African American Studies Commons^™

Ua19/16/1 2015-16 Wku Track & Field Cross Country Record Book, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

WKU track and field media guide for 2015-16 season.

Treasure Hunt Without A Map: Archival Research At The University Of Pennsylvania, Meghan Strong

English and Creative Writing Independent Study Projects

Under the supervision of Meredith Goldsmith in the English Department, I spent this semester developing archival research projects for lower level students in the humanities. My project corresponded with the aims of the Council for Undergraduate Research, which works to develop undergraduate research skills throughout the disciplines. The Kislak Center is a nearby resource that has the potential to provide students with opportunities to develop crucial research skills while discovering little pieces of history that are hidden away in the archives. The final exercises presented here focus on the subjects of Walt Whitman, Marian Anderson, and Michel de Montaigne.

Tweeting Away Our Blues: An Interpretative Phenomenological Approach To Exploring Black Women's Use Of Social Media To Combat Misogynoir, Kelly Macias

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

In the age of social media, many Black women use online platforms and social networks as a means of connecting with other Black women and to share their experiences of social oppression and misogynoir, anti-Black misogyny. Examining the ways that Black women use technology as a tool to actively wage resistance to racial, gender and class oppression is critical for understanding their role in the human struggle for greater peace, beauty, freedom and justice. This study explored the experiences of 12 Black women in the United States and Britain who use social media for storytelling and testimony about their lives …

'She Shall Not Be Moved': Black Women's Spiritual Practice In Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, Beloved, Paradise, And Home, Rondrea Danielle Mathis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

‘She Shall Not Be Moved’: Black Women’s Spiritual Practice in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, Beloved, Paradise, and Home argues that from The Bluest Eye, Morrison’s debut novel, to her 2012 novel, Home, Morrison brings her female characters to voice, autonomy, and personal divinity through unconventional spiritual work. The project addresses the history of Black women’s activist and spiritual work, Toni Morrison’s engagement with unconventional spiritual practice, and closes with a personal interrogation of the author’s connection to Black women’s spiritual practice.

Anna Julia Cooper: A Quintessential Leader, Janice Y. Ferguson

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study is a leadership biography which provides, through the lens of Black feminist thought, an alternative view and understanding of the leadership of Black women. Specifically, this analysis highlights ways in which Black women, frequently not identified by the dominant society as leaders, have and can become leaders. Lessons are drawn from the life of Anna Julia Cooper that provides new insights in leadership that heretofore were not evident. Additionally, this research offers provocative recommendations that provide a different perspective of what leadership is among Black women and how that kind of leadership can inform the canon of leadership. …

Weed Women, All Night Vigils, And The Secret Life Of Plants: Negotiated Epistemologies Of Ethnogynecological Plant Knowledge In American History, Claudia Jeanne Ford

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation critiques the discourse of traditional ecological knowledge described as embedded in indigenous peoples' longevity in location, for the purpose of understanding the embodiment of ecological knowledge in culture. The aim of this research is to examine the historical and epistemic complexity of traditional ecological knowledge that may be both established from the length of time people reside in a specific ecosystem and constitutive of negotiations between and among different cultures. I choose the specific case of the negotiation of plant knowledge for women's reproductive health among Native, African, and European groups as those negotiations unfolded on the American …

Resiliency And Maternal Self-Efficacy Of Single African American Mothers: A Qualitative Study, Danielle Beatrice Massey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Traditionally, research involving single African American mothers (SAAMs) has been conducted using problem-focused or cultural deficit models with the emphases on the disadvantages. Consequently, little is known about how these women view their experiences as single mothers concerning their resilience and maternal self-efficacy. Using a snowball sampling method, 15 SAAMs were recruited to participate in this phenomenological study. This study employed a subject-intensive theoretical framework. Face-to-face interviews (using a questionnaire), participant observation, and a focus group were the methods used to capture the essence of the SAAMs' abilities to thrive despite the challenges associated with single parenting. All encounters were …

Barriers Encountered By African American Women Executives, Latasha Denise Cain

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In 2014, less than 16% of executive leaders in U.S. corporations were women and less than 5.3% of executive leaders in U.S. corporations were African American women. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of 20 African American women in senior executive positions in the Southeastern region of the United States. The goal of this study was to provide business leaders with information to recognize the value of diversity and equality in the workplace. Participants were recruited using snowball sampling. The conceptual framework incorporated general systems theory, which highlights the bidirectionality between an individual and his …

The Ideal And The Real: Southern Plantation Women Of The Civil War, Kelly H. Crosby

Student Publications

Southern plantation women experienced a shift in identity over the course of the Civil War. Through the diaries of Catherine Edmondston and Eliza Fain, historians note the discrepancy between the ideal and real roles women had while the men were off fighting. Unique perspectives and hidden voices in their writings offer valuable insight into the life of plantation women and the hybrid identity they gained despite the Confederate loss.

