The Western journal of black studies

Maria Davidson: Malcolm X once said that History is the most important of all disciplines. Do you agree that racism and other bigotries rely on ahistorical arguments that either vaguely or specifically conjure up biological myths, myths that are easily and quickly subverted by history? George Yancy: Yes. For Malcolm X, history was especially important in terms of gaining access to a past that demonstrated the humanity of Black people and their contributions to world history. I think that this understanding of history and its importance to Black people no doubt structured the ethos of the Nation of Islam, more generally. One might say, and I realize that Malcolm didn't say it this way, that his conception of history was anti-Hegelian vis-a-vis the history of Black people, especially Sub-Saharan African people. His deployment of history functioned to communicate to Black people living in Harlem and other Black inner-city enclaves that they are a proud people whose history is grounded in self-conscious reflection and civilizational complexity. I think that Malcolm saw the importance of using history critically on behalf of Black people as a corrective, a sort of epistemological corrective, to the multiple white racist myths formulated by European and Anglo-American thinkers. Indeed, there was an entire white supremacist world-view that had to be critiqued and rethought. So, in this sense, I do think that it is important to engage history as a tool to deconstruct myths. In this way, history can be used as a weapon. Maria Davidson: Yes, history can be used for all sorts of ends. That comes from the fact that no historian, no matter how thorough, can ever produce a "true history"--after all, one simply can't put down everything that happened within a particular time span to a particular people or individual, not to mention all that we do not yet know, or will never know. So given this, how would you narrate Malcolms history-cumepistemology? What is he emphasizing and what are the costs? George Yancy: It is important to note that the early Malcolm believed in a kind of mythopoetic world-view in the form of Yacub's history, which involved the story of an arrogant Black scientist who created white people. White people were believed to be a "demonic" race and were destined to rule the earth until Black people regained their ascendency. Of course, this is not to deny the sheer brutality and barbarity of white supremacy that Black people actually experienced or that Malcolm X (then Malcolm Little) and members of his family experienced. Given the actual history of white supremacy in North America, one can see how that history would have informed, and, indeed, have been used to support, the historical narrative of Yacub's history. By doing so, the central tenet of the historical narrative of Yacub's history, that is, that whites are a "demonic" race, would have been more plausible to Malcolm. In fact, one might argue that the hermeneutic framework of Yacub's history functioned as a site of Black self-empowerment. I wonder, though, whether this was a case of one myth replacing another. Then again, I would think that all grand historical narratives, to some extent, have embedded within them certain myths, where such myths function to provide people with a coherent and intelligible sense of who they are. Within this context, myths are not so much the opposite of historical facts, but play a constitutive role in collective self-understanding. Yet, I think that it is important to isolate, challenge, and overthrow those myths that are predicated upon the relegation of other human beings to the status of sub-humanity or that target others as somehow ontologically unfit to exist. What is interesting, though, is that as one view of history is deployed, and at times dogmatically, other ways of deploying history are concealed. So, Yacub's history would have valorized Black people and "demonized" whites. The cost of this version of history could function to create a certain historical myopia on the part of Malcolm. …

African American Life and Culture in Orange Mound: Case Study of a Black Community in Memphis, Tennessee, 1890-1980 AUTHOR: CHARLES WILLIAMS PUBLISHER: LEXINGTON BOOKS: LANHAM, BOULDER, NEW YORK, PLYMOUTH, UK, 2013 PRICE: $39.99 ISBN NUMBER: 978-0-7391-7585-9 REVIEWER: GARY L. GRIZZLE BARRY UNIVERSITY, MIAMI SHORES African American Life and Culture in Orange Mound: Case Study of a Black Community in Memphis, Tennessee, 1890-1980 is a reworking of portions of the author's doctoral dissertation at the University of Illinois in the early 1980's. In this new work, Dr. Charles Williams tenders an account of the history, structure, and culture of the Orange Mound community; an account steeped in the archival research, participant observation, structured interviews, surveys, and case studies that provided the grist for his thesis. Unfortunately, there is much to lament regarding the execution of the work under consideration. To begin with this work is in need of copy editing on every level. There are countless misspellings throughout the text as well as frequent spacing errors, the combination of which makes for an oftentimes maddening read. The inattention to editorial detail that pervades this work is perhaps at its most irksome when (in Chapter 4) the first two of Dr. Williams' case studies of Black family types in Orange Mound share the same categorical heading - instead of the first case study being labelled typical and the second being labelled atypical as per his typology, both case studies are designated with the latter term - resulting in no shortage of confusion on the part of the reader. A second shortcoming of this work is that the narrative is generally difficult to follow, with information regarding the origins, demographics, institutions, and history of Orange Mound somewhat carelessly strewn throughout the text. Thus, the reader frequently encounters chapters that (whatever their internal merits) would seem to be more appropriate as sections of other chapters, as well as sections of chapters that (again, whatever their internal merits) might be more appropriate as distinct chapters. The same holds true for sections and subsections within chapters. As a result of this conceptual diffusion and conflation, it is difficult for the reader to maintain a sense of what was going on, and among whom, at any given point in the history of this community. A more rigorous structuring of the narrative in terms of issues, eras, or some other conceptually relevant criterion would have increased its coherence immensely. An additional shortcoming of this work is that its treatments of many of the most important topics addressed are frustratingly narrow. For instance, the discussion of the Black family in Orange Mound never really addresses the structure or role of that institution in any detail. Rather, the aforementioned typology of families is based primarily upon length of residency in the community which, while interesting, does little to support the condemnation of the Moynihan Report that opens the chapter. The reader is thus left pining for more. Likewise, the discussion of key community institutions is restricted to churches and schools. While these are standard institutions with which to begin such a discussion, the reader is once again left pining for more; in this case more about the many other enduring organizations and relationships that are mentioned but never actually explored in the narrative. A final shortcoming of this work for the purposes of this review is that it fails to mine its data sources to the fullest. That is, while we are informed that the substance of this work is derived from an impressively wide range of investigative techniques, the reader too seldom experiences the bounties of these techniques directly. That is, rather than consistently presenting rigorous archival documentation and unfettered experiential accounts to support his narrative, the author relies too heavily on summaries of and extrapolations from various documents and conversations, thereby robbing the work of the descriptive precision of the former and the experiential richness of the latter. …

