The contemporary experiences of racially marginalized people in the West are affected deeply by the hegemonic capitalist Orthodox cultural codes, or episteme, in which blackness operates as the symbol of Chaos. As it relates to people of African descent, these affects are marked by a denial of the black person's full status as an unproblematic subject, by ontological voids arising from the practice of enslavement over the past centuries, and by problems of representation within the West, where examples and points of reference for black identity are always tied up with conflicting interests. Utilizing Sylvia Wynter's model of the Ceremony as one means of describing the ways in which blacks in the West maneuver the extant psychological and philosophical perils of race in the Western world, I argue that the history of black responses to the West's ontological violence is alive and well, particularly in art forms like spoken word, where the power to define/name oneself is of paramount importance. Focusing on how art shaped black responses to ontologically debilitating circumstances, I argue that there has always existed a model for liberation within African American culture and tradition. This work takes an approach that is philosophical and theoretical in nature in order to address the wide breadth of the black experience that lies beyond the realm of statistics. The goal of this approach is to continue the work of unraveling hidden or under-discussed aspects of the black experience in order to more clearly find possibilities for addressing problems in the construction of race and marginalized people within the Western episteme. This work attempts to redefine the struggle for a healthier ontology within the framework of a process of liberation that transcends Orthodox limitations on the marginalized subject.

Abstract

Richard "King Dick" or "Big Dick" Crafus, Cephas, or Seaver(s) first attracted attention by his size, strength and the authority he exercised as leader of U.S. African American Prisoners of War in Britain during the War of 1812. After the War he was celebrated as a boxing pioneer, ceremonial King of Boston's black community and almost certainly auxiliary law officer. Very little has been known about his life, and much of that obscured by his black working-class status; his true standing within his own community remains mysterious. Yet paradoxically he's been made much of, in academic writing and fiction alike right up to the present day. Although his life resisted the reduction of himself and his people to irrelevance and invisibility, I argue that his most prominent role has been as a palimpsest, a used canvas or marked screen onto which scholars and fiction-writers alike, as intellectual workers, have projected their images of the place of Blacks, blackness and racialized Others in the Americas and the Americanized world, including Haiti and Arabia. This thesis attempts to reconstruct his life and interpret his myriad reconstructions, to illuminate both dominant white and less-accessible minority discourses. The particular characteristics inscribed into Big Dick's figure have helped define class and caste structures, public morality and the use of public space, and the working of the U.S. capitalist and cultural imperium in the marketplace of discourses.

The politics of Blacks are stereotypically assumed to be the same and share the same race-based root, be it disenfranchisement or solidarity. Given the recent jump in Black political participation and the seemingly race-based and partisan nature "the Black vote" holds, it is essential to investigate what factors drive Black voter turnout as well as what factors contribute to the partisan nature of Black voters. Most other studies of political opinion, turnout, and party preference only consider comparable demographic groups such as men versus women or Blacks versus Whites. This study examines partisan preference and participation only among Black Americans. The data used here come from the American National Election Survey (ANES) 1984, 1996, and 2008 Pre- and Post-Election Survey, election years that coincided with peaks and lows of Black voter turnout since the Civil Rights Movement. Findings indicate that Black Democrats report higher voter turnout than Black non-Democrats, and younger Blacks and those who opposed abortion were less likely to vote. Also, results suggest that although Black partisanship can be predicted by gender, abortion stance, and age, partisanship is largely not a product of demographics or political stances based on how little variance these models account; rather, Black partisanship may be explained by aspects that go beyond these usual determinants, measures, and proxies. Implications of this study show that non-Democratic Blacks were political available to other parties, and it warrants a further investigation into Black partisanship.

