The purpose of my research was to co-design and test a Race Equity Assessment for Leaders (REAL) 360 tool, which is a tool that supports organizational leaders in developing self-awareness of racial equity. This tool provides a ‘360-degree’ view of each leaders’ racial equity leadership through multi-directional perspectives through a: 1) self-assessment, which I co-designed and is the survey data that I collected for my research; and 2) a rater assessment of feedback from a peer colleague, a direct report, and a supervisor, which I co-designed. However, I did not collect or report on the rater survey data as my focus was on whether or not, and how, the tool helped leaders to develop self-awareness. This tool was designed in collaboration with ProInspire, a consultancy which supports social impact leaders and organizations to advance equity. This research fills a gap in the field and literature by contributing an assessment tool and implementing it in an organizational context to gain insight into leaders' self-awareness and acquisition of feedback on racially equitable leadership in their organization. In my role, I served as a researcher and engaged in the following three research phases: 1. Phase I: Co-Development (Research and Design); 2. Phase II: Implementation (Testing and Revisions); and Phase III: Outcomes (Data Collection and Analysis). In Phase I, using an action research approach, I contributed to the iterative and collaborative process of co-designing the REAL 360. In Phase II, the tool was administered to leaders in non-profit, corporate, or higher education organizations. In Phase III, using a mixed methods approach, I collected quantitative data (pre-beliefs survey, demographics survey, and REAL 360 survey) and qualitative data (cognitive interviews with affinity focus groups and individuals and post-beliefs survey). My goal was to identify: 1) the perceived impact of the tool on race equity beliefs ; 2) areas where the tool could be impactful on race equity; and 3) how the tool may benefit from revision. The quantitative findings suggest to me that racial equity beliefs and practices differ based on participants' racial identity (1. Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, BIPOC; 2.White) and age grouping (1. under 45; 2. 45 and over). Across both groupings, participants expressed a commitment to racial equity in their personal and professional lives. Participants 45 and over with more leadership experience, emphasized listening and aligning racial equity beliefs with organizational values to cultivate an inclusive workplace culture. Those under 45 who have exposure to social justice movements more recently in their adulthood, appeared more comfortable in expressing their racial identities. BIPOC participants rated themselves higher than White participants in advocating for racial equity policies and addressing advancement opportunities, which may reflect their lived experiences with workplace discrimination. The qualitative findings reveal to me that the REAL 360 survey serves as an effective self-reflective tool. It encouraged participants to critically examine racial equity leadership practices and develop an awareness of beliefs and actions that contribute to more racially equitable outcomes in both their personal and professional lives. Also, participants revealed that learning should extend beyond the tool to include professional development. Thus, the findings from this mixed methods action research study indicate to me that race and age contribute to leaders racial equity beliefs and practices. Also, these findings suggest to me that the tool can be supported with additional learning such as coaching sessions for leaders to interpret the tool’s feedback data and develop an action plan for more racially equitable practices. For future research to broaden the use of the tool to different organizations and to navigate potential resistance, organizations can highlight how inclusive leadership contributes to business outcomes like innovation, employee engagement, and overall performance.

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The present study examined a model of Black Cultural Strength and its relation to psychosocial health (N = 496). The purpose of the current study was to test a model of Black Cultural Strength, an interdependent combination of Black racial identity, communalism, cultural spirituality, positive racial socialization, and effective racism-related coping. Further, the study sought to understand if Black Cultural Strength could predict psychosocial health, a combination of life satisfaction and psychological well-being. The Black Cultural Strength model, which was tested through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), hypothesized that higher levels of Black Cultural Strength lead to increased self-reported psychological well-being and life satisfaction. Results from this study indicated that Black Americans’ levels of mature racial identity, exposure to positive racial socialization (preparation for bias and cultural socialization), effective racism related coping (constrained resistance, empowered action, confrontation, and spiritual coping), culturally-based spirituality, and communalism were all interdependent and loaded onto one factor, Black Cultural Strength. Further, results showed that Black Cultural Strength was positively predictive of Blacks’ psychosocial health. Although the proposed hypotheses were supported, and an overall acceptable model fit was found, two modifications were made to the original proposed model. These modifications were conducted with theory and past empirical findings in consideration, therefore the current study provides strong evidence to support that interdependent Black cultural values are positively predictive of psychosocial health. Limitations, clinical implications, and further directions of research are discussed.

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Africa, as both a place and as an idea, looms large in the construction of Black identity in Brazil and plays an increasingly important role in the identity processes of many Afro-American societies. Consequently, this dissertation seeks to explore how the idea of Africa is used and manipulated in the discourse and formulation of Blackness in the northeastern Brazilian state Bahia. Today, Afro-Brazilian elites and academics---particularly anthropologists---privilege the cultures of the Bight of Benin as crucial markers of a new Black identity in Black Bahia's religious spaces, cultural institutions and social movements. This new form of Black identity seeks to reject the dominant ideology of 'racial democracy' in Brazil and replace it with one that articulates an Africanised approach to Blackness. In this model, Yoruba religious practices are emphasised and placed at the centre of an array of cultural forms including carnaval, Afro-Brazilian religion, language instruction, culinary practice and the remnant maroon communities of the Bahian interior. In analysing these movements, the present work eschews the need to define Afro-Brazilian cultural practices in the historical context of a plantation society that contained so-called 'survivals' of African culture. Rather, this work adopts a perspective that simply attempts to understand how ideas such as 'Africa', 'slave', 'roots', 'orixa', 'Yoruba' and other, similar African concepts are deployed in the creation of Bahian, and more generally, Brazilian Blackness. Further, the construction of Africanised Blackness in Bahia needs to be understood in the context of an ongoing live dialogue between the cultures and peoples of Afro-America and different regions of the African continent. This dissertation explores this dialogue and also investigates the extent to which these redefinitions actually resonate and penetrate the diverse Black populations of Bahia, including those that are not actively involved with Bahia's Black movements, such as evangelical Christians and residents of the impoverished Bahian interior---the sertao. / Keywords: Africa, Bahia, Blackness, Brazil, dialogue, elites, ethnography, identity, Yoruba.

Transracial adoption occurs when a child of one race is adopted by parents of another race. Transracial adoption increased in the 1960s as racial integration policies developed. In the 1970s, however, transracial adoption became a controversial issue. The National Association of Black Social Workers posed several problems with this practice such as institutional racism, cultural genocide, and providing inadequate coping skills to combat racism.This study examines the racial identity of White parents who adopt transracially or inracially. It provides a racial identity profile to determine if White parents who adopt a Black or Biracial child encourage the transracially adopted child to experience Black culture. Currently, adoption agencies utilize some selection process for parents who adopt transracially. This study will further examine the White parents' racial identity and the level of commitment they have to exposing the transracially adopted child to Black culture in an effort to instill a positive Black racial identity in the adopted child. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

There is no abstract available for this thesis. / Department of Communication Studies

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of Project BIG on the self-concept and black pride of urban black children at the fourth-grade level. The study was conducted as a part of Project BIG (Black Image Growth), a Model Cities-supported inservice social studies program, which emphasized the concerns and contributions of black people in the study of Indiana history. The curricular emphasis was implemented by project teachers who used image-rehabilitation social studies materials developed in consultation with Project BIG directors.The sampling population was restricted by grade level and Model Cities School membership. Enrollment in a graduate course, "Seminar in Elementary Education," and participation in bi-weekly teacher training workshops during the 1971-72 school year were additional requirements for the teachers. Four of the original twelve project teachers met these criteria. Students of these four teachers were considered the experimental group. Students from the remaining nineteen Model Cities fourth-grade classrooms were considered the control group.