiences in a predominately urban public school in the Midwest. This study is guided by the following research question: In what way do gender and racial bias contribute to the self-perception of African American adolescent girls? Interrogating the multiple standpoints that inform African American female identity and how …

Radical Black Drama-As-Theory: The Black Feminist Dramatic On The Protracted Event-Horizon, Jaye Austin Williams

Faculty Journal Articles

In this essay, I elaborate my present project, grounded in what I call drama theory, the critical theoretical dimensions of dramatic writing, and address the deeply troubling intramural tensions across Black Studies, between those who read blackness, and black cultural production, through largely futurist, celebratory lenses; and those who apply a structural analysis to blackness as the site against, upon, and through which the world coheres its soci(et)al apparatuses and machinations. I situate myself within the latter constellation, and sample here two plays by Suzan-Lori Parks to demonstrate how I translate the analyses of antiblack violence by black feminist …

Ua1c6/7 Entertainment Photos, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Images of entertainment events.

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 …

A Photo Illicit Study Of Black Women's Sense Of Belonging At A Predominately White Institution, Kayla Alexandria Slusher

Masters Theses

This qualitative study sought to examine how Black women define and create their sense of belonging while attending a predominately White institution using a photovoice approach. The women took photographs of spaces that they frequently occupy and then engaged in a face-to-face interview to discuss the photographs. The researcher also investigated four Black women, ranging from junior to graduate level, to identify how they developed a sense of belonging at the research site institution. Results of the study showed that a feeling of comfort was most important when identifying belongingness in a space. The participants were able to create a …

The Impact Of Media Influence About Hair Texture On Internalized Racial Oppression, Ethnic Identity, And Self-Efficacy, Kristy L. La Mar

Dissertations

Problem

African American women and matters of importance pertaining to African American women are understudied and lacking within research. Understanding the ways in which majority culture media influences aspects related to women of color, especially those pertaining to hair texture, and their impact is essential to bring about awareness and mobilize changes that will positively affect the lives of Black women. Representation matters. When minority women of any culture value the majority culture they tend to devalue themselves. Representation matters and is important because if self-esteem, worth, goodness, and virtue is only portrayed in majority culture aesthetics, internalization of those …

Cultural Sensitivity And African American Women's Compliance With Breast Cancer Screening, Cynthia Payne

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although the incidence of breast cancer is almost the same for middle-aged African American and Caucasian women, the rate of patients' following breast cancer screening and following up recommendations differs. African American women are less likely to follow recommendations and have higher mortality rates when compared to Caucasian women. One factor thought to affect compliance with breast cancer screening and follow up is culturally sensitive communication. This purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to determine if the culturally sensitive communication of a medical center influenced compliance with breast cancer screening and follow up and if compliance has an effect …

African American Women Managers' Experiences In Predominantly Black Work Environments, Ray Muhammad

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The experiences of African American women managers in predominantly Black work environments and the implication of these experiences on their ability to lead remains unknown. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to gain deeper understanding of the leadership experiences of African American women managers employed in predominantly Black work environments. This study was framed by three key concepts: intersectionality of gender and race, intraracial discrimination, and colorism. The trustworthiness of the study's data was supported by employing methodological triangulation of the study's multiple data sources: semistructured interviews with 10 African American women managers as participants, journaling/ reflective …

Breaking Chains Of Oppression: Popular Culture And The Plundering Of Blackness, Corina Sacajawea Ambrose

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis focuses on the ways in which white supremacy created mass incarceration, specifically mass incarceration of black individuals, and how this continues to perpetuate a racial caste system in the United States. First, I examine contemporary novelist Colson Whitehead‘s The Underground Railroad to provide a historical background of white supremacy and slavery. Then, I argue that pop culture is one area in which artists are focused on the abolition of the prison-industrial complex and ending mass incarceration. Finally, I focus on JAY-Z‘s music video “The Story of O.J.“ and Beyoncé‘s visual album Lemonade and her 2018 Coachella performance to …

Hair Is The Root Of A Revolution: How Black Women Are Embracing Their Identity With Hair, Shanel Dawson

Capstones

For years, black women have been demeaned for their features; their noses, complexions and hair. Straight hair and wavy hair have been considered “good hair.” And for centuries these ideas have been perpetuated by images in the media, cultural messages and even policies in schools and professional settings.

Today black women, nationwide, are rejecting straightening chemicals and embracing their natural hair as a point of pride. I spoke with several black women who are attempting to distance themselves from these negative narratives by honoring their roots.

