Despite there being enormous amounts of research on disability, and how disability is experienced, when parameters such as higher education, race and gender are considered alongside disability, the research documented becomes limited; and even more so when each of these parameters are in combination with each other. The aim of this study is to use Critical Disability Theory, Feminist Theory, and Intersectionality to better understand how I have experienced accommodation as a Black woman with a disability within an academic environment. I use Autoethnography to detail my own lived experience to investigate if the institutional response (of providing accommodations and its practices along with it) aligns with my lived experience as the student on the receiving end. The findings from this study suggest that there is misalignment between the institutional response and the student experience thus causing a struggle of identity outside of the medicalized identity recognized by Accessibility Services. It is my hope that those who read this thesis adopt a ‘nothing about us, without us’ attitude towards Accessibility Services. I hope readers will see that students with disabilities need to be included in the conversation of accommodations with Accessibility Services offices in post-secondary institutions because stories like mine (as a Black woman with a disability and a life-long service user of this school provided service) demand to be acknowledged and be felt as the “supposed” benefactors of this service. Because without us, this service would not exist. And yet, without our voices heard this service continues to exist as it does. Our voices, bodies and lived experiences should be validated as appropriate “measures” to determine accessibility, accommodation and learning needs. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of Strong Black Woman attitudes on how African American women perceive and cope with stress. The study included 100 Black female faculty, staff, and students from five universities in the eastern region of the United States including a large, public, research university; a small, private, religious-affiliated university; and three public, historically Black universities. The following research questions guided the study: a) What are the respondents’ levels of Strong Black Woman attitudes, perceived stress, and culture-specific coping? b) How does perception of stress predict Strong Black Woman attitudes? c) How does perception of stress predict the use of culture-specific forms of coping? d) How do Strong Black Woman attitudes mediate the relationship between perception of stress and culture-specific coping? These questions were explored through quantitative research analysis using an Information Questionnaire to collect data regarding demographic background, the Strong Black Woman Cultural Construct Scale (Hamin, 2003), the Perceived Stress Scale – 10 item (Cohen, Kamarck, Mermelstein,1983; Cohen & Williamson,1988), and the Africultural Coping Systems Inventory (Utsey, Adams, and Bolden, 2000). Simple linear regression revealed that Strong Black Woman attitudes of Caretaking, and Affect Regulation, as well as the Cognitive-Emotional Debriefing form of culture-specific coping were associated with higher levels of stress. Finally, multiple regression analysis revealed that Strong Black Woman attitudes did not have a mediating effect on participants’ level of perceived stress and their coping behaviors used in response to stress. Implications of the findings suggest a need to develop an empirical, theoretical, and clinical understanding of the impact of Strong Black Woman attitudes on women’s wellness. / Ph. D.

The purpose of our study is to investigate the afroswedish women and their experiences with racism within the media industry. Through previous research, theories and real life stories that afroswedish women, who worked or works within this branch, have attempted to acquire insight of the phenomenon (everyday) racism and how it comes to expression according to the perspective of black women in Sweden. The documented experiences have shown to be a process that constantly occurs, consciously and subconsciously, in the life of black people in Sweden based on privileges. These privileges derive from postcolonialism and have their origin in the white superiority performed against others. This study has demonstrated the afroswedish women working place and its environment, where both positive and negative experiences, always indicated a basis in racism. The result has been discussed with support from previous research and our carefully chosen theories - intersectionality and anti black racism. In our final discussion, we have gathered all data to subsequently highlight our participants' experiences which has shown that the influential media industry needs to continue working against racism.

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Black mothers socialize their daughters to embody the strong Black woman (SBW) schema to help them navigate gendered racist oppression. While research indicates that ascribing to the SBW schema offers Black women psychosocial benefits (e.g., increased self-esteem), identifying with the SBW schema has been linked to several negative psychological outcomes (e.g., anxiety, depression, and stress). Considering the evidenced negative implications associated with identifying with the SBW schema on Black women's mental health, the current study had three aims: (1) investigate the socialization messages Black women received about strong Black womanhood, (2) explore the extent to which they identified with these messages, and (3) assess the implications of this socialization on Black women's functioning. To address these aims researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 Black college women (Mage = 20.09; SD = 1.04). For this manuscript, we extracted data pertaining to aim one and analyzed this data using a consensual qualitative research (CQR) data approach. Findings revealed messages Black women were given about strong Black womanhood (i.e., know your worth, depend on yourself, overcome societal barriers, little to no messages about strong Black womanhood, and additional responses) and illuminated behaviors mothers modeled that exemplified strength (i.e., self-sufficient, preserving, caretaking, and additional responses). Findings derived from this study have the potential to inform clinical intervention with Black women and, more specifically, provide insight as to how clinicians may work with Black women to mitigate the impact of the SBW schema on their mental health.

