Where Outreach Meets Outrage: Racial Equity at the Canada Council for the Arts (1989-1999), examines the early formation of racial equity policies at The Canada Council for the Arts. In this research project, I am primarily interested in understanding the ways in which ‘culture’ is employed by the state, the Canada Council for the Arts and by black artists to articulate and communicate complex issues that pertain to notions of art, citizenship, solidarity, justice, multiculturalism, belonging and nationhood. The research places culture and cultural production centrally within claims and calls by racialized artists for the ethical redistribution of societal resources and participation in societal structures. I look at questions of how community is produced and struggled over in relation to claims for cultural resources. This thesis employs an interdisciplinary approach drawn from the disciplines of sociology, anthropology and critical cultural studies to allow the complex relationships between activities of the Canadian state, racial equity policy making at the Canada Council, and grass roots social activism to emerge. I argue that state practices of management are elastic and that racial equity policies at the Canada Council emerged out of a confluence of transformational activities simultaneously taking place at the state/institutional and grassroots levels. The significance of this research project is that it fuses contemporary cultural production and art within contemporary social justice paradigms that seek to understand the processes and practices within liberalism that produce oppressions and resistance through an exclusionary politics of representation. This dissertation study will have both applied and theoretical implications in the Canadian context both within and outside of the academy in the fields of the arts, cultural policy and education.

As the United States is in the midst of a proclaimed time of economic distress it is essential to identify the methods which families demonstrate skills of survival. This study is based on the premise that African-Americans have a self-made kin support system and culture which provide resources and skills for the betterment of the family unit. A quantitative methods design is used to identify and prioritize the resources and behaviors utilized by African-American families in time of declared economic crisis. Through the Africultural Coping Skills inventory this study identifies that African-American families within the Metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia area use a great deal of the identified cultural-specific coping mechanisms. In addition, results from the modified version of the Satisfaction with Life Scale demonstrate that the study participant, who served as their African-American family representative, perceived their well-being as positive. A thorough analysis of the study's resulting data and a discussion are provided alongside review of concepts from Afrocentric theory and resource exchange theory. Several recommendations are provided as a result of this analysis and discussion. Recommendations are also provided in hopes of ensuring that continuous efforts are made to document and expose the positive attributes found within African-American family and culture are noted as a natural form of resilience.

The purpose and focus of this work is to seek practical means by which local African-American congregations can minister to persons living with AIDS (PLWAs), and to institute an educational awareness model which emphasizes prevention of the HIV virus. The impetus for the study was a pastoral clinical education program which brought the researcher in contact with HIV/AIDS patients and their families. The study and resulting model for ministry is designed to inspire clergy and laity to institute sharing and caring ministries for PLWAs. Members of the faith community are challenged to respond to the Biblical mandate of Jesus Christ by developing compassionate outreach programs in their local communities. Having studied the literature, the time has come to demonstrate the practice of this ministry issue at the Antioch African Methodist Episcopal Church (A.M.E.C.) in Decatur, Georgia.

This work seeks to construct and implement in two Baptist churches a viable congregational model for doing youth ministry, which can be used to improve positive self-esteem in Black children, ages ten thru eighteen. Positive self-esteem is examined in the congregational settings by posing and answering six (6) questions: What is Self-Esteem? Who is God? Who am I? Who are you? Who are we in Christ? and What ought we do? These six (6) questions form the essence of positive self-esteem. The model uses family relationships between adult presenters and the intended youth, adult presentations on Christian identity and action in the congregation, field trips, Black history materials in the homes, and visual aids as the vehicles to accomplish the improvement in the positive self-esteem of the youth. The model responds to the threat to positive self-esteem of many of the youth as evidenced by racism and discrimination in American society, the presence of several indicators of negative or low self-esteem, problems in the very institutions that influence positive self-esteem, and adult perceptions of the social environment. It is based on the premise that the church must provide the family with the tools to help our children survive in this society. This will be accomplished by preparing our youth to affirm positive actions that build and affirm positive self-esteem and to reject the negative actions that counter it. This project seeks to use the extended family system and the conjugal family system of the children in their quest for positive self-esteem because of its potential as a positive influence. Finally, this work seeks to place the responsibility of the children in the hands of the entire church family, which is called to actively work to nurture them in this crucial and critical time in their lives.