Abstract Eighty percent of all black women are overweight or obese which can lead to greatly increased morbidity and mortality, increasing healthcare costs and loss of healthy years of life. While multiple factors may contribute to obesity in black women, the cultural persona of the Strong Black Woman (SBW), an ideology that promotes unflagging toughness and denial of self-needs, may be the basis for behaviors that contribute to steady state obesity in this group. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between the SBW persona, depression, and emotional eating. Two predominately black churches in Florida were approached concerning this research. A total of sixty-six women consented to participate during their monthly women's fellowship meeting. Each woman was asked to complete a packet of three instruments. The Strong Black Woman Cultural Construct Scale, a 22-item instrument was scored on a 5-point Likert-like scale with possible scores on the inventory ranging from 22 to 110. The mean score for this inventory was high (M=74.62; SD= 8.700. The SBWCCS has 3 subscales, measuring Affect Regulation (7 items), Caretaking (8 items), and Self-Reliance (7 items). Affect Regulation scores may range from 7 to 35. The mean score for Affect Regulation was moderately high (M=21.35; SD = 4.39). Caretaking scores could range from 8 to 40 points. The mean score for Caretaking was moderately high (M=25.11; SD = 4.47). Self-Reliance scores could range from 7 to 35, and had the highest mean score (M= 28.17; SD = 3.31). The Emotional Eating scale, a 25 item inventory rated on a five-point Likert-like scale, has a score range of 25 to 125 points. The mean score for Emotional Eating was low (M=49.36; SD = 19.42). The Center for Epidemiological Study-Depression Scale, a 20-item inventory has scores that range from 0-60 points. The mean score for this inventory was low (M=14.06; SD = 9.05). Pearson Product Moment Correlations were run to determine if there were any relationships among the three variables and the subscales. No relationships were found between SBW and Depression, or between SBW and Emotional Eating. However the relationship between Depression and Emotional Eating was statistically significant (r=0 .27, p<.05). No relationships were found between the three subscales and emotional eating, nor was there a relationship between depression and caretaking or depression and self-reliance. However, the relationship between Depression and Affect Regulation was statistically significant (r=0.28, p<.05). The findings regarding the relationships between SBW and depression, and also SBW and Emotional Eating were inconsistent with the current literature, suggesting that either response bias or some other source of bias interfered with the relationships. However, the significant relationships between Depression and Emotional Eating, along with Depression and Affect Regulation, were consistent with previous studies. Further research is needed to determine if there is response bias due to questions on the instruments being at odds with strong identification with the SBW persona and also to determine levels of depression in this population. A more complete understanding of these relationships is needed before culturally specific interventions for psychosocial factors supporting obesity in black women may be developed.

This thesis examines labor organizing in the U.S. South, specifically the Piedmont and eastern regions of North Carolina in the mid-twentieth century. It aims to uncover an often overlooked local history of civil rights labor organizing which challenged the southern status quo before America's 'mainstream' civil rights era of the 1950s and 1960s. This study argues that through labor organizing, African American tobacco workers challenged the class, gender, and race hierarchy of North Carolina's very profitable tobacco industry during the first half of the twentieth century. In doing so, the thesis contributes to the historiography of black working class protest, and the ever-expanding field of local civil rights histories and the long civil rights movement.

This thesis examines a local activist group in the rural town of Belle Glade, Florida during the late 1960s and early 1970s. This research falls in line with many New Black Power studies. These New Black Power studies challenge existing notions of the Black Power and Civil Rights eras and their relationship to one another. It challenges the time frames, geography and ideology of both of the eras. This case study of a the group in Belle Glade is not the first to examine the similarities of the Black Power and Civil Rights eras, where many groups who affiliated with the Civil Rights Movement and shifted towards Black Power tactics, it does present an interesting dynamic of a group which self-identified as a Black Power group to an approach more associated with the Civil Rights Movement. The methods used in the in studying the COBY, the moniker of the group, included archival research from newspapers and city commission meeting minutes. Additionally, ethnographic research methods were also used in the form of personal interviews. This thesis will add to the scholarship of New Black Power studies by providing another example of groups in history which challenge existing notions of two distinct movements in the Civil Rights and Black Power eras.