For black women in America, hair has been the easiest way to connect on …

Tragic Mulatta 2.0: A Postcolonial Approximation And Critique Of The Representations Of Bi-Ethnic Women In U.S. Film And Tv, Hadia Nouria Bendelhoum

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study analyzes the representations of five bi-ethnic women characters in U.S. mass media both before and after U.S. “post-racial” era, to find and expose evidence of the continuity and perpetuation of racist stereotypes against biracial/bi-ethnic women. I utilize a thematic textual analysis, supported by the theories, ideas, and critical views of postcolonial theorists Frantz Fanon, Gayatri Spivak, and Edward Said, and composed of three prominent themes which expose the nature of the representations of lead bi-ethnic characters in current mass media entertainment (TV programs and films). The themes further explored through this project are: bi-ethnicity (one Black parent and …

Race, Resilience, And Resistance: A Culturally Relevant Examination Of How Black Women School Leaders Advance Racial Equity And Social Justice In U.S. Schools, Tonya Evette Walls

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This culturally relevant qualitative examination of the leadership of Black women educational leaders (BWEL) committed to advancing a social justice leadership agenda within the contested spaces (Stovall, 2004) comprising United States (U.S.) P-12 schools, employs an African centered emancipatory methodology (Kershaw, 1990, 1992; Tillman, 2002), situated in a conceptual framework grounded in the research on applied critical leadership (Santamaria, 2013). It examines, highlights, celebrates, and makes transparent, the unique leadership of BWEL. Engaged to rebuke the silencing and marginalization of women educational leaders of color in the educational leadership discourse, this study bridges engages a multiple case study approach, phenomenological …

Southern Veils : The Sisters Of Loretto In Early National Kentucky., Hannah O'Daniel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the experiences of Roman Catholic women who joined the Sisters of Loretto, a community of women religious in rural Washington and Nelson Counties, Kentucky, between the 1790s and 1826. It argues that the Sisters of Loretto used faith to interpret and respond to unfolding events in the early nation. The women sought to combat moral slippage and restore providential favor in the face of local Catholic institutional instability, global Protestant evangelical movements, war and economic crisis, and a tuberculosis outbreak. The Lorettines faced financial, social, and cultural pressures—including an economic depression, a culture that celebrated family formation …

The Spirit Of Friendship: Girlfriends In Contemporary African American Literature, Tangela La'chelle Serls

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Spirit of Friendship: Girlfriends in Contemporary African American Literature examines spiritual subjectivities that inspire girlfriends in three contemporary novels to journey towards actualization. It examines the girlfriend bond as a space where the Divine Spirit can flourish and assist girlfriends as they seek to become actualized. This project raises epistemological questions as it suggests that within the girlfriend dynamic, knowledge that is traditionally subjugated is formed and refined. Finally, girlfriend epistemology is considered in light of Black Girl Magic, a contemporary social and cultural movement among Black women.

Producing "Fabulous": Commodification And Ethnicity In Hair Braiding Salons, Sylviane Ngandu-Kalenga Greensword

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Black women wearing fabulous braids are a striking feature of the Afro-diasporic cultural landscape. However, the braiders and salon owners who enable this aesthetic engineering are seldom acknowledged. This dissertation investigates the experience and role of Caribbean and West and Central African women in the hair braiding industry, a rapidly growing business in the U.S. I address the complexity of these women’s multiple social roles and the multiple consciousness (King, 1988) associated with their demographic characteristics (color, ethnicity, gender, nationality, and immigrant status). The commonalities between the braiders and their mostly African American customers contrast vividly with their perception of …

Ua19/16/2 Womens' Basketball Press Releases, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Press releases, photos and game statistics related to WKU women's basketball team from August to December 2017.

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 93, No. 7, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. This issue contains articles:

• Alvey, Rebekah. Federal Comments Signal Title IX Change
• Collins, Emma. Out of Lines – Parking
• Kast, Monica. WKU Prepares for Potential Changes to Pension System
• Alvey, Rebekah. Habitat for Humanity Builds Sheds for Community
• Stahl, Matt. Bosnian Film Festival Continues This Week
• Dimeo, Chris. Fresh Out of the India Oven
• King, Jennifer. Editorial Cartoon re: Voting
• Hormell, David. Rise Above the Static – Activism
• Gabhart, Ebonee. Inclusivity: A Bowling Green Cornerstone
• Schweickart, Lydia. The Dead Walk – Kiwanis Club, Zombies
• Moore, Noah. SKyPAC Offers Free …

And They Entered As Ladies: When Race, Class And Black Femininity Clashed At Central High School, Misti Nicole Harper

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

“And They Entered as Ladies: When Race, Class and Black Femininity Clashed at Central High School,” explores the intersectionality of race, gender and class status as middle-class black women led the integration movement and were the focal point of white backlash during the 1957 Little Rock Central High School crisis. Six of the nine black students chosen to integrate Central High School were carefully selected girls from middle-class homes, whose mothers and female family members played active parts in keeping their daughters enrolled at Central, while Daisy Gatson Bates orchestrated the integration of the capital’s school system. Nevertheless, these women …

When I See My Face: Painting The Portrait Of Black Women Leaders In The U.S. Federal Government, Antoinette Lavawn Allen

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Many Black women have chosen the federal government as their employer; a review of literature provides few studies on the Black women leaders in the federal government. Similarly, there is limited research about these women in academic settings. The purpose of this qualitative portraiture study is to explore the lived experiences of Black female leaders and the (a) challenges they face in leadership and (b) resilience strategies they use to overcome those challenges. The researcher used the portraiture methodology, which embraces traditional qualitative data sources, such as interviews and documents as well as creative expressions to include poetry, music, and …

