African American Studies Commons^™

Get Out (2017), Us (2019), And Jordan Peele's New Black Body Horror, Brady Simenson

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This thesis provides an analysis of Jordan Peele’s films, Get Out (2017) and Us (2019). The thesis contextualizes Get Out and Us as part of a protracted cultural conversation regarding monstrous images of the cinematic black body that began with Hollywood’s early monster films and continued into the culturally subversive era of blaxploitation horror films. While blaxploitation cinema reclaimed images of the racial Other that had been represented in the early creature feature subgenre, no such notable movement has subverted the more recent body horror subgenre. Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Us shift this subgenre toward racially inverted body horror. …

A New Paradigm For Improving Race Relations, Teresa Reed

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Race, American Enlightenment, And The End Times, Mark A. Mattes

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

This chapter examines eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century visions of apocalypse regarding the future of black lives in the American body politic. It begins with readings of Jefferson’s fear of a black planet in Notes on the State of Virginia and Crèvecoeur’s depictions of racial terror in Letters from an American Farmer. The chapter then investigates the writing of an African American herald of the end times, Christopher MacPherson. The chapter reads the apocalyptic jeremiad of MacPherson’s pamphlet, Christ’s Millennium (1811), as a reparative response to the suppression of black voices and the annihilation of black lives.

Generative Leadership And The Life Of Aurelia Erskine Brazeal, A Trailblazing African American Female Foreign Service Officer, Atim Eneida George

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

There is a gap in the literature on generativity and the leadership philosophy and praxis of African American Female Foreign Service Officers (AAFFSOs). I addressed this deficit, in part, by engaging an individual of exceptional merit and distinction—Aurelia Erskine Brazeal—as an exemplar of AAFFSOs. Using qualitative research methods of portraiture and oral history, supplemented by collage, mind mapping and word clouds, this study examined Brazeal’s formative years in the segregated South and the extraordinary steps her parents took to protect her from the toxic effects of racism and legal segregation. In addition, I explored the development of Brazeal’s interest in …

Straight From The Source: Black College Presidents Tell Their Stories, Steven Purcell

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Students on college and university campuses across the United States are becoming more racially diverse. However, leadership on college campuses is not trending toward more diversity, particularly in higher administrative posts such as the presidency. To better understand this stagnate trend of college president diversity, this critical narrative study examined the lived experiences and insights of six current or former college presidents who identify as Black. The participants in this study are a unique cohort of individuals who have served as presidents/chancellors at institutions where Black students are not the majority ethnic/racial group on campus.

More specifically, this study sought …

Racial Profiling In Education: A Study Of Teacher Perceptions Of Students In Special Education, Cairen D. Ireland

LMU Theses and Dissertations

African American males have performed near the bottom of the educational hierarchy in America for centuries. Though some improvements have been noted in the last several decades, educational statistics illustrate the achievement gap still persists between African American and White students (Hanushek, 2016). Disaggregated data show disparities in academic performance, high school drop-out rates, and college completion rates. African American males as early as kindergarten are also facing harsher discipline in schools and Black boys are often excluded from gifted and advanced placement courses and other educational opportunities (Howard, 2010). Yet, this population is over-referred and overrepresented in special education, …

Learning From Their Journey: Black Women In Graduate Health Professions Education, Marcia Lynne Parker

LMU Theses and Dissertations

While numerous efforts have been made across different educational contexts aimed towards increasing demographic diversity in STEM education, career decision-making content related to the potential pursuit of health professions education has failed to reach all students. Thus, there is a need for a more consistent and targeted sharing of information, including from the graduate level (where students must meet detailed requirements for specific healthcare disciplines), down to the community college and high school levels where students often make life-changing career-direction decisions without sufficient information to inform these decisions. At the other end of the spectrum, the conventional learning experiences in …

Repairing A Nation: A Visual Exploration Into The American Debate On Reparations, Desi Jeseve Lapoole

Senior Independent Study Theses

The debate on reparations for slavery in the United States of America has persisted for generations, capturing the attention and imagination of America in waves before falling out of public consciousness over the decades. Throughout its longevity, the debate on reparations has had many arguments in support of and opposition towards the idea and has inspired many different proposals which seek to solve many different problems. Today, reparations have found new mainstream attention, thanks in part Ta-Nehisi Coates’ article, “The Case for Reparations,” published in The Atlantic, and to two new reparations bills in Congress. My research explores the …

