During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, academies and seminaries sprang up throughout America, but these institutions excluded African Americans. Around the same time, mobs began destroying schools for African Americans in various cities and towns in the free states and territories. Aware of this struggle over black education, quite a few African American and white women began to mobilize. This dissertation asks why African American and white women joined the struggle for black education and what they thought, said, and did to advance black education at a time of heightened racial hostility in the antebellum North. Drawing on historical methods and feminist theory, this dissertation shows that women were in the vanguard of black education during the antebellum era. Some of the women studied in this dissertation are Maria Stewart, Sarah Mapps Douglass, Prudence Crandall, Hannah Barker, Laura Haviland, Mary Ann Shadd Cary, Mary Miles Bibb, and Harriet Jacobs. These women educators pursued a range of initiatives, including building primary and secondary schools, establishing voluntary associations, organizing and fundraising, joining the teaching profession, and writing education-themed narratives, to secure educational opportunities for African Americans. Regardless of the particular vehicle for their educational work, some African American and white women educators organized and campaigned to promote equity in American education and to assert the changing status of African Americans in the nation. This study also situates women’s activism within the broader movement to abolish slavery, which allows for an analysis of the various discourses on African American education that circulated in the antebellum era. Following the lead of African Americans, women antislavery activists argued that education could help to overthrow the institution of slavery. Hence some women worked to build and strengthen alliances across race, gender, and class lines in order to realize a more inclusive and democratic nation. By examining women’s activism in the struggle for black education, this dissertation renders a dynamic representation of African American and white women as agents and thinkers in the fight against caste, oppression, and slavery.

During the second half of the twentieth century, Ethel Lois Payne emerged as one of the most notable African American journalists in the country. She was best known as the First Lady of the Black Press, and wrote for the Chicago Defender from 1951 to 1978. Her columns were syndicated in dozens of black newspapers across the country. The granddaughter of slaves and the daughter of a Pullman porter, Payne rose to become the nation’s preeminent black female reporter of the civil rights era, chronicling the movement’s seminal moments for a national black readership hungry for stories that could not be found in the white media. From publicly challenging President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s commitment to desegregation in the 1950s, to capturing the lives of black troops in Vietnam in the 1960s, she became known simply as a forceful defender of black civil rights, a vocal critic of colonialism in Africa and Asia and a fierce opponent of American militarism during the Vietnam War. This study examines the intersection between Payne’s role as a journalist and her political stances on civil rights and other issues of social justice. More importantly, this dissertation positions Payne as an important strategist who saw journalism as a vehicle to expose racial injustice, particularly during the turbulent 1950s and 1960s. She remained true to the mission of the black press dating back to 1827 with the publication of Freedom’s Journal.