Call-and-response is an African retention that pervades musical and cultural expressions of people of African descent, and is uniquely observable in Church. This essay interrogates intricacies, diversity, and multi-directionality of calls and responses in by examining liturgical expressions (particularly music and preaching) at Bethel Nondenominational Church and Mount Zion Baptist Church in Bloomington, Indiana. I argue that calls and responses can emanate from any position in sanctuary and from any source (human or inanimate). Contrary to often-held consensus on call-and-response, I argue further that, on many occasions, expressions originating from congregation, including those regarded as responses, often constitute primary and secondary calls that effectuate responses from and rest of congregation. This essay ultimately demonstrates how call and response in are often interchangeable concepts. Introduction Call-and-response is an African retention that pervades musical and cultural expressions of people of African descent, and is uniquely observable in (Burnim, 2006, p. 54; Williams-Jones, 1975, p. 378). I use term Black Church to reference kind of sociological and theological shorthand reference to pluralism of black Christian churches in United States (Lincoln and Mamiya, 1990, p. 1). The collective black is an outgrowth of where enslaved African Americans who converted to Christianity, gathered in ravines, gullies, and other clandestine locations to worship God in manners that were culturally and socially significant (Epstein, 1977, p. 100; Southern, 1977; Raboteau, 1980, pp. 243-266; Creel, 1988, pp. 276-302; Washington, 1988; 1992, p. 69; Burnim, 2001, p. 624-625). It encompasses storefront churches that emerged in urban areas after The Great Migrations (1914-1918; 1939-1945), where millions of African American migrated from Agrarian South to North and other regions of United States. However, it also includes more established denominations that catered to worship styles of urban and rural black populations, such as Holiness, Baptist and Methodist (Burnim, 2015). Although services in today are considerably more complex and visible than those of invisible church, call-and-response continues to be a persistent and pervasive expressive form. Call-and-response in is overwhelmingly used to discuss music, but is also prevalent in preaching, and praying, and other aspects of worship (Hinson, 2000, pp. 163-188; Pitts, 1989, pp. 137-149; Weaver, 1991, pp. 53-61). For example, call-and-response can be observed in interactions between soloists and choir (Williams-Jones, 1975); between singers and instruments (Allen, 1991, pp. 308-309); between singers (and other ministers) and congregation (Williams-Jones, 1975, p. 383; Burnim, 1985; Booker, 1988, pp. 40-45); between preacher and congregation (Mitchell, 1970; Wharry, 2003); and between ministers and instruments, particularly keyboards, organs, and drums (Booker, 1988, pp. 40-41). Call-and-response is noticeable, pervasive and crucial in just about every expression and performance throughout course of service. Nevertheless, examinations of call-and-response in recent literature have overwhelmingly focused on vocalized calls that originate from the (from preachers, singers, musicians, and other ministers), and vocalized responses that emanate from the or congregation (Smitherman, 1977). When responses from pew facilitate perpetuation of perceived pulpit calls or performances in general, scholars have tended to examine combined resultant performative interaction as a feedback loop (Maultsby, 1990, pp. 185-210). However, focusing on call-and-response from these perspectives overlook other equally important calls and responses that are essential to what African Americans often refer to as having church (Allen, 1991, pp. …

The 2014 Survey of Earned Doctorates reports the highest number (54,070) of doctoral degrees conferred by US institutions (from 1957 to 2014) (National Science Foundation, 2014). Within this period, doctoral degrees awarded to underrepresented students increased. In particular, doctorates earned by Blacks and/or African Americans increased by 70% between 1994-2014. This growth underscores what Willie, Grady, and Hope (1991) assert in their work, African Americans and the Doctoral Experience: Implications for Policy and Practice, that the opportunities for Blacks to obtain doctoral degrees was limited largely to the second half of the 20th Century. In the case of the 21st Century, doctoral degree production for Blacks appears to be steadily increasing. While these numbers seem promising in terms of the pathways available to pursue doctoral education for Blacks/African Americans, who have been historically marginalized and excluded from educational spaces, it's important to reflect upon why opportunities did not always exist to understand the historical and current trends of participation affecting the doctoral student experience for Blacks/African Americans today. Prior to the 1970's some of the only opportunities for Blacks/African Americans available to pursue doctoral education existed at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). These institutions are credited for supporting the academic excellence and success of this student population and have been touted as the primary producers of their graduate and professional degrees. These institutions are resourceful in addressing the psychological effects of racism, discrimination, and inequity in our society that have served to exclude students from doctoral education at predominately White institutions. These effects have been long-standing and there are numerous implications regarding their influence on the doctoral experience today. Given the scope and expansion of doctoral degree attainment beyond HBCUs, this volume of The Western Journal of Black Studies focuses on the psychosocial issues influencing the experiences of Black/African Americans and the ways they shape doctoral student socialization. The psychosocial experience in this work is shaped by literature on racial ideology, centrality, and socialization concepts (Felder, Gasman, Stevenson, 2014). The authors in the this volume considers the ways race influences aspects of the doctoral experience including (but not limited to): the student-faculty relationship, academic advisement, the role of social networks, the influence of prior academic and social experience, the impact of mentorship, the value of programmatic support in building cultural wealth, and understanding the transitions towards the professoriate. The psychosocial issues addressed in the volume only scratch the surface in examining the effects of exclusion on doctoral degree completion. The psychosocial issues influencing doctoral student socialization for historically marginalized students are numerous and have far-reaching effects on our system of education. Critically examining literature related to these issues is essential to constructing dialogues that interrogate systemic barriers of injustice and inequity that influence transitions towards doctoral degree completion. These barriers serve to hinder the academic socialization within the experiences of historically marginalized doctoral students; thus, creating and sustaining vulnerabilities in our national system of graduate education. As such, this volume supports findings in seminal research reports like The Path Forward: The Future of Graduate Education in the United States (2010) by highlighting why Black/African American doctoral students and degree completers are important national assets. And, identifying aspects of the socialization experience that hinder success and promote attrition. Furthermore, this volume emphasizes aspects of doctoral student socialization that are supportive of transitions towards degree completion and transitions into the academy including: strategies to attract and retain Black/African American doctoral students; advisement and mentoring; developing supportive programmatic efforts, and building social networks that allow students to positively engage (and participate) in their communities. …