Carceral Extractivism, Livelihood Strategies, And “Acting Right” In The U.S. South, Edward L. Bullock

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

Mass incarceration and its effects are well documented and carceral privatization is hotly contested on moral and economic grounds. This dissertation examines the local effects of carceral privatization in the U.S. south in historical context. Tallulah is a small, rural predominately African American town in northeastern Louisiana that endures high rates of poverty, unemployment, and low educational attainment. It also hosts four private prisons operated by LaSalle Corrections, LLC. Two primary and overlapping questions guide the research. 1) How has an history of carceral entrepreneurship and mass incarceration impacted the way persons and communities create livelihoods and imagine futures, and …

Robert Cowley: Living Free During Slavery In Eighteenth-Century Richmond, Virginia, Ana F. Edwards

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the life of Robert Cowley, a formerly enslaved man living free during slavery in eighteenth-century Richmond, Virginia. The first chapter examines Cowley’s enslaved life through the records of others. The data collectors and historians of early America did not intend to capture the truth of Black people’s American experiences, except as defined their enslavement--people in service to the wealth-building capacity of the nation. Yet the lives of Black people who lived in proximity to prominent whites can be glimpsed in a variety of records and writings from account books to deeds, from private letters to newspaper advertisements. …

Doctor-Patient Communication: The Experiences Of Black Caribbean Women Patients With Diabetes, Rosanne Paul-Bruno

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to examine the verbal and non-verbal communication experiences of Black Caribbean diabetic women patients with their doctors, in order to provide a better understanding of the essential aspects of doctor- patient communication and their experiences as they managed their condition. Black Caribbean women have been disproportionately impacted by medical conditions such as diabetes. It has been a documented fact that minorities experience disparities in the health care system at different levels and doctor-patient communication is no exception. Poor doctor-patient communication has been known to hinder patients’ health outcomes, and therefore warrants such studies to increase …

In Pictures And Words: A Womanist Answer To Addressing The Lived Experience Of African American Women And Their Bodies—A Gumbo Of Liberation And Healing, Yolandé Aileen Ifalami Devoe

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Whether it is claiming a radical self-love for one’s body or dissatisfaction of one’s body, the experiences of African American women and their bodies cannot be divergent from the sociocultural contexts in which they live. Seeking to reveal how gender, race, and sexual orientation impact the lived experiences of African American women and their bodies, this study will bring attention to and provide a more nuanced understanding of the historical and sociocultural ramifications of the Black female body. Historically, inadequate attention has been given to an intersectional approach to understanding the experiences of the Black female body. It is understood …

Black Students, White Schools, And Racism: Exploring The Experiences, Challenges, And Resilience Of Black Students At Private K-12 Predominantly White Institutions (Pwis) Through Adult Reflections, Sade Ojuola

Master's Theses

This project examines the challenging racialized experiences of Black students who attended private predominantly white institutions (PWIs) during their K-12 education, with a particular focus on the long-term impact of those experiences. The existing literature contains valuable data about the experiences of Black students in predominantly white private schools. However, an important gap in the literature exists regarding the reflections and understandings developed over time by Black adults who attended predominantly white private schools. This field project aims to explore the beliefs that were borne of those experiences and how those experiences ultimately become interwoven into a Black student’s identity …

Exploring The Relationship Between Gender, Race, And Space, And Toronto Community Housing Policy, Anita Rachel Ewan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation presents the racial-gendered lived experiences of Black women living in Toronto Community Housing (TCH; subsidized housing). This research found that Black women and their families are disproportionately faced with challenges due to barriers caused by housing policy and procedures that also affect the overall development and wellbeing of their children. It also highlights the ways in which Black women continue to thrive and survive in the face of detrimental and derelict living conditions; accomplished through community development and support initiatives, and fostering strong communities.

This is a qualitative research project that includes an art-based method. Utilizing a feminist …

Rememory, Walidah Imarisha

Black Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Short Story Summary

Set in a future world where those who believe in liberation have set up autonomous zones across the United States, teen Ayo contemplates her place in this society without prisons and police. While her chosen sibling Essakai is fighting to free more territories, Ayo decides to journey into the Rememory, the collective consciousness of past Black liberation movements, to find out what her role in creating these new just worlds should be.