‘She Shall Not Be Moved’: Black Women’s Spiritual Practice in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, Beloved, Paradise, and Home argues that from The Bluest Eye, Morrison’s debut novel, to her 2012 novel, Home, Morrison brings her female characters to voice, autonomy, and personal divinity through unconventional spiritual work. The project addresses the history of Black women’s activist and spiritual work, Toni Morrison’s engagement with unconventional spiritual practice, and closes with a personal interrogation of the author’s connection to Black women’s spiritual practice.

<p> The purpose of this study was to engage in ethnographic research involving Jack E. Singley High School (JESA), which was part of the Irving Independent School District in Irving, Texas and recognized throughout the state as one of its most successful high schools. Singley High School had a population of 1600, with 88% minority students, who continued to exhibit academic achievement. The researcher evidenced specific interest in the performance of African-American male students at Singley, since this academic performance consistently received national recognition. This sub-population had been described as experiencing an &lsquo;achievement gap&rsquo;. However at Singley, African-American males were succeeding. The researcher explored how this high school was effective in preparing its African American male students for academic success through interviews of individual students who demonstrated the ability to succeed in the academic arena under challenging personal and cultural circumstances. </p><p> The results of the study highlighted the importance of collaborative learning in self-efficacy and illustrated the power of student &lsquo;buy in&rsquo;, when the students could directly relate their academic work to tangible career goals. Increasing, the relevancy of academics and preparing students for life beyond high school afforded clear-cut goals and added value to education, increasing student motivation and student academic success. One of the most surprising insights from this research, for the researcher, had nothing to do with academics, though its positive connection to success was clear. The insight was the gratitude that students vocalized for being accepted as a part of a professional institution and learning the tenets of professionalism, which allowed them to view themselves in a more positive way.</p>

<p>Background: College settings are likely environments for Black women to contract STIs (including HIV) or experience unintentional/unwanted pregnancies. Effective prevention strategies for this population include dialogue and activities that focus on gender, maturity, cultural barriers, personal strength, and information needs. However, technological advancements (including virtual reality) and innovation are limited in prevention efforts. </p><p> Methods: Four 90-minute focus group sessions were conducted in a convenience sample of Black college females (ages 18 years or older) and a research-intensive public institution in the southeast. A series of surveys were distributed during each audio-recorded focus group session. A mixed-method approach to data analysis was based on applications of the Health Belief Model constructs to three principal research questions: (1) Q1: How do Black college females perceive the importance of sexual risk topics? (2) What are the experiences and attitudes of Black college females regarding the use of VR for education and training versus video game entertainment (i.e. &ldquo;gaming)? and (3) Among Black college females, what sexual risk topics are considered most relevant to a VR education and training platform? </p><p> Results: Each of four study cohorts enrolled between 2-6 participants each (n=15). Participant ages ranged from 18-48 (x&macr;=28.6, &sigma;=9.2) years within age groups of 18&ndash;24 years (60%, n=9), 25&ndash;34 years (26.7%, n=4), and 35 years or above (13.3%, n=2). The majority of participants (86.7%, n=13) were enrolled as full-time students, and resided in various off-campus locations (73.3%; n=11). Assessments of sexual risk topic importance were reported based on aggregated Survey 1 Lickert scale values. The majority of participants equally viewed the topics of HIV and STI status as important, mostly important, or very important. Other notable concerns include sex with drug/alcohol use, risk of intimate partner violence, and sexual communication (e.g. partners and peers. Despite the lack of formal virtual reality knowledge, the majority of participants reported experience with VF technology via &ldquo;gaming&rdquo; (e.g. <i>SIMS</i>). They also concluded that a virtual reality platform for sexual health education and training should involve comprehensive approaches to HIV/STI and unintentional pregnancy via use of barrier methods, including birth control, as well as facilitation of sexual communication. </p><p> Discussion: This research represents a unique approach to the identification of sexual health risk importance for HIV/STI transmission, as well as unintentional pregnancy, in Black college females. Although a successful demonstration of feasibility, this research is formative in nature&mdash;results should be interpreted as preliminary. However, methods and concepts presented in this thesis hold the potential for scientific contribution in prevention research, clinical practice, and other fields of study. </p>