With the falling percentage of Black males attaining doctoral degrees (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2009), research on their experience and the challenges they face becomes imperative. An area of concern for Black male doctoral students, especially those attending predominantly White institutions (PWIs) are their struggle to gain support in their programs. There is a limited, but consistent literature that indicates Black graduate students often suffer from marginalization, isolation, and discrimination, both within their programs and at the institution where they matriculate that impedes their development of supportive networks (Felder & Barker, 2013; Gildersleeve & Croom, 2011; Ellis, 2001; Lewis, Ginsberg, Davies, & Smith, 2004; Turner & Thompson, 1993). Sufficient social support contributes to a number of academic outcomes including persistence (Gloria, Kurpius, Hamilton, & Willson, 1999), sense of belonging (Hagerty, Williams, Coyne, & Early, 1996) and adjustment (Tinto, 1975). Specifically for doctoral students, social support, particularly from faculty and peers in a student's program, facilitates socialization into academic roles (Sweitzer, 2009). In this article, we examined the social support networks of Black male doctoral students in higher education administration programs. Specifically, we sought to understand how the interaction between gender and race, influenced the composition of the students' networks, the type of support offered, and the socialization experience. Limited research exists that specifically examines support networks of the graduate students. For example, in a study of the developmental networks of doctoral students in a highly rated business program, Sweitzer (2009) found students relied on faculty, peers, and family for support; however, family and peers unrelated to the academic program provided markedly different support than those associated with the program. In their study on the support networks of Black professional and graduate students, Defour and Hirsch (1990) found that Black students who developed social support networks that facilitated social integration into their departments reported greater satisfaction with their performance. These results indicate the profound influence of social support networks on the graduate experience. Although both aforementioned studies aid in our understanding of the influence of support networks on the graduate experience, there appear to be no studies that examine doctoral student support networks specifically in the context of race and gender. Scholars have found that Black doctoral students often have different experiences than White doctoral students (Nettles, 1990; Turner & Thompson, 1993). Additionally, Ellis (2001) found that Black male doctoral students reported a qualitatively different experience than Black female students. Therefore, it is important to examine the social support networks of Black male doctoral students to understand how the composition of their support networks affects their doctoral experience. Thus, using qualitative research methods, the purpose of our study was threefold: (1) to determine who was included in the social support networks Black male doctoral students in Higher Education Administration (HEA) programs at PWIs, (2) to examine what kind of support members of these networks offer, and (3) to examine how these support networks influenced the student's socialization. We begin this paper discussing the role of higher education programs and graduate student socialization, focusing on the agents that facilitate the process. Within the discussion, we will highlight the socialization experiences of Black doctoral students attending PWIs. We then present the theoretical framework, social network theory, which informs our data analysis. We conclude this article with a discussion of the key findings and implications for practice. Literature review The field of higher education emerged over the last 120 years. …

Studies published in the last decade provide clear evidence of the increasing numbers and diversity in the black population (Hernandez, 2012; Manuel, Taylor, & Jackson, 2012; Mason, 2014; Thomas, 2012; Unnever & Gabbidon, 2013; Waters, Kasinitz, & Asad, 2014). Dudley-Grant and Etheridge (2008) estimate that there may be as many as 8 to 9 million people of Caribbean descent included in the roughly 36.4 million people classified as blacks in the U.S. In 2005, two-thirds of the 2.8 million immigrant blacks were born in the Caribbean or another Latin America country and nearly one-third were born in Africa; 4 percent (about 113,000) were born in Europe, Canada, or elsewhere (Kent, 2007). Logan (2007) states that Afro-Caribbeans in the U.S.--over 1.5 million--now outnumber more visible national-origin groups such as Cubans and Koreans and that immigrant blacks in metro areas, constitute 20 percent or more of the total black population. Notably, the African component of the black foreign born population is growing most rapidly: 41 percent arrived between 2000 and 2005, compared to 15 percent of Caribbean/Latin American blacks and 22 percent of all foreign born blacks. Indeed, immigration contributed at least one-fifth (20 percent) to the growth in the U.S. black population between 2001 and 2006 (Benson, 2006; Kent, 2007). Sakamoto, Woo, and Kim (2010) analyzed the 2006 Current Population Survey (CPS) and found that first generation foreign born blacks account for 13.79 percent of the total black population and the second generation of foreign born blacks accounts for 2.4 percent of the total black population. Hernandez (2012) adds that children from birth to age 10 who reside with a black immigrant parent account for roughly 12 percent of all young black children in the U.S. In sum, roughly 16 percent of blacks are foreign born, which indicates that since 1990, the U.S. black population has been infused by a large population of foreign born blacks that is causing the U.S. black population to become more diverse. The purpose of this paper is to answer the call for research that examines the impact that foreign born blacks have had on indicators of the well-being of native born blacks. As Waters et al. (2014) argue: Few statistical databases actually differentiate immigrant and second-generation blacks from native African Americans. The inclusion of black immigrants and their children among the black population in most descriptions may be obscuring many aspects of the situation of native African Americans (p. 371). Thus, this paper examine the impact that foreign born blacks have on general indicators of well-being of native born blacks in the U.S. Note that the descriptive analyses singularly focus on blacks. Therefore, no comparisons to whites are presented. Future research may wish to extend these analyses to examine how the impact of foreign born blacks is altering the general indicators of the well-being of blacks in comparison to whites. Researchers recognize that there are substantial differences between foreign born blacks and third generation and higher blacks--that is, native born blacks who have native born parents, who are generally considered the African American population (Griffith, Johnson, Zhang, Neighbors, & Jackson, 2011; Logan, 2007; Thomas, 2012). These significant differences occur across a variety of indicators including education and arrests (Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, 2007). Bennett and Lutz (2009) found that within levels of socioeconomic family background and academic performance, immigrant blacks have significantly higher college enrollment rates than do whites. Indeed, Kusow (2013) states that more than 5 5 percent of the black students at Harvard are from first- and second-generation West Indian and African immigrant families, or children of multi-racial couples. There is also limited evidence that suggests that foreign born blacks (e.g. Haitians) have lower rates of being arrested than U. …