L'autonomisation de la culture noire dans les arts et médias contemporains, avec cas de figures proéminentes, entend réfléchir sur les procédés de visibilisations au travers des médias et de l'art contemporain. Un choix de femmes ciblé afin de comprendre comment l'on devient une personnalité réputée, au fil du temps, ou par des créations populaires d'envergure.La couleur noire, souvent entendue selon des lectures limitatrices, opère ici un changement de paradigme. Cette fois, ce sont des femmes noires qui donnent le ton et donc inversent les représentations sur leur compte. En nous aidant des Cultural Studies et des Black Feminist, nous allons analyser des produits populaires disparates. Nous avons choisi des éléments divers et somme toute non canoniques pour comprendre l'autonomie supposée. Celle-ci est certes perceptible, mais demande à être questionnée.Questionner cette autonomie c'est entreprendre une lecture valorisante sur des types discursifs souvent décriés. Analyser leur popularité revient à décentrer le sens, remettre en valeur les créations produites hors des circuits de pouvoirs. / The empowerment of the black culture in the contemporary arts and media, with prominent figures, intends to reflect on the processes of visibilization through the media and contemporary art. A choice of women targeted to understand how one becomes a reputed personality, over time, or by popular creations of scale.The color black, often heard according to limiting readings, here operates a paradigm shift. This time, they are black women who set the tone and therefore reverse the representations on their account. By helping us with the Cultural Studies and the Black Feminist, we will analyze disparate popular products. We have chosen various and, in any case, non-canonical elements to understand the supposed autonomy. This is certainly perceptible, but asks to be questioned.To question this autonomy is to undertake a rewarding reading on discursive types often decried. To analyze their popularity is to decenter the meaning, to re-emphasize the creations produced outside the circuits of powers.

Os batuques manifestam-se em cidades brasileiras como práticas de terreiro. Sob a guarda de mulheres negras e homens negros mais velhos, o tambu (tambor) é o meio de comunicação entre os vivos e os mortos, seguindo os fundamentos africanos banto, na região que ficou conhecida como Oeste Paulista. Neste estudo, tratamos como a mulher negra no batuque de umbigada paulista relaciona sua experiência de vida à cultura negra. Em tempos midiáticos da sociedade de consumo, partimos da visão folclórica acerca da batuqueira para refletir de que forma em seu repertório pessoal ela desconstrói essas e outras imagens controladoras. Entre as mais antigas e emblemáticas herdeiras da tradição, três mulheres negras com mais de 65 anos dispõem-se a testemunhar suas histórias, traçando elementos de enfretamento ao racismo e ao sexismo e revelando aspectos de superação da violência simbólica infringida pelos papéis sociais padronizados. Paralelamente às narrativas de desconstrução de estereótipos, voltamo-nos às teorias que tratam da produção e reprodução social na modernidade e da pós-modernidade e o lugar da mulher negra desde o século XIX, no pós-abolição, até o contexto atual da globalização neoliberal, bem como do feminismo negro, visando identificar estratégias de resistência cotidianas que podem ser vistas como ação política na luta contra o racismo e o sexismo / The Paulista Umbigada Batuque is set in the city as a cultural practice related to the terreiro, or sacred land. It has been kept under the care of elder black women and men, wherein the tambu (a kind of drum) is the tool of communication between the living and the dead, following the African-Bantu teachings that manifests in this region known by Oeste Paulista (Western of Sao Paulo State). In this study, we are concern about how the black women from batuque reflect on the relation between their life experiences and the black culture. In the context of a mass media consume society, and by criticizing the folkloric perspective about the batuqueira (the batuque women), we reflect on how these women deconstruct the controlling images that surround and curtail them. Among the eldest and most representative women of this tradition, three black women commit themselves to narrate their stories for this research, laying out elements of their experience in confronting racism and sexism, and in disclosing the symbolic violence infringed against them by the standardized and socially imposed roles. Besides the narratives concerned the deconstruction of stereotypes, our analysis also looks for theories about social production and reproduction in modernity, the post-modernism debate, and the role fulfilled by the black women since the XIX century, after the abolition of slavery, until nowadays in a neoliberal and globalized world context, as well as in the context of the black feminist thinking.Through the analysis of these narratives and contexts, our work aims to identify the daily strategies of resistance in batuque, which can be considered as well a political action against racism and sexism