This dissertation investigates the radical black feminist theatre of the 1940s through the 1970s, focusing on the work of playwrights Alice Childress, Lorraine Hansberry, and Sonia Sanchez. Each of these artists critically intervened in the discourses of gender, race, and class during the civil rights movement, and, later, the Black Power and Arts movements. Using archival and historical research, I argue that there was a vibrant, radical black feminist theatre movement throughout the twentieth century that sought equal representation for African Americans and a voice for black women. Chapters Two and Three add to the growing body of scholarship that situates Alice Childress as a major figure within the black left and the Communist Party. Through archival research and readings of her work, I demonstrate how Childress scripted dignified, humorous, and realistic portrayals of working class black women. Childress illustrated the theory of "triple jeopardy," the idea circulated within black radical circles that working class African American women were triply oppressed due to their class, race, and gender. Through her experimental forms and daring content, Childress revised racist stereotypes of, for instance, the black female domestic worker, into full-fledged characters. The manner in which African Americans were represented—artistically and politically—was her greatest concern. In Chapter Two, I argue that Childress's body of work can be viewed as an alternative feminist chronicle of African American women through its scripting of the working class black woman, specifically in her play Florence (1949) and her experimental novel of monologues, Like One of the Family (1956). Childress wrote, "I concentrate on portraying the have-nots in a have society, those seldom singled out by mass media, except as source material for derogatory humor." Her focus on the ordinary is anti-bourgeois in its refusal to participate in racial uplift stories lionizing the successful black middle class. In Chapter Three, I focus on Trouble in Mind. While this play has been hitherto regarded as formally conservative, I argue that, to the contrary, Childress uses innovative Brechtian structures. Childress employs radical formal experimentation to forcefully argue for black self-determination in the arts, well before the artists of the Black Arts Movement would. Chapter Four, "The White Problem: White Supremacy and Black Masculinity in the Work of Lorraine Hansberry," focuses on Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun and Les Blancs and the playwright's critical interventions into the racial discourses of whiteness, black masculinity, and their intersections, in the civil rights era. By focusing on Hansberry's critique of whiteness and patriarchal white supremacy, this essay redresses a gap in scholarship on Hansberry. I argue that Hansberry was one of the central assessors of whiteness and black masculinity in the civil rights-era United States. Hansberry's representation of black men across her career attempts to find common ground for progressive black masculinity and black feminism to work together to defeat the white supremacist patriarchy detrimental to all African Americans. Moving into the Black Power era, my final chapter posits an alternative model to current scholarship on gender ideology within the Black Arts and Power movements. Rather than envisioning a movement led by men who repressed women, or considering women as marginal figures fighting from the periphery to address questions of feminism, gender, women's issues, and sexuality, I ask, what happens if we center such feminist concerns in our narrative of the Black Arts Movement? Using works by Alice Childress and Sonia Sanchez, I demonstrate that black feminists in this time not only critiqued the masculinist rhetoric of much Black Arts writing, but also proposed a community-centered alternative model of black nationalism. This feminist model was grounded in love and support between black women and men, and advanced by black feminists as imperative for the success of the black nation's political goals.

This dissertation examines how marginalized subjects have altered rigid structures of class, race, sexuality and gender in American culture during the fifty-year period from 1940 to1990. This research utilizes an interdisciplinary approach that sources literature, film, historical documents, government statistics, sociological studies, and urban history. These varied resources provide insight about subject identities that exist outside the social and cultural mainstream. Some examples include the sexual outlaw, the racial transgressor, and men who have sex with men but identify as heterosexual. This work explores how the marginalized subject has been a dynamic locus for social and cultural changes. The literary works selected examine the marginalized subject through the lenses of sexuality, race, class, and gender. Furthermore, the works expose how the marginalized subject and the social practices in which these individuals engage often serve as transgressive acts that dismantle the categories of race, class, gender and sexuality. The hyper-masculine "pimp persona" is one example where the paradoxes and interstitial spaces between male and female gender performance become blurred. Additionally, this work examines masculine subjectivity through film and television, with particular analysis given to the persona of the sexual outlaw, the "magical Negro and white working-class male subject.

The primary purpose of this study was to explore social perceptions among African-American community college transfer students at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, a predominantly white institution. A secondary purpose to pictorialize students' social perceptions through a series of storyboards. The methodology for this study was qualitative, and required in-depth interviewing to explore the social perceptions of participating students. Once the interviewing process was complete, the individual profiles of participating students' were developed and grouped into categories that reveal thematic connections. Consistent with research on Black students at predominantly White colleges universities, this study reveals that the extent to which African-American community college transfer students become integrated into the academic and social communities of a campus environment is affected by a number of social adjustment issues. Included among these adjustment issues are conflicts involving: (a) racial identity development; (b) orientation to the campus environment; (c) peer relationships; (d) perceptions of racism in the classroom; (e) racial stereotyping; (f) cultural prejudice; (g) self-segregation on campus; (h) faculty-student interactions; and (i) family encouragement and support. From the personal narratives of students who, for the purposes of this study, were identified as the “Main Characters,” pictorials or graphic illustrations of their social perceptions and experiences were developed into storyboards. While the students' personal narratives allowed them to tell their stories in their own words, th storyboards were the researcher's attempt to provide a visual interpretation of students' social perceptions and experiences within the campus environment. Quite often, in a predominantly white college environment, the social perceptions and experiences of African-American students are invisible to those who are responsible for enrollment management or the quality of campus life. Therefore, the fundamental premise behind the development of the storyboards as an illustrative analysis of the research data is that “seeing is believing.”