Rastafari Reasoning and the Rasta Woman: Gender Constructions in the Reshaping of Rastafari Livity AUTHOR: JEANNE CHRISTENSEN PUBLISHER: LANHAM, MD: LEXINGTON ISBN: 978-0-7391-7573-6, PRICE: HARDCOVER, $24.00 REVIEWER: D. ROYSTER The book Rastafari Reasoning and the Rasta-oman draws from ethnographic research on various houses of the Rastafarian without the intention to make generalizations, but to place an emphasis on women because Rastawomen often had to struggle to become full partners in the movement (p. 4). The text functions as a primer for both scholars and lay audiences to intellectually engage with the external struggles of the Rastafarian in response to Western hegemonic expansionism and modernization and their internal struggle in terms of equity. Christensen begins the book with a descriptive narrative of the African Diaspora in the New World by way of English colonialism as a double death through which first broke the enslaved social ties away from Africa and the cultural capital needed to affirm their identity and second the prolonged process of dehumanization as involuntary immigrants. Although Christianity was introduced to Africans in Diaspora in the West through the context of with the intent to foster an ideal work ethic for slaves; Africans instead re-appropriated Christian symbols and accounts into means for survival and ultimately empowerment. Furthermore, the exercise of syncretic religiosity became the norm as Africans in the West practiced traditional African spirituality in secret at night. In the context of Jamaicans of African descent, rituals and beliefs which derived from their ancestor's instructions included healing rites and a variety of other means for cultural preservation with the intent to provide resistance against the coercive powers and to serve the community. Throughout the text, Christensen exposes root causes of Rastafarian culture's androcentric male-female relations. The author debunks the myth of enmity between men and women of African descent which produced mistrust and provoked such men to resort to control tactics against such women as a way of life. Nevertheless, the book primarily addresses the struggle that Rasta women endure as wedged between the effects of mental slavery best described as the psychological denial of one's natural identity and the gender restrictions placed on them from some sectors within the Rastafari movement. Such women embody the challenges of the consequence of such liberation. Societal in-group responses frequently attempt to negate feminine assertiveness and progressive quests for change. The author draws parallels between Rastafarianism and feminism as having common ground in terms of resistance against old norms of passive acceptance of subordination. …

INTRODUCTION The role of spirituality in the lives of many African Americans has been well documented (Bowen-Reid & Smalls, 2004; Mattis & Jager, 2001). Spirituality has helped African Americans endure adversities such as chattel slavery in the era extending from the early seventeenth century through the American Civil War, in which Blacks were classified as private property, denied rights of citizenship, forced to endure hard labor with no pay, provided minimum food and shelter, and subjected to torture and forced migration (Dash, Jackson, & Rasor, 1997; Mattis J, 2000; Newlin, Knafl, & Melkus, 2002). Spirituality has also enabled African Americans to endure and overcome Jim Crow-era segregation; white supremacist terrorism; systemic inequality in access to housing, labor protections, education, and many other rights of citizenship; ensuing economic and social hardships; and the persistence of racism (Taylor, Chatters, & Levin, 2004). Moral theory, theology, and praxis in contemporary and historical Black American church life have provided an organizing structure and framework for many African Americans to come together in addressing social injustices faced by their communities, as during the civil rights movement (Smith, 2003). It is therefore surprising that spirituality, the fellowship of Black persons of faith, and Black religious thought and life are held in high esteem and play a central role in the lives of many African Americans (Giger, Appel, Davidhizar, & Davis, 2008). Numerous mostly quantitative studies, document that religion and spirituality are associated with positive health-related outcomes among youth (for reviews see Zebracki, Rosenthal, Tsevat & Drotar, 2006). In addition, several studies have explored the meaning of spirituality for African American adults and the elderly (Armstrong & Crowther, 2002; Banks-Wallace & Parks, 2004; Cohen, Thomas, & Williamson, 2008; Hyman & Handal, 2006). Other studies have also documented similar ttrtends showing that highly religious African American females and males are less likely to engage in risky sexual behaviors relative to their counterparts (Denton, Pearce, & Smith, 2008; King, & Roeser, 2009). However, there is a dearth of research on what spirituality means for African Americans approaching adulthood (Berkel. Armstrong, & Cokley, 2004). Spirituality among A frican Americans A few studies have explored the meaning of spirituality for African Americas. Mattis (2000) conducted a quantitative study among a sample of African American women around 30 years of age (N=128) from a Midwestern university and surrounding communities, and a Metropolitan center in the Northeast. Fifty-three percent (53%) of respondents noted that spirituality referred to being connected to and holding a belief in a higher power. Another study, a qualitative analysis among a convenience sample of African American women ages 20 to 70 years (N=25) in a Midwestern city, documented that a majority of women participants believed that spirituality was intrinsically connected to health, well-being, and the relationships they had with others. Many women also believed that spirituality allowed them to look within themselves, towards God, and to loved ones for wisdom, nurturing, and other resources to carry them through life's journey (Banks-Wallace and Parks, 2004, p.34). In another qualitative study analyzing definitions of spirituality and religiosity among a sample of African Americans and Euro-American Jews ages 65 and older (N=29), African American participants (N=15) largely defined spirituality as something that dwells within, guides, provides comfort, and empowers (Cohen, Thomas, & Williamson, 2008). Similarly, Nelson-Becker (2002), drawing from a sample of Euro-American Jews and African American older adults (N=79) ages 58 to 92, noted that African American participants (N=42) described spirituality as held within an individual being. …