A presente dissertação examina as condições de vida de dois grupos de mulheres negras, um na cidade de Quibdó na Colômbia e outro em São Paulo Brasil, que se atuam no âmbito da economia solidária como artesãs e no ramo de design e confecção de roupas afro. Especificamente este estudo buscou identificar as transformações que surgiram na vida das mulheres a partir da sua atuação nesse espaço. Esta pesquisa é de caráter exploratório, descritivo e qualitativo, desenvolvida principalmente a partir das definições elaboradas pelas participantes. Daí que para a obtenção da informação o insumo principal foram entrevistas etnográficas. Além desse método, foram feitos: observação participante e diários de campo. Os resultados da pesquisa estiveram analisados à luz dos postulados da Colonialidade do Poder proposta por Aníbal Quijano e da análise interseccional de Kimberly Crenshaw concretamente entre as categorias de classe, raça e gênero. Os resultados foram contrastados a partir de analises categorial, levando em conta os contextos particulares de cada grupo. Esta dissertação contribui para evidenciar que se bem as estratégias de economia solidaria constituem projetos a pequena escala, podem tornar-se transformadores para grupos específicos de população e ter um alcance maior ao ser transgressores de uma ordem estabelecida que se esforça por mantêlas em subordinação. Nesse sentido, conclui-se que constituem propostas decoloniais de resistência e transformação. / The following project analyses life conditions from two black women groups. One of them is from at Quibdo City in Colombia and the other comes from São Paulo - Brazil. Both work with support economy as artisans on the field of afro clothes designing and manufacturing. This research specifically tried to figure out the life changes these women have experienced since the beginning of their participation on it. This investigation has been exploratory, descriptive and qualitative. It was mainly developed through the participant experiences and definitions. To get information the most important evidences were ethnographic interviews. Plus analysis and journals. The research results were based on Anibal Quijanos postulates of Power of Coloniality and intersectional analysis from Kimberly Crenshaw. In particular, class, race and genre items. The results were based on thematic analysis, taking into account specific situations for each group. This research helps to highlight that strategies of Support Economy are projects in development, and they could reach specific groups to get better conditions different from the establishment, which tries to subordinate these kinds of populations. As a conclusion, these strategies constitute descolonial projects of resistance and transformation.