My Crown And Glory: Community, Identity, Culture, And Black Women’S Concerns Of Hair Product-Related Breast Cancer Risk, Dede K. Teteh, Susanne B. Montgomery, Sabine Monice, Laura Stiel, Phyllis Y. Clark, Eudora Mitchell

Health Sciences and Kinesiology Faculty Articles

Breast cancer (BC) incidence rates for Black and non-Hispanic White women have recently converged; however, Black women continue to die at higher rates from the disease. Black women also use hair products containing hormonally active chemicals at higher rates than other races and ethnic groups. Studies now link chemical components in hair and personal care products to breast cancer risk. Using a community-based participatory research approach, this qualitative study explored community concerns about the role of hair products on breast cancer risk. Focus groups and key informant interviews using triangulation to assure relevant perspectives (women with and without breast cancer …

Notable Women Of Portland, Tracy J. Prince, Zadie Schaffer

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications and Presentations

The story of Portland, Oregon, like much of history, has usually been told with a focus on male leaders. This book offers a reframing of Portland’s history--starting from 10,000 years of Native American women, to pioneer women, to women of the Progressive Era, WWI, WWII, post-war women, and chapters on Women in the Arts and Women in Politics. Many women made their mark and radically changed the Oregon frontier, including Native Americans Polly Johnson and Josette Nouette; pioneers Minerva Carter and Charlotte Terwilliger; doctors Marie Equi, Mary Priscilla Avery Sawtelle, and Bethina Owens-Adair; artists Eliza Barchus and Lily E. White; …

Black Models Matter: Challenging The Racism Of Aesthetics And The Facade Of Inclusion In The Fashion Industry, Scarlett L. Newman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The global fashion market is expanding every day, but often, the global fashion runways do not reflect that reality. On average, black models make up for six percent of models used on the runway during the fashion month calendar. This small percentage is also mirrored in advertisements and editorials featured in popular fashion magazines. In the 1970s, black models were met with great opportunities, and that success trickled down into the 1980s and the 1990s. As the 90s came to a close, top designers opted for an aesthetic that ultimately excluded models of color, but black models beared the brunt …

The Impact Of "Modern Sexism" On The 2016 Presidential Election, Angie Maxwell

Blair Center Poll

The latest analysis of data from 2016 Blair Center Poll explores how American attitudes about working women and feminism influenced the presidential race along racial, gender, regional and partisan lines.

Link to full report: https://blaircenter.uark.edu/the-impact-of-modern-sexism/

A Recipe For Black Girl Magic: A Critical Study Of The Mise-En-Scene In Beyoncé’S Visual Album Lemonade As A Radical Representation Of Black Women, Tatiyana Jenkins

Lawrence University Honors Projects

Lemonade, a visual album released by pop icon Beyoncé Knowles Carter in 2016, crafts a mise-en-scene that redefines the way that black women are allowed to feel and exist in media culture. Contrary to the negative stereotypes and misrepresentations perpetuated in media, Lemonade is a radical attempt to provide audiences with an alternative representation of the experiences of black women. For this honors project, I address the controversy surrounding the visual album’s radical representations of black womanhood. To inform my understanding of the visual album I examine the various creative contributions such as the film Daughters of the Dust directed …

Reclaiming Female And Racial Agency: The Story Of Dido Elizabeth Belle Via Portrait And Film, Madison Blonquist

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

This paper explores the complex relationship between artists and their subjects, particularly with regard to race and gender. Using Niki Saint-Phalle’s definition of “truthful representation,” I consider the issues that race and gender pose to this ideal using the story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, an eighteenth-century aristocratic woman of mixed race. The intriguing life of Dido Elizabeth Belle is especially relevant to today’s evolving definition of intersectional feminism. Her portrait Painting of Dido Elizabeth Belle and her Cousin Lady Elizabeth Murray (1779, formerly attributed to Johann Zoffany) challenges the idea of “truthful representation” because it was presumably painted by a …

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.

Revolutionary Every Day: A Dramatic Exploration Of Women And Their Agency In The Black Panther Party., Kristen Michelle Walker

Master of Arts in American Studies Capstones

This capstone project is centered around Black Panther women and explores what it means to be a revolutionary black woman dealing with politics surrounding gender in both private and public spaces during the late 1960’s and beyond. In addition, the project includes an original fictional play based on the experiences of Panther women around the world. In addressing the social conditions that impacted female Panther activism and agency, together the capstone project and play operate as a commentary on power, gender relations, and society in and around the Black Panther Party.

The Black Maternal And Cultural Healing In Twentieth Century Black Women's Fiction, Paula Wingard White

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This work examines representations of maternal relationships between black women in five contemporary novels: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Sula by Toni Morrison, The Salt Eaters by Toni Cade Bambara, The Color Purple by Alice Walker and Louisiana by Erna Brodber. Rather than situating the origins of black feminist literary studies during the Black Women’s Literary Renaissance of the 1970s and 1980s, I argue that Hurston’s work shapes contemporary black feminist literary studies. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Nanny provides a mothering archetype that inspires a dominant theme and practice—the black maternal, within contemporary black …

Ua19/16/2 Womens' Basketball Press Releases, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Press releases, photos and game statistics related to WKU women's basketball team from January to July 2017.