My dissertation, "Education of Deaf African Americans in Washington DC and Raleigh, NC, during the 19th and Early 20th Centuries, Through the Eyes of Two Heroes and a Shero," investigates the education of deaf African Americans during Reconstruction and into the twentieth century in two cities. The document includes three narratives. The first is of Douglas Craig, a loss African American deaf child who was brought to Gallaudet University in Washington, DC in the mid 1800s by a New Hampshire Senator named Aaron Cragin. The child later became an employee who was often referred to as a “jack of all trades.” Craig was admired and loved by many until his death in 1936 which is reflected in the street named in his honor on the campus. The other two narratives tell the stories of Effie Whitaker and Manuel Crockett of Raleigh North Carolina, both hearing, both graduates of Hampton Institute, and educators who taught at the first known school for deaf and blind African American students in the United States. Their commitment to teaching greatly enhanced the quality of life for many students. The three stories demonstrate how political, social, race and economic conditions were very much intertwined with the segregated education system before the 1954 Brown v Board of Education case. In addition to the narratives, I briefly note the 1952 Miller v District of Columbia Board of Education case: A victory that integrated the Kendall School in Washington, DC, which was, and still is, the most influential institution for deaf individuals in the United States. The stories about these unsung heroes and many others are rarely mentioned. However, their narratives are now a small part of a body of scholarly work that contributes to the history of one of the most understudied areas of African American education and there is much more to be done.

Jarena Lee, Zilpha Elaw, and Julia Foote use spiritual autobiography as a platform from which to promote women's preaching. They consider race, gender and social circumstances as elements in their spiritual development. Their narratives contain a "radical" vision of nineteenth-century African American women. As sites of intensive intellectual and spiritual wrangling over social and spiritual matters, the narratives cannot be fully understood without carefully contextualization. This study suggests that (1) understanding the histories of the communities, churches, and evangelical missions, (2) considering style, syntax, vocabulary, and tone, and (3) asking specific questions of each text, will help readers gain a sense of the intellectual and spiritual lives documented in the narratives. The "dying husband" trope appears in all of the texts. The trope begins with a detailing of a period of great spiritual joy achieved after the writer has overcome spiritual challenge. Joy is interrupted by marriage, usually to a non-believer. Marriage presents physical and spiritual hardship attended by debilitating illness. Illness and near-death debilitation become occasions for preaching liberty and divine revelation. Generally, once revealed truths are understood, a husband dies. In light of new understandings of personal power and divine inspiration, the widowed preacher resumes her evangelical charge to pursue anew her "call". Lee's 1836 and 1849 texts offer direct challenge to A.M.E. leaders set on licensing only educated men as clergy. Her texts are extended arguments for a sex-integrated and "inspired" pastorate. Elaw's work, not arguing directly for women preachers, implies that she has been groomed for evangelical service, as was St. Paul. Critiquing more pointedly the idea that women could not be spiritual leaders, Foote wages battle with the A.M.E. Zion Church over the right of women to preach sanctification. Foote's argument for women's preaching relies on her use of Dred Scott v. Sanford (1879) case dicta with which she indicts the Church as sexist in the same way slavery law and public policy were racist. Black feminist literary criticism must incorporate methodology that permits an appropriate contextualization for texts sensitive to significant cultural and social change, such as these texts.

