African American Studies Commons^™

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 96, No. 1, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

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

• Rash, Liza. Math Department Head Makes a Shocking Model Regarding Potential Campus COVID-19 Death Rate
• Bertucci, Leo. WKU Introduces COVID-19 Testing to Campus Community
• Marshall, Olivia. How Students Can Navigate Campus Facilities This Semester
• Bunton, Gabrielle. Campus Organizations Prepare to Engage Students Amid COVID Restrictions
• Deppen, Laurel. On-campus Students Who Contract COVID to be Moved to New Location to Quarantine
• Stack, Madalyn. Editorial Cartoon re: Social Distancing
• College of Health & Human Services Should Have Been More Involved in Restart Committee
• Deppen, Laurel. From the …

Black Freedom Beyond Borders: Memories Of Abolition Day, Amber Butts, Ayize Jama-Everett, Calvin Williams, Donte Clark, Lisa K. Bates, Naudika Williams, Shawn Taylor, Walidah Imarisha, Amir Kadar

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

The anthology is available here for download, and the YouTube video of authors reading excerpts is embedded.

Wakanda Dream Lab and PolicyLink present a storyworld of safety and freedom in a future without prisons and policing.

While debates about “defunding” raise the question of what a new public safety system might look like, authors and artists are showing us what is possible through speculative fiction. In the spirit of visionary fiction, we convened future-bending Black storytellers for a Black Speculative Writer's Room Project, and together, we created an anthology of freedom dream stories exploring a world after the abolition of …

A Name Change May Be A Start, But It Is Not Enough, Leah D. Williams

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

Since the broadcast killing of George Floyd by four Minneapolis police officers on May 25, all levels of government, and institutions of every kind, have scrambled with breakneck speed to confront their own ties to America’s most deeply entrenched demons: White supremacy and systematic racism. Washington and Lee has certainly not been exempt from this reckoning. A majority of its faculty and student body have already passed resolutions calling for the removal of Robert E. Lee’s name from the university. As a direct descendent of those enslaved by the school, I commend these resolutions; yet, I strongly offer that a …

Genetic Ancestry, Skin Color And Social Attainment: The Four Cities Study, Dede K. Teteh, Lenna Dawkins-Moultin, Stanley Hooker, Wenndy Hernandez, Carolina Bonilla, Dorothy Galloway, Victor Lagroon, Eunice Rebecca Santos, Mark Shriver, Charmaine D. M. Royal, Rick Kittles

Health Sciences and Kinesiology Faculty Articles

Introduction
The Black population in the US is heterogeneous but is often treated as monolithic in research, with skin pigmentation being the primary indicator of racial classification. Objective: This paper examines the differences among Blacks by comparing genetic ancestry, skin color and social attainment of 259 residents across four US cities—Norman, Oklahoma; Cincinnati, Ohio; Harlem, New York; and Washington, District of Columbia.

Methods
Participants were recruited between 2004 and 2006 at community-based forums. Cross-sectional data were analyzed using chi-square tests, correlation analyses and logistic regression.

Results
There were variations in ancestry, melanin index and social attainment across some cities. Overall, …

Examining The Multiple Sites Of Meaning In A Participant Photography Project With Black Male College Students, Quaylan Allen

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Participant photography is a visual method that has been widely used in research to elevate the voices of historically marginalized populations. Although much has been written about the nature of the visual method, including its benefits and challenges, less is known about how meaning is made of the visual images as they move throughout the research process. To this end, this article draws upon data and the methodological notes from a research study examining Black masculinities and employs a critical visual methodology to examine the different sites of meaning-making in a participant photography research project with Black college men. First, …

Social Power Of Jazz Festivals, Olga Bekenshtein

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Jazz festivals occur in all parts of the world, small cities and metropolises, urban and rural landscapes, stadiums, churches, streets, and abandoned factories. Being a part of the entertainment industry, they have the potential to impact social change. Jazz festivals help us reconsider notions of identity and community, and their communal experience has the potential to undermine dominant social norms. The industry of jazz festivals is based on Black music and has a history of positive and negative social outcomes. Evaluating festivals through the symbolic meaning of music provides an optic into how festivals marginalize and exploit African American cultural …