The purpose of this qualitative study was examine how religion strengthened the marriages of African American (or Black) couples. This topic is important for three reasons. First, both historically and contemporaneously, religion has enhanced the financial, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being of African Americans (Chaney, 2008a; 2008b; Billingsley, 1992; Taylor, Chatters, & Levin, 2004). Second, when compared other races. Blacks have the lowest rate of marriage, the highest rate of divorce, and are most likely rear their children in single parent homes (African-American Healthy Marriage Initiative, n.d., Chaney, 2011; 2009). To put this in perspective, married couples head 76% of American families, while African American married couples head only 47.9% of American families. In addition, while the overall rate for single parent households in America has increased for all children, it is especially alarming among African Americans as 69% of African American births are currently single mothers as compared 33% nationally (African American Healthy Marriage Initiative, n.d). The current family structure of African Americans has been linked several factors. In particular, the legacy of slavery, racial discrimination, male unemployment, underemployment, seasonal employment, high rates of incarceration, and poverty (Chaney, 2011; Blackman, Clayton, Glenn, Malone-Colon, & Roberts, 2005; Patterson, 1998; Wilson, 1996) have been found weaken Black marriages and increase the likelihood that these marriages will end. Last, given the increasing amount of attention that has been given supporting Black marriages, most notably through the African American Healthy Marriage Initiative (AAHMI), whose primary goal is to promote and strengthen the institution of healthy marriage in the African American community, (http://www.aahmi.net/ mission.html) this study can help further the goals of policy by increasing and strengthening the number of Black marriages in America through the vantage point of religion. The aforementioned policy goal is important as the majority of African Americans desire marriage (Chaney, 2014; Chaney, Stamps Mitchell, & Barker, 2014; Dixon, 2009; Johnson, 2012; Taylor, Jackson, & Chatters, 1997; Vaterlaus, Skogrand, & Chaney, 2015), yet are unable establish and maintain stable marriages. In the section that follows, we highlight key studies related the relationship between religion and marital stability. Next, we will discuss the methodology that was used in the current study. After this, we will feature the marital perspectives of three couples from this study. Then, we will present the qualitative findings of our study. Lastly, we will discuss the implications of this study for research, practice, and policy. Review of Literature Historically, religious institutions have played a central role in marriage and families (Baucom, 2001; Booth, Johnson, Branaman, & Sica, 1995; Marks et al., 2010; Christiano, 2000; Hill, 1968; Marks, 2005; Marks & Chaney, 2006; Pargament & Maton, 2000; Uecker, 2014; Wilcox & Wolfinger, 2007; Wilson & Musick, 1995; Witte, 2012). Over four decades ago, renowned Black scholar, Robert Hill (1968), identified five strengths of Black families in America, namely (1) a strong religious orientation; (2) a high aspiration rate: aspirations achieve more than they ought aspire considering situation; (3) role exchange: women are not afraid support the family if men are not able; (4) kinship circle: extended family in the black community; and (5) willingness work. Notably, during a time when African American's access several institutions (e.g., schools, churches, and businesses) was restricted, the Black Church provided for the material, emotional, and spiritual needs of congregants and members of the community (Taylor & Chatters, 1998). Moreover, religion has been instrumental in the establishment of romantic relationships. …

In 2015, America celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Act was the cornerstone of blacks' struggle for political inclusion. It represented a concerted effort to dismantle the grip of state supported disfranchisement of black voters, especially in the South. By removing the legal barriers at the state and local levels, the Act made it possible for blacks to become an integral part of the political system. However, securing voting rights is just one of several steps in the of inclusion. This paper offers a framework that suggests that the politics of is integral process in which the politics of is the end product. More specifically, this paper examines blacks' (as a political minority) struggle for political inclusion in the American political system. The literature is rich with discussions about inclusion as a social phenomenon, but not as a political phenomenon. This paper attempts to introduce a model of the politics of that contributes the discussion of inclusion as a political phenomenon. At the heart of this framework are several assumptions. First, it is assumed that the politics of is the result of a universal struggle for power over the allocation of society's resources and the determination of prevailing values between the political majority and a political minority. The political majority are in positions of social, political and economic power in society, while the political minority holds little or very limited power in society. Second, the nature of the political and social interaction, between the political majority and the political minority determines the reality of the politics of (or path to normalcy). Third, the politics of is determined by a series of transitional relationships that elicit different responses from political majority toward the political minority; depending on the nature of the relationship between the two groups. The final assumption is that politics of is often grounded in identity politics. Identity signifies a range of political activities found in the shared experiences of injustice faced by members of certain social groups, in this case racial groups (Heyes, 2014). Identity essentially involves social movements that are associated with a group's status (in this case, social and political status) that calls for the recognition of aspects of a group's identity that have previously been denied, marginalized or stigmatized (Buckingham, 2008). A group's identity and social status often determines their political status. Whether the proposed framework explains the politics of in a particular political environment would largely be determined by several factors. Among the determinants would be the intensity of the relationship between political majority and political minority. How strongly held are the ideological views of the two groups about the social and/or political differences that divide them? How concentrated are the political and social divisions between the two groups within the larger population? How long have the social and/or political divisions between the political majority and political minorities existed? Finally, how salient are the political and/or social divisions between the majority and minority groups? For example, racial interests have generally been more contentious in the struggle for political inclusion than ethnic group interests in the United States. Likewise, sex has been more contentious in the politics of than gender, class or religion. The premise of this framework for political inclusion is that political minorities will not make progress toward political normalcy until they have gained acceptance from political majority. In a political system, there could be multiple political minority groups working together or independently on political inclusion and toward political normalcy. …