The need for professional equality in this country has been long recognized by many historical and influential public officials. Over the decades much blood has been shed and tremendous resources have been utilized to ascertain equality for all American citizens in the workplace. Agencies have been established and laws have been passed (such as The Civil Rights Act; Affirmative Action; and others) to cement this principle into our way of life. An often quoted and written Equal Employment Opportunity statement, such as the following: "It is the policy of (whatever company or institution) not to discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicap, or political affiliation. The (whatever company or institution) shall take affirmative action to insure that applicants are employed and that employees are treated fairly during employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or handicap. Such action shall include, but not be limited to, the following: recruiting, employment, training, assignment, transfer, career development, and promotion of minorities, women, and handicapped will be addressed at all levels of employment ... " (Springfield Public Schools Affirmative Action Plan, 5/22/87), vskip18pt contributes to the perception that there is equal access and opportunity in the professional world. Consequently, it is perceived that women settle in beside their male counterparts at the top. However, this perception has never been converted to reality in a noticeable way. The imbalance between women and men is certainly a problem in and of itself, but the focus of this dissertation is on the imbalance of African American women in public school administration. This imbalance exists in all community types. If we, African American females, do not rise to the occasion and unite our forces to aggressively combat this inequality, we will become "endangered species" in public school administration. This study evaluates in depth the statistical imbalances of African American females in public school administration. Through in depth interviews, the experiences of influential African American females in education and other professions are analyzed to more fully understand the problem and how these prominent individuals dealt with it. The final goal of this study is to develop an innovative "Network" which focuses on making it easier for young African American females in middle and high school who have a desire to work public education.

This study investigated African American males' perceptions and attitudes toward women and rap music. One hundred males between the ages of 13–25 were given a survey to assess their perceptions of women and rap music. Upon completion of the survey, five participants were randomly chosen to be interviewed. Four research questions guided the analysis: (1) How do young African American males respond to the images of women in rap music? (2) How do young African American males perceive manhood? (3) How do young African American males perceive heterosexual relationships? (4) How do young African American males perceive rap music and their relationship with women? The major findings of this study offered a complex, multi-faceted view of the role of rap music in the lives of young African American males including its impact on their attitudes toward women. Despite images of violence and sexual conquest in many popular rap songs, participants in the study affirmed a personal view of manhood that includes a rejection of violence against women. Participants also rejected a view of male-female relationships built on sexual relations in favor of more mutually supportive relationships with women. Participants also overwhelmingly rejected views of women as “gold diggers” interested in men for material gains. Participants further rejected a view of rap music as a form of personal and social control. They viewed it as a form of entertainment and escapism that offers African Americans opportunities for expression that are necessary to resist influences of a larger racist society.

Several studies have been conducted on the features of African-American English (AAE). Findings have generally been limited to descriptions of those surface level features used by adult or adolescent AAE speakers. Little emphasis has been placed on how AAE emerges as a linguistic system in young children. Consequently, much of the information gained on AAE surface features are limited to lists of how AAE features used by adults and teenagers contrast with those used by speakers of Standard American English (SAE). There has been limited information gathered on the underlying grammatical and syntactic principles of AAE. An informed perspective is that in order to differentiate normal language functioning from disordered language functioning in AAE speaking children, there is the need for a greater understanding of the underlying linguistic systems governing the functioning of AAE grammar. This research investigation represents a step in understanding the linguistic systems of AAE which govern its surface level representations. The purpose of this study was to investigate AAE speaking children's knowledge of the specific aspectual properties that comprise the meaning of aspectual "be" in AAE. These linguistic properties included: habituality, iterativity, imperfective viewpoint, and the marker "be." Thirty-five normal AAE speaking children and eighteen normal SAE speaking children served as subjects. The children were between the ages of five and six years. The results of this study confirmed that AAE speaking children understand the targeted aspectual contours of aspectual "be" and do not confuse aspectual "be" with SAE regular forms of "be," but rather are able to identify aspectual "be" as a separate additional lexical item (marking specific aspectual contours) in their linguistic repertoires. Findings also revealed that AAE speaking subjects could correctly manipulate aspectual "be" in the deep structure of their grammar. Finally, it was demonstrated that with the exception of aspectual "be," AAE and SAE children share essentially equivalent aspectual abilities. The AAE subjects' ability to recognize two separate linguistic meanings of "be" (regular and aspectual) provided clear evidence that at a young age AAE speaking children are able to control the subtle features of their dialect.