Covering The 1972 Chisholm Campaign: Shaping Perceptions And Postponing Progress, Andrea Diekman

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

In order to get their voices heard, groups with different interests and needs, often racially, socially, and economically marginalized groups, must take an active role in developing policies. Political representation is essential in articulating the need for change and then creating that change. Both women and African Americans have different significant problems gaining political office that their White male counterpoints do not. African American women are especially disadvantaged because of their challenges with the interlocking oppressions of both racism and sexism. A specific woman and candidacy that this study examines more closely was for the presidency. In 1972, Shirley Chisholm …

The Politics Of Black Womens' Hair, Vanessa King, Dieynaba Niabaly

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Historically, black women’s image has been subjected to high scrutinization that rendered every choice they made for their body and hair important. Black women have undergone many pressures that shaped their hair choices in various ways. However, there is a general tendency in the literature to homogenize all black women’s experiences and disregard their ethnic diversity. In this study, we explored both African and African American college women’s feelings about the motivations to straighten (relax) or wear their hair without chemical treatment (natural). For this qualitative approach, we utilized a cross-cultural approach and interviewed 12 African and African American college …

“Work What You Got”: Political Participation And Hiv-Positive Black Women’S Work To Restore Themselves And Their Communities, Monica L. Melton

Journal of Interdisciplinary Feminist Thought

Black women’s rates of HIV/AIDS infection have skyrocketed in comparison to other racial and ethnic groups over the past thirty years. Despite these rates, HIV-positive Black women’s perspectives are rarely sought regarding best practices to eradicate and interrupt HIV/AIDS among African American women, even though historically Black women have often proved phenomenal agents of social change. HIV-positive Black women’s activism has been understudied and input from the community in crisis has rarely been deemed as valuable to public health officials in HIV/AIDS prevention and interventions. Through the narratives of thirty HIV-positive Floridian Black women, I present HIV-positive Black women’s political …

The Influence Of Literacy On The Lives Of Twentieth Century Southern Female Minority Figures, Laura Leighann Dicks

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The American South has long been a region associated with myth and fantasy; in popular culture especially, the region is consistently tied to skewed notions of the antebellum South that include images of large plantation homes, women in hoop skirts, and magnolia trees that manifest in television and film representations such as Gone With the Wind (1939). Juxtaposed with these idealized, mythic images is the hillbilly trope, reinforced by radio shows such as Lum and Abner, and films such as Scatterbrain (1940). Out of this idea comes the southern illiteracy stereotype, which suggests that southerners are collectively unconcerned with education …

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 …

Opening Remarks To Outing Lorraine At The Schomburg Center, Shawn(Ta) Smith-Cruz

Publications and Research

This article is an edit of the opening remarks for the event held on May 22nd, 2014 at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture as part of the In The Life Series supplying Black LGBT programming coordinated by Steven Fullwood. Outing Lorraine included panelists: Alexis DeVeaux, Joi Gresham, and Steven Fullwood and was moderated by Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz. Opening remarks provide a biographical description of Lorraine Hansberry's life, prepare the audience for a conversation on the implications for "outing" a black iconic figure, details the purpose for use of primary and secondary sources when, and provides a bibliography for …

Gender And Self-Representation In Maya Angelou's Autobiography I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings 2014, Jay-Nel Steitz

Master's Theses

A voice that has been silenced for so long has much to say. Whether still confined or set free, the statement applies equally to both. The silenced voice wants not only to tell his or her story, but to share the life experiences which in turn reveal the identities of these individuals. These silenced voices then are not those of the oppressors, but the oppressed; and when an oppressor wants to share his or her story, the oppressed wants to tell their side of it as well. How can those labeled the marginalized outcasts of society express their feelings and …

Ua94/6/13 Student / Alumni Personal Papers Wku Jeff Baynham, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

WKU memorabilia collected by Jeff Baynham includes athletic trading cards, posters and basketball tournament programs.

Ua19/16/1 2014-15 Wku Track & Field Cross Country Record Book, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

WKU track and field media guide for 2014-15 season.

Ua19/16/1 Lady Topper Volleyball 2014 Media Guide, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Athletic media guide for volleyball team.