This dissertation offers an interdisciplinary model of pastoral counseling with 'interdependence' as its organizing principle. This interdisciplinary model relies on the theological concept of Community, according to Howard Thurman, and the psychological issue of dependence as articulated in the Object Relations theory of W. R. D. Fairbairn. Interdependence as a norm for this interdisciplinary Community/Mature Dependence model of pastoral counseling is helpful in that it responds to a need in the field of pastoral counseling for relevant input concerning norms, values and criteria for effective pastoral counseling with persons, particularly those from bi-cultural communities, such as African Americans. In this respect, the African American cultural values of Collective Identity, Family life and Resiliency in Struggle and Suffering form an integral part of this interdisciplinary model. Interwoven with the theological and psychological concepts and the African American cultural values are the clinical cases of two African Americans, a female and a male. These concepts and the cultural values chosen to bring to bear on the counseling relations with these persons are especially helpful due to their focus on the value of communal interrelating and the processes of whole-making. Prominent issues raised in conjunction with the clinical cases are: (1) the fragmentation, splitting and distorted self images that can occur due to improper nurturing in childhood and/or as a result of racism and oppression, (2) the effects of racism and discrimination on personal and familial value systems, and (3) the pain and suffering caused by unresolved conflict involved in the status of being bi-cultural. Howard Thurman, as an African American theologian who, from outside the majority culture and some of its theoretical and cultural constrictions brings to this discussion his unique perspective of Community which grounds all persons and all dimensions of personhood in an Ultimate unity. Thurman, speaking with the insights of one who has suffered racial oppression and discrimination, lifts his voice of sensitive concern and caring to all persons bound in the human condition and outlines the task for the reconciliation of all of creation. Unity, Actualization of Potential, Love and Reconciliation are the four major components of Thurman's concept of Community addressed in this dissertation. My analysis also brings the object relations theory of W. R. D. Fairbairn into dialogue with Thurman, the cultural factors and the clinical data from the two case studies. Fairbairn, deviates from psychoanalytic tradition in that he formulated an alternative interpretation of the core of personality than that advocated by Sigmund Freud. Fairbairn's assertion is that the libidinal ego is first and foremost in need and in search of an satisfying object, i.e., a meaningful and positive relationship with another person. With the help of Thurman, Fairbairn, the clinical cases and African American cultural factors, I highlight the illusory or at best transient nature of independence and the process I demonstrate the need for an appreciation of the nature of dependency, particularly in the context of Interdependence. A three dimensional model of pastoral counseling is presented which elaborates upon the importance of (1) the client's historical situation and cultural values; (2) identification, a proper sense of self and differentiation; and, (3) shared suffering, actualization of potential and liberating and reconciling love.

The main thrust of this dissertation is the development and effectiveness of a pastoral counseling center in an African-American church. Prior to the development of this pastoral counseling center, there were none in an African-American church in the southeast. This document seeks to link the need for pastoral counseling centers to the rich history of care offered by the African-American Church. A consideration of theological issues regarding pastoral counseling and developing pastoral counseling centers is offered in this dissertation. Also, a look at liberation as being the aim of theology is presented. In addition, the theology of the pastoral counselor who developed this center can be found in this dissertation. The factors to be considered when developing a pastoral counseling center in an African-American church are offered in this dissertation. The organizational structure and methodology of this center are also elaborated upon in the document. Included is a description of the various individuals who were directly involved in the development of the pastoral counseling center. Additionally, a description of the church where the center was developed is given which includes a demographic study of the community, a historical view of the host church, and a description of the city where the church is located. To ascertain the effectiveness of the pastoral counseling center, interviews with the senior pastor, the ministerial staff, the advisory committee, and selected clients were conducted. A summary of services rendered at the center over a one-year period is presented in the dissertation. Finally, a comprehensive look at the training and the process of certification of a pastoral counselor is documented. The training of a pastoral counselor is linked to the development and effectiveness of the pastoral counseling center. There is also given a general theory of the development of a pastoral counseling center in an African-American church.

