Many of the Harlem Renaissance anthologies and histories of the movement marginalize and omit women writers who played a significant role in it. They neglect to include them because these women worked outside of socially determined domestic roles and wrote texts that portrayed women as main characters rather than as muses for men or supporting characters. The distorted representation of women of the Renaissance will become clearer through the exploration of the following texts: Jessie Fauset’s Plum Bun, Caroline Bond Day’s “Pink Hat,” Dorothy West’s “Mammy,” Angelina Grimke’s Rachel and “Goldie,” and Georgia Douglas Johnson’s A Sunday Morning in the South. In these texts, the themes of passing, motherhood, and lynching are narrated from the consciousness of women, a consciousness that was largely neglected by male writers.

This work is a collection of poems revolving around black or African-American identity and the intersection of feminist consciousness with racial struggle. An examination of the unknown or forgotten black woman runs through this work as well as connection to a mother figure. The poems also reflect the influence of place, particularly New Orleans, its history, its culture, and its present evolution post-Hurricane Katrina. The collection's preface includes development of a unique poetics that considers identity theories and models of the subject in light of poetic voice. The poems use caesura heavily, rhyme, and sonic echo. Poets who have influenced the author include Gwendolyn Brooks, Langston Hughes, Ai, and Lucille Clifton.

<p> My dissertation contends that diaspora, perhaps the most visible spatial paradigm for theorizing black constructions of identity and self, is inherently limited by the historical conditions of its rise as well as the preoccupations with which it has been most closely associated. I propose that we expand our theoretico-spatio terms for constructions of blackness to include the space of the home, the space of the plantation and the space of the prison (what I call the space of justice). These three spaces point to literary themes, characters, and beliefs that the space of diaspora alone does not explain. Each chapter analyzes the work of three or four writers from the United States, Brazil and Mozambique. These writers include: Paulina Chiziane, Concei&ccedil;&atilde;o Evaristo, Octavia E. Butler, Toni Morrison, Zora Neale Hurston, Carolina Maria de Jesus, Bernice McFadden, Wanda Coleman, Ifa Bayeza and Asha Bandele. </p>

<p>Prior to the Civil Rights Movement, fewer than 50 Black judges had been elected or appointed to the judiciary. As of August 2015, there are over 1,000 Black state and federal judges. As the number of black judges has increased, one question arises: have American courts been altered purely by this substantial increase? One expectation—and, at times, a prediction—behind the increased descriptive representation of Black judges is that their mere presence would alter the judiciary. It was supposed that these judges would substantively represent Black interests in the decisions they made. In other words, it was suspected, and predicted, that Blacks in the judiciary would enhance equality and justice by being aware of, responsive to, and advocating for African Americans. This theory about the likely role of Black judges derives from theoretical work on political representation and racial group consciousness, and empirical studies of Black elite behavior in other political institutions.</p><p>Despite such predictions, there is no corresponding scholarly consensus regarding whether Black judges possess a racial group consciousness and have racially distinctive judicial behavior. Therefore, the theory undergirding the demand for increased diversification, as a means to transform the judiciary, remains unsubstantiated. This is precisely where this project, “They’re There, Now What?: The Identities, Behavior, and Perceptions of Black Judges,” seeks to intervene in and explore, if not settle, the matter of whether black judges possess a racial group consciousness and exhibit racially-distinctive judicial behavior. It addresses a set of interrelated questions relevant to understanding whether we can view Black judges as representatives in ways that are similar to how we view other Black political officials. I examine these questions using a multi-method approach. For my analyses, I draw on diverse materials: the published biographies of every Black judge appointed to the federal bench, a survey experiment with a nationally-representative adult sample, and semi-structured interviews with 30 Black judges.</p><p>This research, which engages with scholarship on representation, group consciousness, judicial behavior, and candidate perceptions, offers new insights into the lives, perceptions, and behavior of Black judges, as well as the manifestations of Black substantive representation in the judiciary. My dissertation argues that, despite the general reluctance to use the term “representation” when referring to judges, we can consider Black judges as representatives. Black judges behave as substantive representatives by (1) sharing and understanding the experience, history, and perspectives of Black Americans, (2) challenging language, persons, policies, and laws they feel negatively affect, or violate the rights and liberties of, African Americans, (3) respecting African American litigants, and (4) ensuring the rights of African Americans are protected and the needs of black Americans are being met. </p><p>Only through research that considers the perspectives, identities, perceptions, and behavior of Black judges will we arrive at a more comprehensive understanding of the importance of racial diversity in the courts. As this project finds, a link between descriptive representation and substantive representation can, and frequently does exist within the judicial context. Such a link is significant given that Blacks’ liberty and justice through the American legal system continues to be subject to those who exercise judicial power. This dissertation has implications for the discourse surrounding the need for increased descriptive and substantive representation of Blacks in the judiciary, and the factors that affect representation in the justice system.</p> / Dissertation