Introduction In the 1990s, many predominantly White institutions of higher education (PWI) put forth deliberate efforts to increase the number of faculty of color in the academy (Harvey & Anderson, 2005). Such was the case at the large, Midwestern institution that provides the context for this study. A multi-year directive from the university's governing body to increase the number of underrepresented students of color also resulted in affirmative actions to increase the numbers of faculty of color. Within this majority White institution of 26,000 students, 2,000 faculty (including 17 faculty of color) we were a part of the education department faculty from 1995-2000. At this time, we made up the largest number of faculty of color within any one department, and therefore we were viewed as a critical mass. At the end of the 1998-99 academic year, each of us received a low performance assessment at our annual review. Despite our high achievements and being a critical mass of 12% of the department faculty, we were assessed to be the least productive faculty members in a department of 41. This article covers a case study span of five years (1995-2000) and a debriefing and analyses (2014). The nearly 15-year delay to release a collective experience of racial discrimination is due to the silence that many are forced to maintain to avoid professional backlash. Furthermore, this article focuses on the impact that racism can have on a critical mass of black female faculty in academia. This article and similar literature illustrates that the struggle of faculty of color to move forward on equal footing with their White peers requires more than a diverse critical mass (Dade & Rios, 2015; Sidhu, 2013; Cole Robinson & Clardy, 2010; Etzkowitz, Kemelgor, Neuschatz, Uzzi & Alonzo, 1994). It is often expected that employing a significant number of faculty of color will address all diversity issues. One assumption that has been discussed in the literature is that a diverse and critical mass of historically underrepresented people in a given place will naturally lead to their individual success (Stanley, 2006; Turner, Gonzalez, Juan & Wood, 2008). However, we did not find this to be true at this institution. Collectively, we still experienced racism much like our individual counterparts despite representing a critical mass. Many research studies have examined the recruitment and retention of faculty of color into predominantly white institutions (Stanley, 2006; Turner, Gonzalez, Juan, & Wood, 2008; Ware, 2000). Yet, little is known about the impact of being a part of a critical mass of faculty of color in a single department or the career and personal experiences of African American female faculty. This collective case study examines the impact that being a part of a critical mass of faculty of color had on the occurrence and effect of micro-aggressions, faculty resilience, and sense of belonging. This case study helps to elucidate the multiple layers and dimensionality of racism (Coates, 2011) as it occurred in the academy, and is instrumental in providing deeper understanding about the complexities, and particularity of female faculty of color, in the academy (Stake, 2006). Recruitment and retention of faculty of color is important for every aspect of the university, including diverse faculty. Yet, this article confronts the assumption that when underrepresented groups increase, things will turn around. Specifically, this article looks at the case of African American females in the education department who were brought closer together by an act of blatant discrimination. It demonstrates how our significant numbers did not make a difference in protecting us against overt discrimination nor did our presence as a critical mass result in the institution critically reviewing its practices. The Collective Experience: What's in a Number? Each of us made notable academic and professional contributions throughout the time period highlighted in this article. …