Exploring Black "Saviors": A Content Analysis Of Black Characters And Racial Discourses In Obama-Era Films., Eric A. Jordan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes how black characters across twenty movies released in the years 2006-2018 inspire, coach, “save,” or “rescue” other characters. Studies on “savior” characters in film tend to focus on white savior characters who seek to “save” people of color from harm. When comparing black characters and white saviors, I find that black characters use three specific strategies—revolution, vigilantism, and altruism —to help other characters. The characters who use the revolution and vigilantism strategies seem to be what I call “black saviors” who work to fight against institutional and systemic racism to save the black diaspora. Altruistic characters seem …

Practicing Pan-Africanism: West Indians And Governance In Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana., Nicholas C. Mcleod

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

After gaining independence from England, Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana, was transparent in his embrace of the entire African diaspora and actively recruited a number of Pan-African West Indian intellectual-activists, who mentored and advised him as a student in London, to help build Ghana as a Pan-Africanist state. Among these West Indian intellectual-activists were George Padmore, W. Arthur Lewis, T. Ras Makonnen, and Jan Carew. For these West Indians the appeal of Ghana was neither symbolic nor ceremonial, but rather an opportunity to achieve the ultimate objective of the Pan-African movement, a free and self-governed African continent. In …

Carolyn S. Bowman, Mark Naison

Oral Histories

Bowman became active in the Civil Rights movement in her young adult life. She was active in various organizations including the NAACP, in which she participated in the Youth March on Washington (1958). In her time with the NAACP, she met Aloncita J. Food, a regional director for the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Flood made Bowman promise she would join the AKA’s upon her higher education graduation. In 1966, Bowman officially joined the Bronx Eta Omega Omega Chapter as its youngest member. Within the Eta Omega Omega Chapter, Bowman participated primarily in children and family based initiatives, including working with …

Jacqueline Everette Brown, Mark Naison

Oral Histories

As one of the founding members of Eta Omega Omega, Brown played an integral part in the chartering process, including fundraising and recruitment. As time passed, Brown became less active in the chapter due to familial commitments. In 1969, Brown graduated from Hunter College with a degree in social work. Although Brown adored her time in New York City, especially because most of her family lived there, she was ready for something new – and the South was calling her name. In 1974, she accepted a position as the Clinical Director of a drug treatment program in Atlanta, Georgia, where …

In The Balance Of Power : Independent Black Politics And Third-Party Movements In The United States, Omar H. Ali

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

Reveals the multiple independent political tactics and strategies that African Americans have used to expand democracy and uphold civil and political rights since the founding of the nation.

This new edition of Ali’s groundbreaking narrative includes an epilogue by independent political analyst and leader Jacqueline Salit. New material addresses the historic presidencies of both Barack Obama and Donald Trump, as well as the rising tide of independent and anti-party sentiments.

"Historically, most black voters in the United States have aligned themselves with one of the two major parties: the Republican Party from the time of the Civil War to the …

Talk This Way: A Look At The Historical Conversation Between Hip-Hop And Christianity, Joshua Swanson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Christianity and Hip-Hop culture are often said to be at odds with one another. One is said to promote a lifestyle of righteousness and love, while the other is said to promote drugs, violence, and pride. As a result, the public has portrayed these two institutions as conflicting with no willingness to resolve their perceived differences. This paper will argue that there has always been a healthy conversation between Hip-Hop and Christianity since Hip-Hop’s inception. Using sources like Hip-Hop lyrics, theologians, historians, autobiographies, sermons, and articles that range from Ma$e to Tipper Gore, this paper will look at the conversation …

Black Teachers’ Collective Wisdom As Social Justice Pedagogy: A Black Feminist Narrative Analysis, Jacqueline Cora Boone

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

In this age, 21st century, where social issues surrounding race and gender are impassioned and escalating, black feminists and Black Feminist Theory are leading the charge in bringing salience through activism and engagement. Doing post structural qualitative research aims to dismantle a myth of scientific knowledge that emphasizes triangulation and transferability of research with the use of multiple representations of experience. This research investigates critical issues in qualitative research, specifically the ontological challenge that researchers commonly encountered in depicting experience and social reality. The turn to experience and lived stories has expanded the modes of qualitative research by hearing marginalized …

You Are Resilient: Trauma-Informed, Strengths-Based Treatment For Low-Ses, Urban Youth, Courtney Molina