This dissertation examines some structural and cultural problems that can contribute to the problem of underachievement facing Black, male students in the educational system. A phenomenological approach was used to gain the perspectives of six Black, male educators on this problem. Underachievement problems for these students have garnered much interest in the research literature and in pedagogical debates. It is a problem with a long history from the Royal Commission on Learning (1993) to TDSB Urban Diversity Strategy (2008) the problem continues to baffle educators. Data also presents a dismal picture, with 40% from this group underachieving. Black, male teachers‟ perspectives are significant because presently their voices are limited in the literature. Their perspectives are also influenced by race, ethnicity and gender, and these are issues that impact on the problem being investigated. The main questions of the study are: - What are some Black male educators' perspectives of the role of structural and cultural factors that contribute to the problem of underachievement and school failure for Black, male students? Were these the same barriers they faced and how did they overcome these barriers as students? - How might the narratives of these Black male educators both challenge and support multicultural approach to curriculum that purports to particularly address the problems facing Black, male students? The result of the research indicates that there are structural and cultural factors that can cause underachievement problems for Black, male students. It suggests that an iii integrated approach which acknowledges the influence of both structure and culture could be used as a means for improving learning outcomes for this group of earners.

This dissertation examines some structural and cultural problems that can contribute to the problem of underachievement facing Black, male students in the educational system. A phenomenological approach was used to gain the perspectives of six Black, male educators on this problem. Underachievement problems for these students have garnered much interest in the research literature and in pedagogical debates. It is a problem with a long history from the Royal Commission on Learning (1993) to TDSB Urban Diversity Strategy (2008) the problem continues to baffle educators. Data also presents a dismal picture, with 40% from this group underachieving. Black, male teachers‟ perspectives are significant because presently their voices are limited in the literature. Their perspectives are also influenced by race, ethnicity and gender, and these are issues that impact on the problem being investigated. The main questions of the study are: - What are some Black male educators' perspectives of the role of structural and cultural factors that contribute to the problem of underachievement and school failure for Black, male students? Were these the same barriers they faced and how did they overcome these barriers as students? - How might the narratives of these Black male educators both challenge and support multicultural approach to curriculum that purports to particularly address the problems facing Black, male students? The result of the research indicates that there are structural and cultural factors that can cause underachievement problems for Black, male students. It suggests that an iii integrated approach which acknowledges the influence of both structure and culture could be used as a means for improving learning outcomes for this group of earners.

Women’s Studies students’ accounts of their experiences academically, emotionally and politically in feminist university classrooms will be investigated in this thesis. Central to my work, through an anti-racist feminist and intersectional analysis, is to demonstrate the ways in which Women’s Studies university classroom spaces are neither ‘innocent’ nor are they devoid of racism/white supremacy as it is present in the bodies who are allowed to enter the space, voices allowed to speak and knowledge being taught. As this research is informed by a personal experience in an undergraduate Women and Gender Studies course at a local university, I will use both auto-ethnography and interviews as method in and through anti-racist feminist research methodology. Highlighting the importance of anti-racism education as a call to action in attending to this disjuncture and also to erode superficial notions of sisterhood will demonstrate white feminist supremacy as an implication for the sociology of race.

The microfinance revolution of the 1980s acclaimed micro-credit as a tool that would improve the lives of economically active people trapped in poverty. The 2006 Nobel prize awarded to Mohammed Yunus and Grameen Bank confirmed for the industry’s advocates that microfinance was a panacea, and billions of dollars have been channeled to financial services for the poor. However, a series of high-profile scandals in 2010 shook development agencies’ faith in micro lending, and support has waned in light of evidence that microfinance alone cannot change structural inequalities and end poverty. I show that politics operate throughout the industry, reproducing inequalities within the process of micro lending. In my political ethnographic study of 460 people in three countries, I find that race and class politics is entrenched in all three countries, yet there are different outcomes related to attitudes of microfinance managers. In Jamaica and Guyana, micro lenders demonstrate that historically rooted racial and class biases go beyond gender to determine the allocation of micro loan resources. Ingrained biases interfere with the allocation of loans to the urban poor because discriminatory practices reinforce pre-existing social divisions. The Haiti case is hopeful: lenders, particularly the caisses populaires (credit unions), are made up of socially conscious people who recognize the country’s exclusionary politics. Managers and staff have class origins similar to the clients they serve and view micro loans as a tool to contest class and race-based oppressions. Haiti’s case suggests that collective systems such as those found in the caisses populaires and informal banks are effective because they relate to people’s history; and managers influenced by the masses, organize financial programs that are responsive to their clients and remain free from elite capture. This bottom-up approach in microfinance determines a greater level of social transformation for the urban poor.