Introduction Place and memory are, it seems, inevitably intertwined. Memory appears to be a personal thing ... But memory is also social. Some memories are allowed to fade--are not given any kind of support. Other memories are promoted as standing this and that. One of primary ways in which memories are is through production of Tim Creswell, Place In a memorable scene in John Sayles's terrific film Lone Star (1996), a racially diverse group of residents from border town Frontera debate in 1980s how to teach Texas to school children. To some, Texas is embodied in one place: Remember Alamo. Yet, to borrow Cresswell's words, stands for this and that, and others contest its meaning. Throughout film Sayles plays with trope of the Alamo to reveal a far more complex than is represented in dozens of popular culture texts, in which swarthy Mexican peons battle outnumbered Euroamericans with democratic ideals. The legends ignore that battle was fought, largely, because slaveholders increasingly migrated, with their black slaves, into Mexican borderlands province of Texas in 1820s, causing Mexico, which completely outlawed slavery after its own war of independence ended in 1821, to attempt to extend that prohibition into Texas. loss at Alamo, Texas became a republic and then a slave state with an increasingly large black population, whose is still under-explored. In her memoir, Bigmama Didn't Shop at Woolworth's, set in 1950s and '60s, Sunny Nash not but her segregated black neighborhood, Candy Hill, circumscribed by Bryan, Texas, home to Texas A & M, demonstrating Creswell's argument that memory is constituted through production of spaces. Offering a sophisticated, contextualized spatial analysis, embedded in history, in which she locates routes to emancipation, Nash makes concrete Adrienne Rich's assertion that we must all understand how a place on map is also a place in history (Rich, 1985, p. 8). She provides kind of case study from which Edward Soja might have drawn many of his conclusions his influential Seeking Spatial Justice, published in 2010, in debt to earlier work by Edward Said and David Harvey. The Woolworth's where Nash's grandmother does not shop, is in Bryan, where blacks are unwelcome in restaurants, restrooms, hotels, and dressing rooms, where political decisions about access to public services and infrastructures are made. Bigmama Didn't Shop at Woolworth's is a particularly valuable text because, as Tom Pilkington suggests, contributions to [Texas] literature by African Americans have been surprisingly sparse despite their centrality to state's establishment (1998, p. 166). Nash remembers Texas historical spaces previously obscured by mythology. As a character trying to sell souvenirs in shape of says in Lone Star, nobody buys [that] stuff anymore. In Seeking Spatial Justice, Soja argues that space [which he uses interchangeably with 'geography'] is actively involved in generating and sustaining inequality, injustice, economic exploitation, racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression and discrimination (2010, p. 4). Decrying how her segregated Candy Hill school had to make do with recycled schoolbooks from significantly named Stephen F. Austin school in Bryan, picked out of trash, Sunny shows her grandmother Bigmama her worn sixth-grade geography book, in which several pages tom and a couple of pages were missing altogether (Nash, 1996, p. 97). (I will refer to character within memoir as Sunny, to author as Nash.) Until Bigmama Didn't Shop at Woolworth s, in Texas literary Candy Hill's geography is one of those missing pages. Nash's memory and her memoir are shaped by geography. She opens with a description of Candy Hill, establishing convoluted and messy spatial injustices as her major subject: Despite imagery suggested by name Candy Hill, in 1950s there was little that was sweet or playful about maze of unpaved roads, narrow trails, and mosquito-infested drainage ditches that led to and from neighborhood's rows of mostly shotgun houses with outdoor toilets (Nash, 1996, p. …

Black Faces Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Outdoors. AUTHOR: CAROLYN FINNEY CHAPEL HILL: UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS 2014 PRICE: $24.95 ISBN: 978-1-4696-1448-9. Carolyn Finney's (UC Berkeley) Black Faces, Spaces critiques the absence of African Americans from mainstream environmental narratives and movements. She argues that popular perceptions of environmentalism fail to recognize the historical role of race and racism in shaping nature, perpetuating a discourse of a white waiting to be conquered (p. 3). The book is much more than an environmental studies text, however. Clearly influenced by Critical Race Theory, Finney's Black Faces, Spaces is also a veritable counter-narrative to the dominant notion of environmentalism as a white space. Analyzing magazine content, park brochures, and catalogs, as well as interviewing Florida citizens, National Parks Service (NPS) employees, and environmentalists, Finney shows that representations of African Americans and their experiences shape collective memory about the environment. Finney's book is an excellent study of how perceptions of the Great Outdoors intersect with the African American experience. Chapter one, Bamboozled, questions the dominant one-size-fits-all narrative of Americans' relationship to the land, namely the 1862 Homestead Act and western expansion. This view neglects the complexities of the American experience at that time. Black free men were by and large restricted from Homestead Grants, necessitating a sharecropper livelihood. Finney also explores some of the early narratives of nature and how they largely maintain unchanged to the present. Environmentalists such as John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt created a rhetoric of wilderness conquest, Romanticism, Transcendentalism, and the belief that humans can either control or destroy nature with technology (p. 28). These ideals are maintained in magazine advertisements and NPS brochures, reflecting the white-washing of nature. Finney's second chapter, Jungle Fever, compares perceptions of African Americans with the environmental narrative. She argues that American's relations with nature are inherently racialized. One of the major failures of Reconstruction was the restriction of Black land acquisition. Finney also seeks to place some of the racial and evolutionary discourse of the nineteenth century into the environmental narrative. Circus exhibitions of Ota Benga and Sara Baartman epitomize the perception that Blacks were less than human; not in nature, but part of nature. Therefore, Blacks were considered unfit for the responsibilities of citizenship, including land ownership (p. 42). Chapter three, Forty Acres and a Mule, seeks to understand how collective and personal memory shapes African American environmental attitudes. Finney points out that collective memories and group trauma of slavery and Jim Crow continue to inform Black environmental engagement. For example, Finney mentions how a history of lynching and injustice have led to a suspicious attitude towards White spaces. These shared experiences and inherited memories shape African Americans' map of the environment and society (p. 56). Throughout slavery and Jim Crow, African Americans were psychologically divorced from the environment, working the land but not reaping the fruits of their labor (p. 59). This environmental alienation has maintained to a degree, according to Finney. African Americans' cognitive maps may still read whites only even though no signpost is present (p. 62). Finney also puts forth several examples of African Americans engaging in environmental preservation because the locations connoted positive group memories, such as Virginia Key Beach in Miami. …