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<p> In 1954, Southwestern Louisiana Institute (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) became the first undergraduate school in the Deep South to desegregate. Its acclaim as the first, however, was promoted only because it lost as a defendant in <i>Clara Dell Constantine et al. v. Southwestern Louisiana Institute et al.</i> What occurred then, and the indignities experienced by African American students during that first decade has never been fully documented. The black experience was figuratively and literally blacked out. </p><p> African American students found themselves receiving lower grades in class than their white counterparts. Social events banned them, and school services denied access. To cope with racism, they drew strength by supporting one another, developing a grapevine, establishing their own social network, and most of all, keeping focused on their education. But not everyone was against them. Some whites risked their reputation, and became their brother&rsquo;s keeper. </p><p> The four Pillars of Progress, commemorating the fiftieth anniversaries of SLI&rsquo;s desegregation and <i>Brown</i> in 2004, stand today as a campus testament to that era. But what remains at odds is whether the desegregation of SLI was &ldquo;without incident.&rdquo; That still remains a matter of interpretation and depends on whom is being asked and who answers.</p><p>

<p> This dissertation explores the relationship between parental incarceration and childhood obesity in African American children by reviewing Adverse Childhood Experiences from the National Survey of Children&rsquo;s Health, revealing the epidemic of childhood obesity, and examining the issues of mass incarceration and its physical, mental, and emotional effect on African American children. </p><p> The results of this study find that we could not show that being an African American child experiencing parental incarceration influences childhood obesity. In this study we could not show that the number of Adverse Childhood Experiences faced by African American children are related to the child&rsquo;s level of obesity. Also, this study finds that we could not show a statistically significant relationship between African American children having incarcerated parents and the rest of the parental-incarcerated population, whites and others, and the difference in obesity. Finally, we could not show an association between obese African American children who experience parental incarceration by gender.</p><p>

<p> This study explored of the practices and routines of one-parent households and the impact on post-secondary educational attainment of African American males. It adopted a post-positivist approach, using a qualitative phenomenological study design to construct descriptions of the lives of one-parent households whose sons are accepted and planning to enter college in the fall or are currently completing their freshman year. </p><p> The study used data from 10 1-parent households with African American sons committed to attend a college in the fall semester of 2018. The population sought to address maximum variability in participants&rsquo; parenting background, and the routines and practices in that existed in the home and contributed to their sons achieving educational attainment beyond high school. In doing so, the study sought to provide a comprehensive understanding of the characteristics of one-parent households who have provided an environment for their African American sons to seek and obtain post-secondary educational attainment. </p><p> The study used multiple methods of data collection for a 5-week period. I collected data through a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The study may enhance current knowledge of this subject in a variety of ways. It strove to understand specific ways the parent actions influence African American males to attend post-secondary options by identifying the routines and practices of 10 one-parent households who have African American sons who are committed to attend a college or a university in the fall immediately after graduation from high school. It also sought to identify further significant influences of one-parent households&rsquo; strategies that guided their sons to seek and attain post-secondary options through continuing their education. Additional inquiry seeks to add to our knowledge the ways one-parent households organize their daily routines and support for African American high school males to seek and attain post-secondary options upon graduation from high school.</p><p>

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