Foreword to Black Freedom Beyond Borders: Memories of Abolition Day

There are times when our lived reality feels stranger than science fiction - a viral …

Black Finesse Amidst The Political Science Paradigm: A Race-Grounded Phenomenology, Janiece Zalina Mackey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this research, I develop a methodology that I call Race-Grounded Phenomenology (RGP). The scope of this study investigates how Black undergraduate students navigate the discipline of political science. An eclectic array of critical theories of race unveil the ways in which Black undergraduate students exhibit flair and tenacity, or what I call Black Finesse. The eclectic array of critical theories of race utilized in this study include critical race theory, critical whiteness studies, and identity enactments. However, this study focuses on the Black student experience amidst the socialization of political science or what I call the political science paradigm. …

College, At What Cost? African American/Black Women Undergraduate Students’ Perception Of Institutional Policy Levers, Tamara D. White

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study is exploring how institutional policy levers impact retention for African American/Black women undergraduate students at a private four-year predominantly white institution in a mid-western state of the United States. Retention of African American/Black women undergraduate students is not a widely researched area. In this exploratory case study, eight African American/Black undergraduate junior and senior women, ten administrators and one focus group of six African American/Black women were interviewed. Artifacts were collected from the administrators. The data collected was analyzed using the culturally engaging campus environment model. The experiences of the African American/Black undergraduate women were examined in academic …

Against The Eyes Of God And Man: The Suicide And Alcohol Intoxication Deaths Of Enslaved People In Alexandria And Henrico County, Virginia, 1805-1829, Peighton L. Young

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a compressive examination of suicide and self-destructive behaviors within specific enslaved populations in early republic Virginia localities. I use coroners’ inquests as the primary means for identifying notable causes of death and potential behavioral patterns amongst the enslaved people presented in this study. I focused my investigation on two causes of death, demographics, and localities respectively: the drowning suicides committed by enslaved women along the Potomac River waterfront in Alexandria between 1807 and 1824 and the alcohol intoxication-related deaths of enslaved men in Henrico County between 1805 and 1829. Stepping away from …

Identifying Strategies That Address Race-Based Traumatic Stress Of African Americans In Rural Mississippi, Syrenia Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There has been a dramatic increase of race-based encounters that have had an extensive health impact on African Americans. Social workers and other mental health professionals play a crucial role in working with African American adults who experience race-based traumatic stress. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify strategies to address race-based traumatic stress from a mental health perspective. Racial encounter coping appraisal and socialization theory (RECAST) guided this study where eight social workers from the local community mental health center in rural Mississippi completed an open-ended questionnaire to identify and determine culturally competent treatment strategies for African …

Portrait Narratives Of Caring Teachers For African American High School Students, Larissa T. Mccormick

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

For African American high school students, caring relationships extend beyond peer

interaction to include supporting adults, most particularly teachers, who are pivotal to

their educational experience and success or lack of success. The research problem

centered on the lack of diversity and authentic voice when discussing caring teacher-student relationships. Markedly, the voices of African American high school students

were lacking from the current body of research literature. The purpose of this narrative

qualitative study was threefold: (a) to capture the voices of African American high school

students’ as they shared their experience(s) about a caring teacher; (b) to capture the …

How Feminist Beliefs Relate To Self-Objectification In African American Females, Ashton Shelby

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Sexual objectification has consistently been found to significantly influence self-objectification in women. Self-objectification has been linked to a number of adverse effects in women including depression, sexual dysfunction, and disordered eating. All females are vulnerable to sexually objectifying experiences and thus, developing self-objectifying behaviors and issues. Although extensive research explores both forms of objectification with Caucasian females, less is known about females in minority groups. In addition, little research has explored potential moderating variables. In other research related to investigating women's mental health, feminism is one variable that has been found to have a positive effect on women's issues. This …

The Origins Of Skin Tone Perceptions Within The African American Community, Clarissa Tibbs

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The distinction, categorizing, and hierarchical ranking of African Americans can be traced back to the enslavement of Africa Americans in the United States. There has been limited exploration on the origins of color consciousness among African Americans. Further, there is limited exploration on the in-group interactions of African Americans, perceptions of self-esteem, and experiences with psychological distress with skin tone as a mediating factor. Inquiry concerning the origins of color consciousness can lead to more effective cultural competence among mental health professionals and also treatment modalities equipped to address the unique experiences that African Americans face. The Black Racial Identity …

Perspectives Of African Americans Diagnosed With End Stage Renal Disease And Their Perceptions Regarding Accessibility Of Care, Toya Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