A tese aborda o processo de construção da identidade de mulheres negras e as possibilidades de resiliência em suas histórias de vida embasada em estudos de Paulo Freire (1996, 2004) sobre o movimento processual do estar-sendo e nas possibilidades de resiliência por Yunes (2012). Questões sobre relações raciais, educacionais e de gênero foram subsidiadas por Nascimento (2008), Silva (1987, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005), Gomes (1995, 2002, 2003), González (1979), hooks (1995, 2005, 2006), Collins (1989, 2000), Fanon (2008), Louro (1997, 2012), Scott (1995), Silveira (2002) e Machado (2013). Participaram da pesquisa 8 mulheres negras com idades entre 29 e 84 anos, com profissões, origens familiares e sociais diversas, moradoras de Porto Alegre e do Quilombo do Limoeiro, localizado no município de Palmares, no Rio Grande do Sul. Trata-se de pesquisa qualitativa que se propõe a conhecer e compreender as histórias de vida e as influências dessas mulheres na família, escola e comunidade, a partir de suas participações em atividades de ensino, pesquisa ou extensão na UFRGS. São professoras, orientadora educacional, diretoras, atrizes, cantoras, artesãs, técnica em enfermagem que atuam ou atuaram em escolas, hospitais, universidades, sarau de poesia negra, Associação Quilombola, cinema, teatro, entre outros espaços, e assim, mostram a arte, cultura e saberes do povo negro. A pesquisa demonstra o protagonismo das mulheres negras a partir de suas capacidades e potencialidades na escola, no trabalho, nos palcos a partir das trocas de experiências que promovem o processo de estar-sendo mulher e negra por meio da valorização do coletivo e da estética negra, do resgate da autoestima e, dessa forma, fortalecem suas identidades étnico-raciais e de gênero. Este processo é um desafio cotidiano porque em nosso país as relações raciais são conflituosas e as mulheres negras precisam se afirmar constantemente em vários espaços e tempos. São necessários movimentos de avanços e recuos para a construção de suas identidades, para o seu empoderamento e do seu povo. Esses movimentos ocorrem por meio das possibilidades de resiliência que aparecem no caminhar, em suas trajetórias, como um conjunto de circunstâncias com bases constitucionais, relacionais e ambientais e não como um atributo fixo individual. / This thesis approaches the identity construction process of black women and the possibilities of resilience in their life stories based on the studies by Paulo Freire (1996, 2004) on the procedural movement of be-being and on the possibilities of resilience by Yunes (2012). Issues on race, educational, and gender relations were subsidized by Nascimento (2008), Silva (1987, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005), Gomes (1995, 2002, 2003), González (1979), Hooks (1995, 2005, 2006), Collins (1989, 2000), Fanon (2008), Louro (1997, 2012), Scott (1995), Silveira (2002), and Machado (2013). Eight black women between 29 and 84 years old of different occupations and family and social backgrounds that lived in Porto Alegre and at Quilombo do Limoeiro in the city of Palmares, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, took part in this qualitative research. To objective was to know and understand the life histories and the influences of those women on family, school, and community based on their participations in teaching, research, or extension activities at UFRGS. The women are professors, an educational counselor, principals, actresses, singers, artisans, and a nurse aide who work or used to work at schools, hospitals, universities, a black poetry soireé, the Quilombola Association, cinema, theater, and other spaces and, thus, show the art, culture, and knowledge of the black people. The research shows the leading role of black women from their capacities and potentials at school, work, and on the stage based on the exchange of experiences that promote the process of be-being women and black by valuing the black collective and aesthetics, by recovering self-esteem and, thus, strengthen their ethnical-racial and gender identities. This process is a daily challenge since, in Brazil, racial relations are contentious and black women must constantly make a stand in several spaces and times. Advances and retreats are required for the construction of their identities and to empower the women and their people. These movements occur through the possibilities of resilience that manifest along their path, in their trajectories, as a set of circumstances with constitutional, relational, and environmental bases and not as a fixed individual attribute.

Este trabalho se propõe a compreender os processos subjetivos implicados na descoberta de ser negra. Analisamos o legado histórico deixado à população negra, a saber: o escravismo, o racismo e a ideologia do embranquecimento e os desdobramentos destes sobre a subjetividade da mulher negra. Apresentamos um breve panorama dos estudos da Psicologia sobre a temática racial. A pesquisa de campo se desenvolveu a partir do depoimento de três mulheres negras, de diferentes localidades do país, que embora pertencentes a realidades culturais e geográficas distintas, mostraram núcleos comuns na experiência de descoberta da negritude, núcleos também partilhados por esta pesquisadora. Foram utilizadas entrevistas abertas, não diretivas, visando uma narrativa livre, que privilegiasse o trabalho da memória. Para análise dos dados foram usados os referenciais da Psicanálise, Psicologia Social, estudos sobre Raça, Racismo e Afrodescendência. Percebemos ao final da pesquisa que a descoberta de ser negra redunda em significativa reelaboração subjetiva, especialmente pelo rompimento com o Ideal de Ego Branco e pela reconexão com as origens, promovendo empoderamento de longo alcance que estende-se á comunidade de pertencimento / This work proposes to comprehend the subjective processes implied in the discovery of being a black woman. We analyze the historical legacy left to the black woman, namely: slavery, racism and the white ideology. We present a brief spectrum of the studies done in Psychology and race issues. The field research was developed from the testimonies of three black women from various places within Brazil. While they all belong to distinct cultural and geographical realities, they showed common experiences in the discovery of their blackness, experiences also shared by myself, the researcher. We used open, non directive interviews that wanted to privilege the work of memory. We used references from Psychoanalysis, Social Psychology, studies on Race, Racism and Afrodecendent to analyse the data. At the end of the research, we realized that the discovery of being a black woman has to do with a significative subjective reelaboration, especially with the disruption the White Ego Ideal and the reconnection with the origins, promoting empowering on the long gran that spreads through the communities of belonging