An Engineering Journey: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study Of African-American Engineers' Persistence, Kristy Somerville-Midgette

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This transcendental phenomenological research study examined the perspectives and lived experiences of African-American female engineers related to the factors that led to their persistence to enter, persist through, and remain in the field. The study was guided by four research questions: (a) How do K-12 experiences shape African-American female engineers' decisions to enter the STEM field? (b) What persistence factors motivated African-American female engineers to enter the engineering profession? (c) What are the factors that shape African-American female engineers' persistence to progress through postsecondary engineering programs? (d) How do professional experiences shape African-American female engineers' persistence in the field? Cognitive …

Growing 'Homeplace' In Critical Service-Learning: An Urban Womanist Pedagogy, Vanessa Lynn Marr

Wayne State University Dissertations

This dissertation explores the role of critical service-learning from the perspective of urban community members. Specifically, it examines the counternarratives produced by Black women community gardeners who engage in academic service-learning with postsecondary faculty. The study focuses on this particular group because of the women's deep involvement with grassroots organizing that reflects their sense of self and other community members, as well as their personal and political relationships to Detroit, Michigan. Given the city's economic disparities rooted in racial segregation, structural violence and gender oppression, Detroit is a site of critical learning within a postindustrial/postcolonial context. This intersectionalist approach to …

Em(Body)Ing Autonomy: Black Women’S Bodies And Self-Liberation In The Novels Of Zora Neale Hurston And Alice Walker, Caitlin Rose Riley Duttry

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

The State Of Representation And Segregation Among African American Women At The U.S. Department Of Commerce: An Examination Of The Intersection Of Strategic Planning With Race And Gender, Sesha Joi Moon

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

The intent of this dissertation is to examine the state of representation and segregation among African American women across the workforce at the United States Department of Commerce. This study employs a triangulated research design to examine the relationship between elements of strategic planning and the employment patterns of African American women. This study's qualitative analysis includes a content analysis of 13 agency-specific strategic documents published between FY 1994 through FY 2010. This data is supplemented with a longitudinal trend analysis of personnel data for fulltime, permanent employees retrieved from the National Finance Center for the same time period. The …

Style Watch: Blackface Edition, Rashida Aluko-Roberts

SURGE

The above quote is from a statement/apology offered by Sebastian Kim, a photographer, whose recent editorial, “African Queen,” which featured a 16-year-old white female made to appear black, was marred with controversy. According to the photographer, dousing a young white female in deep bronze, accessorizing her in elaborate head wraps and heavy jewels (symbols that are often associated with Africa), was in no way an attempt to depict what an “African queen” looks like. Rather, his spread was attempting to showcase “the beauty aesthetic of his shoot” by using a “tanned or golden skin” model. [excerpt]

Ua12/2/7 Student Affairs - Panhellenic Council, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about the Panhellenic Council.

Ua19/16/1 For This Is Dear Old Western's Day, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Athletic media guide for volleyball team.

Ua19/16/1 Cross Country / Track & Field Media Guide, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

WKU track and field media guide for 2013-14 season.

Sleep Homeodynamics And Wellbeing In Asymptomatic Hiv-Seropositive African American Women, Tabetha Lynn Gayton

Wayne State University Dissertations

SLEEP HOMEODYNAMICS AND WELLBEING IN ASYMPTOMATIC HIV–SEROPOSITIVE AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN

by

TABETHA LYNN GAYTON

December 2013

Advisor: Hossein N. Yarandi, PhD

Major: Nursing (Urban Health)

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

BACKGROUND: HIV–related sleep disruption is a common complaint of persons with HIV infection. With the demographical shifts, African American women have now emerged as one of the fastest growing HIV populations today, yet they remain a vulnerable and underrepresented population in the sleep literature.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the dynamics of HIV–related sleep disruption and wellbeing in asymptomatic HIV–seropositive AA women of childbearing age within …

Zora Neale Hurston As Womanist, Cheryl Hopson

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Zora Neale Hurston is today recognized as an American and African American literary great. What Hurston has come to mean for black women writers such as Alice Walker can be gleaned from an assertion made by Walker in her canonical essay, “Zora Neale Hurston: A Cautionary Tale and Partisan View” (1979), included in In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens. Walker writes, “I became aware of my need of Zora Neale Hurston’s work some time before I knew her work existed” (83). Alice Walker is greatly responsible for the resurgence of interest in, and the creative and critical reassessment of, …

What Matters Most? An Examination Of Breastfeeding Support For African American Mothers, Kanika Littleton

Wayne State University Theses

Breastfeeding offers numerous health benefits to the mother, infant, and society. In the United States breastfeeding initiation rates have increased, but continue to fall short of objectives set forth by the CDC in the Healthy People 2020 initiative, regarding duration and exclusivity. African Americans have lower rates of breastfeeding initiation, duration, and exclusivity than any other racial or ethnic group in the United States (USDHHS, 2012).

The purpose of this study was to examine the breastfeeding experiences of a diverse group of African American women, in order to better understand what social networks encouraged or discouraged breastfeeding initiation, continuation, and …