Dissertations

The focus in this review was to explore the benefits and optimal use of trauma-informed, strengths-based care for the therapeutic treatment of low-socioeconomic status (SES), urban youth. Specific focus was given to evidence-based research on the treatment of emotional and behavioral dysregulation among low-SES, urban youth. The review was guided by the following research questions: How can emotional and behavioral dysregulation be symptoms of trauma among low-SES, urban youth; What makes trauma-informed and strengths-based care optimal for the treatment of low-SES, urban youth with dysregulation; and What are clear guidelines for providing trauma-informed, strengths-based care to low-SES, urban youth with …

Introduction: Savage And Savvy: Mapping Contemporary Hip Hop Feminism, Aria S. Halliday, Ashley N. Payne

Journal of Hip Hop Studies

Introduction to the special issue on Hip Hop Feminism entitled Twenty-First Century B.I.T.C.H. Frameworks: Hip Hop Feminism Comes of Age.

Hip Hop Feminism Starter Kit, M. Nicole Horsley

Journal of Hip Hop Studies

The inspiration to develop a Hip Hop Feminist workbook developed from a college course I teach: Hip Hop Feminism: Queen B*tch. An Introduction to the (im)Possibilities of Hip Hop Feminism. Using the syllabus, I have developed lessons and talks on college campuses that I have also delivered to community spaces with Black girls and women, secondary educators, parents, and student organizations. I teach resistance and anti-establishment readings of our bodies, lyrics, and live and mediated performances of Hoes With An Attitude (H.W.A.) Lil’ Kim, Missy ‘Misdemeanor’ Elliott, Cardi B, The City Girls; as well as topics related to Hip Hop …

The Cardi B–Beyoncé Complex: Ratchet Respectability And Black Adolescent Girlhood, Ashley N. Payne

Journal of Hip Hop Studies

The identity of Black girls is constantly subject to scrutiny in various spaces, particularly within Hip Hop and education. Previous scholarship has noted that, as Black girls are compelled to navigate the margins of respectability politics, the images and messages of Hip Hop culture have always created a complicated and complex space for Black girls’ identity development. The purpose of this article is to explore how Black adolescent girls construct their identities, particularly as it relates to ratchet-respectability identity politics, a concept called the Cardi B–Beyoncé́ complex. In examining the Cardi B–Beyoncé́ complex, I look at the intersection of …

Black Rural Feminist Trap: Stylized And Gendered Performativity In Trap Music, Corey Miles

Journal of Hip Hop Studies

Hip Hop, particularly trap music, has been conceptualized as male-centered, despite Black women’s role in its inception. This paper engages with trap music as a structural template that is co-constructed and used as a site of articulation by Black women to engage in gendered performativity. Rather than engaging with trap lyrics as literal representations of artists’ desires and politics, I examine the types of gender constructions that are enabled when the aesthetic structure of trap music performativity is centered. I analyze this through ethnographic research in northeast North Carolina, situating trap music within a Hip Hop feminist framework. I contend …

Foreword, Travis T. Harris

Journal of Hip Hop Studies

No abstract provided.

Letter To Jatavia Johnson And Caresha Brownlee (The City Girls), Kyra March

Journal of Hip Hop Studies

This letter to Jatavia Johnson and Caresha Brownlee (the City Girls) argues that the rap duo’s brand, music, and videos are prime examples of Hip Hop and percussive feminism. It also explains how their contributions to the rap industry as Black womxn have inspired other Black womxn to embrace their sexuality, live freely, and disregard politics of respectability. Personal experiences from the author are incorporated to display how the City Girls are empowering and inspiring a new generation of Black womxn and girls. Additionally, critiques from the media and double standards between white and Black womxn in the entertainment industry …

It’S Complicated: Black Hip Hop Feminist Art Commentary On Us Democracy, Camea Davis

Journal of Hip Hop Studies

Part narrative reflection, part artistic installation, this work contemplates the tensions and the possibilities of Hip Hop culture, Black womanhood, and American democracy in the United States. The significance of this work is twofold: (1) The authors use Hip Hop feminism to develop a framework for Hip Hop activism as a public pedagogy on US politics, and (2) they provide commentary on US democracy from a Black Hip Hop feminist perspective through art. This article contributes an argument for a creative ontological space from which Black women can reimagine a justice-centered US democracy.