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Ferguson, a city in St. Louis County Missouri, was incorporated in 1894. Its nickname is Community of Choice and its motto is Proud Past. Promising Future! Sadly, the tragic death of an unarmed Black man and the national attention given this death has resulted in the word Ferguson being synonymous with police misconduct, violence, and social unrest. On August 9, 2014, Michael Brown, an 18-year old Black man, was fatally shot by Darren Wilson, a white policeman with the Ferguson Police Department. The incident sparked protests and acts of vandalism in Ferguson, as well as widespread calls for an investigation into the incident. After a day of vigils, the looting of businesses, vandalizing of vehicles, as well as protestors' violent clash with policemen occurred. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.) opened a civil rights inquiry into the shooting of Mr. Brown on August 11th. Soldiers from the Missourian National Guard arrived August 18th in Ferguson at the request of the Governor of Missouri Jay Nixon, who ended midnight 5:00 a.m. curfews that had been imposed. Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. arrived in Ferguson, promising a full inquiry into the death of Michael Brown 2 days later. The Justice Department announced that it would open a broad civil rights investigation that would examine whether the Ferguson police had a history of discrimination or misuse of beyond the Michael Brown case September 3rd. The inquiry accompanied the F.B.I. civil rights investigation (opened on August 11) that specifically looked into the shooting of Mr. Brown. November 24 of 2014, a grand jury decided it would not indict Wilson in the shooting death of Brown. Following the announcement of the grand jury's decision, there were peaceful protests as well as rioting (New York Times, November 24, 2014). March 4 of 2015, the Ferguson Police Department was criticized by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) for routinely violating the constitutional rights of its black residents. During a press conference, Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. revealed disturbing findings from the DOJ's extensive, 87-page report. In that report, Holder revealed: A disproportionate amount of African-Americans were targeted for traffic stops and other low-level violations; the police relied too heavily on the use of (almost 90 percent of unnecessary force incidents were against African-Americans); and frequently escalate(d) rather than diffuse(d) tensions with the residents they encounter(ed). Furthermore, individuals were often denied their due-process rights in the local jail system. In essence, the city's dependence on fines for minor offenses was merely done fill municipal coffers (The United States Department of Justice, 2015). In order to rebuild trust and foster mutual understanding in Ferguson and in communities where suspicion has been allowed fester, the United States Department of Justice reserved all its rights and abilities compliance and implement basic change within the Ferguson Police Department and the Ferguson Municipal Court (2015). Essentially, the DOJ report revealed police brutality and mistreatment be the routine reality for Black residents in Ferguson and that immediate government action was needed rebuild community trust that had been so badly eroded. Police brutality is not a new phenomenon. Over four decades ago, Albert J. Reiss (1968) revealed police brutality be far from rare. Furthermore, a study in three large cities found the most likely victim be a lower-class man of either race. However, subsequent studies found Black men be substantially more likely than White men be victims of police violence and homicide (Baldassare, 1994; Beer, 2015; Cha-Jua, 2014; Chaney & Robertson, 2015; Cush, 2013; Dura, 2004; Geller, 1982; Goldkamp, 1986; Milton, Halleck, Lardner, & Abrecht, 1977; Sheppard, 2015; Sherman & Langworthy, 1979). …

On Saturday, August 9th, 2014, a White police officer shot and killed a Black, unarmed 18-year-old male in broad daylight in the middle of a residential street. While many mourned Michael Brown's death and were incensed by the apparent injustice, others rose in staunch support of Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson. Days after the shooting, a report entitled, Stark Racial Divisions in Reactions to Ferguson Police Shooting was issued (Pew Research Center, 2014). According to this report, 80 percent of Blacks indicated that Michael Brown's case raised important issues about race while only 37 percent of Whites provided that same endorsement. Data suggested that Whites were more apt to believe that race getting more attention than it deserves (Pew Research Center, 2014). Notably, similar in opinion emerged between Blacks and Whites in regard to whether the shooting of Trayvon Martin was justified (Washington Post, 2013), agreement with George Zimmerman's acquittal (Pew Research Center, 2013), and reactions to O.J. Simpson's not guilty verdict (Washington Post, 1995). The drastic divide in Blacks' and Whites' interpretations of these incendiary race-related events poses critical questions about why the racial chasm exists, the harm such a gap may be causing and/or reflecting, and how to bridge what may seem to be a considerable impasse. The current paper attempts to shed light on these very questions. Race is a culturally constructed paradigm that is deeply embedded in the history and culture of the United States. As a facet of individual and collective identity, race can profoundly influence social perceptions, interpretations, and interactions. In the United States, Black and White racial identities are often associated with drastically different personal, vicarious, and historical experiences (Franklin, 2014; Ikard, 2013; Kinder & Sanders, 1996; Klarman, 2007; Weizmann, 2004). Indeed, empirical evidence suggests that Blacks and Whites not only exist in different perceptual worlds, but in separate--and unequal--real worlds (Orelus, 2013; Rohde & Guest, 2013; Sigelman & Welch, 1991; Smith & Seltzer, 2000). Perhaps unsurprisingly, these varied historical experiences and present circumstances have contributed to in opinion between Blacks and Whites. For example, the aforementioned public opinion polling regarding controversial race-related events illustrates the highly variant group-level interpretations that Black and White Americans report. These trends are far from new, as decades of social science research have accumulated strong evidence that Blacks identify racism and discrimination to be major problems while Whites consider them to be minor or not problems at all (Fournier & Haines, 2008; King, 2015; Kluegel & Smith, 1986; Knowles, Lowery, Chow, & Unzueta, 2014; Norton & Sommers, 2011; Page & Risser, 2008; Smith & Seltzer, 2000). Practically, these differential interpretations may be harmful insofar as they may widen the preexisting gap between Blacks and Whites, thereby exacerbating interracial tension and diminishing opportunity for shared understanding and communality. The current paper suggests that a continued focus on racial differences overlooks the fact that a more common process is afoot: namely, these divergent views at their core result from defensive responses to existential threat and anxiety. To this point, we connect the social-cognitive framework with Terror Management Theory (TMT) to more deeply understand how the enactment of and steadfast adherence to worldview serves as a psychological coping mechanism in the face of humans' unique awareness of their inevitable deaths. We assert that this terror management function of worldview is a significant contributor to the divergent perspectives that have emerged between Blacks and Whites in response to Michael Brown's death. Finally, we suggest that engaging in a discussion around the death-denying function of worldview and the impact of existential threats (such as mortality salience and alternative worldviews) on worldview adherence is a valuable addition to the discussion of race and race-related events in America. …