End stage renal disease (ESRD) is the final phase of kidney disease. African Americans make up 35% of all ESRD cases, which is rising. They lead all other racial groups and are 3 times more likely to be diagnosed with ESRD. Researchers have reported quantitative results involving this population, but none have focused on their experiences. The researcher sought to capture the experiences of these patients and their perceptions regarding access to healthcare to determine the role that access to care played in their condition. Interviews were conducted to gain an understanding of their experiences related to their use of …

African American Men's Perceptions Of Colorism, Naeemah A. Young-Jones

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Colorism bias related to skin complexion is a persistent phenomenon within the African American community and often shapes the family dynamics and results in noteworthy adverse psychosocial impacts for African Americans. Researchers have examined colorism or the preference for lighter skin over darker skin primarily as it pertained to women, but little research existed regarding men. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of African American men with respect to their attitudes toward skin complexion and how those attitudes inform their dating habits and self-esteem. Understanding how this group of men managed living this phenomenon …

Museum Educators' Processes For Creating Inclusive Curricula On American Slavery, Dawn Chitty

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

To close a gap in the literature, this study sought to develop a deeper understanding of the processes museum educators use to create inclusive curricula on American slavery. The research design was a qualitative, descriptive, multicase study using data collected from a purposefully selected sample of museum educators, along the Eastern Seaboard region of the United States, who had previously created inclusive curricula on slavery. Null's radical curriculum theory formed the conceptual framework for this study. Individual interviews of 11 museum educators were recorded, transcribed, and coded in two cycles, using in vivo and pattern coding methods. Additionally, examples of …

African American Women Bloggers’ Lived Experiences With Digital Entrepreneurship: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, Melissa Mcdowell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The professionalization of blogs has elevated blogging to an organizational field whereby bloggers develop a legitimate career path. For many minority women bloggers, the transition from being traditionally employed to managing a one-person digital enterprise is often met with racial and gender imbalances created by nontraditional modes of work. The purpose of this qualitative transcendental phenomenological study was to gain a deeper understanding of how African American women bloggers described their lived experiences with managing a one-person digital enterprise and the implications of their racial and gender identity within this nontraditional mode of work. To address this gap, a transcendental …

Mandibular Attachment Device Effects On African American Veterans With Heart Failure, Tracey T. F. Carter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Heart failure is a growing epidemic that affects people nationwide and is disproportionate to African Americans. The purpose of this quantitative repeated measures study was to determine whether mandibular attachment device (MAD) therapy impacts symptoms of heart failure in African American male veterans diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The oxidative stress theory was applied in this study to assess whether MAD therapy received from Veterans Affairs (VA) dental clinics impacted heart failure symptoms, after controlling for patient body mass index (BMI) levels and smoking status. Research questions examined whether MAD had a significant effect on symptoms of heart failure …

Impact Of Race-Related Stress And Intraracial Microaggressions On Self-Efficacy Of African Descendants, Samina Long

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Race-related stress such as ancestral trauma and experiences of out- and in-group microaggressions can be intergenerationally transmitted from parent to child. The current study was conducted to address the need for research on race-related trauma and out- and in-group discrimination by providing evidence-based research on whether African descendants experiencing and witnessing race-related stress and intraracial microaggressions results in low self-efficacy. The purpose of this quantitative, multiple regression design was to explore the relationships among race-related stress, intraracial microaggressions, and self-efficacy, which may provide clarity on the psychological impact of these stressors. This study addressed the question of whether race-related stress …

Youth Overcoming Barriers Through Multiple Adult Mentoring Relationships, Faraji Martin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American youth may face several problems that may hinder their positive growth into adulthood. These individuals may not have adults in their lives who aid in overcoming difficulties that halt positive youth development. Mentoring may provide a young person with an adult or several people that can assist youth with problems and help them find the appropriate solutions to overcome them. Numerous studies have provided research on negative influences on youth development, but authors noted that further research on positive youth development among disadvantaged African American youth is necessary. The current study provides information about informal mentoring and the …

Exploring Juvenile Delinquency Recidivism In Fulton County, Georgia, Adekoya Olateru-Olagbegi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The high juvenile delinquency recidivism rate is a problem in Fulton County Georgia, that continues to be of significant concern. The juvenile justice system has gained acceptance as a means of addressing and reducing the high recidivism rates of juvenile offenders. However, there is a lack of research regarding African American male adults and juvenile justice probationers’ perceptions of the factors affecting recidivism. This qualitative study explored and examined the phenomenon and factors that contribute to juvenile recidivism through the perceptions of African American male adults who were previously juvenile delinquents, and current juvenile probation officers. Ecological systems theory was …