“Yeah, I’M In My Bag, But I’M In His Too”: How Scamming Aesthetics Utilized By Black Women Rappers Undermine Existing Institutions Of Gender, Diana Khong

Journal of Hip Hop Studies

2018 was the year of the “scammer,” in which many Black women rappers took on “scamming” aesthetics in their lyrics and music video imagery. Typified by rappers such as City Girls and Cardi B, the scammer archetype is characterized by the desire for financial gain and material possessions and the emotional disregard of men. This paper investigates how Black women rappers, in employing these themes in their music, subvert existing expectations of gender by using the identity of the scammer as a restorative figure. The objectification of men in their music works in counterpoint to the dominant gender system and …

Twenty-First Century B.I.T.C.H. Frameworks: Hip Hop Feminism Comes Of Age, Aria S. Halliday, Ashley N. Payne

Journal of Hip Hop Studies

This special issue is dedicated to the bad bitches. The ratchet women. The classy women. The hood feminists. The “feminism isn’t for everybody” feminists. Those women, femmes, and girls who continuously (re)present and (re)construct Black girl/womanhood. The creatives, the innovators, the women that are “often imitated, but never duplicated.” This issue is dedicated to you and the ways in which you challenge us to (re)define what it means to be Black girls/women in this world and what it means to reclaim power over your own representation and images. This issue is for you, defined by you, and inspired by you.

Imagining Margaret Garner: The Tragic Life Of An American Woman, Cecilia M. Smith

History in the Making

There is limited information on the life of the nineteenth century female slave with most details compiled from the narratives of well-known women such as Sojourner Truth. Professor Erlene Stetson and other historians argue that scholars treat slavery as a male phenomenon and the female is merely looked upon as a breeder, while noted African-American activist Angela Davis calls for a more accurate portrayal to debunk derogatory myths. This paper addresses the issue of image with the argument that the enslaved African-American woman possessed no image of her own. It focuses on the story of a runaway female slave named …

Black Stand-Up Comedy Of The 1960s, Claudia Mariscal

History in the Making

Vast research can be found on African Americans’ culture and their use of humor to overcome struggles within American society. Much of the research found focuses on the study of African American humor in literature, folk tales, art, and theatre, but little has been done on the study of black stand-up comedy in the 1960s and comics’ use of humor to overcome and combat racism and social struggles during this decade. Different methods of approach are used to gain a broader understanding of the use of humor as a combative tool by black comics in the 1960s. The comedic performances …

Impacts Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Black Americans With Diabetes, Ted Studt

Biology Summer Fellows

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all Americans in varying ways, but it has hit the American Black population particularly hard. It also impacts immunocompromised individuals, especially those with conditions that involve damage to or hindering of the cardiovascular or respiratory systems. I found myself asking several questions – how much did this affect individuals who suffer from such conditions, especially those who are Black Americans; how much does systemic racism play in the current pandemic; what could be done about all this; and so on. Since I myself have lived with type I diabetes for almost two decades at the …

Confederate Statues Are Monuments To The ‘Lost Cause’ Cult Of White Supremacy, Judith Ezekiel

Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Role Of Municipal Governance In Stabilizing Mature Inner Suburbs: A Study Of Five St. Louis Municipalities 1970-2015, Napoleon Williams Iii

Dissertations

This study explores the role of municipal governance in municipal-level stabilization of inner suburbs in St. Louis County, Missouri. The data, from 1970 to 2015, include a robust collection of official government archives collected from five municipalities in St. Louis County, historical documents, city-state-national statistical data, and related materials. Interviews of 25 stakeholders were conducted and data were analyzed based on the community power structure framework.

I outline five mature St. Louis inner suburbs’ evolution in municipal-level conditions from 1970 to 2015, and I detail the role each suburbs’ municipal governance played in the evolution of municipal-level conditions. I conclude, …

Black Women’S Lives Matter, Judith Ezekiel

Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

'My Hope Is That John Lewis’ Life Will Be As A Beacon To Our Young", Preston Love Jr.

Black Studies Faculty Publications

Congressman John Lewis was a friend of mine for 40 years. I mourn the passing of my dear friend, who was 80.