This dissertation examines the strategic practice of virtual racial embodiment, as a case study of African Americans attempting to complicate current constructions of race and social justice in new media. I suggest that dominant racial constructions online teeter between racial stereotypes and the absence of race. Virtual racial classification and racial stereotypes of criminality and limited interaction with communication technologies prevalent in the digital divide literature frame the dominant online culture, which purports a Universalist ideal that avoids race through which racial hierarchy is nevertheless articulated. Based on qualitative and quantitative analyses—fieldwork, interviews with Black website founders, and an online survey—this case study provides an analytical framework that situates African Americans’ negotiations of race within everyday online discourse. I suggest that the strategy of racial embodiment has a sociohistorical and cultural basis in the racial and political strategies of offline African American communities. This study approaches these matters by locating political message board members’ agency in creating a safe space for daily critical discussions of race. Virtual safe spaces allow users to address social injustices, parse popular constructions of race, project respectability, and explore complex definitions of blackness. Ethnographic material drawn from the observation of four mainstream Black websites’ political message boards within the time frame of 2007–2008 provides information to discuss the unofficial message board practices I identify as safe house practices. I introduce the conceptual metaphor of safe house based on the physical and symbolic safe house of enslaved Africans of the antebellum era and their twentieth- and twenty-first-century successors—neighborhood meeting places, barbershops, and book stores. As a result of the analysis of the ethnographic material, I suggest racial embodiment is the transference of offline practices steeped in historic political and cultural practices of the Black community into online interactions. I use the Bourdieuan concept of the habitus to conceptualize the historical significance of the African American community’s virtual racial embodiment. I propose that this racial embodiment evidenced in the safe house practices exemplifies a dynamic Black habitus wherein black people exercise the ability to redefine black identity and community.

This dissertation analyzes three novels by contemporary female Caribbean and Latin American Afro-descendent writers of the diaspora: Peruvian Lucía Charún-Illescas' Malambo (2001), Brazilian Ana Maria Gonçalves' Um defeito de cor (2006), and Puerto Rican Mayra Santos-Febres' Fe en disfraz (2009). In these texts, the old and the new intermingle in the space of the narrative. The colonial past is reexamined and reconstructed out of the need to understand its reminiscences into the present and the necessity to transform the future. These decolonial narratives of the contemporary African diaspora foster an expression of the interconnection between the two colonial spaces: where the African-descendents, especially the black female, were the objects of submission, and the present time, where the remnants of the past persist. I propose a reading of how the writers decolonize via history, memory, myth, and sex by challenging the construction of the colonial patriarchal rule and rewriting a new history to include the marginalized voices. Decolonization here implies a deconstruction of the image of colored people, especially black women in colonial time where they were deprived of their culture, personhood, and subjectivity. The writers propose a social transformation in which colonialism, racism, sexism, and classism are confronted and a new society is created, without the colonial power structure. The writers return to the roots of power and domination and examine the dynamics of the interconnection of gender, race, class, and sexuality and propose a new gender paradigm.

Black representation in American animated short films circularly evolved between 1928 and 1954. Blackface minstrelsy at first figured heavily in black representation. The increasing prominence of African-American movie stars and technological improvements in animation led to extremely diverse animated black images in the late 1930s and early 1940s. With the decline of African-American film roles in the 1950s, however, animators fell back to minstrelsy-derived black images. Animated black characterization emerged as blackface changed in the first sound cartoons from a generic cartoon design to an image restricted to black characters. In the early 1930s, cartoon studios began to significantly differentiate black characters from animal characters. Studios focused upon developing characters with strong personalities in the mid-1930s, but black characterizations were mostly derivative of blackface minstrels and black actors. African-American artistic expressions influenced animation during World War II but did not affect the studios' black images. From 1946 to 1954, studios ignored African-American artistry and reverted to past styles of black imaging.

Limited attention has been given to Black teachers' attitudes toward school-based diversity initiatives. This study focuses on African American educators' responses to strategies to promote academic achievement and anti-racist education in predominantly White schools. Their perceptions are offered about racism's educational ramifications for African American students and families. This inquiry has significance for in-service staff development and pre-service teacher trainers because it illustrates a setting where educators of different races explicitly address racism and factors of student achievement. This study examines African American educators' experiences in an extended professional development course funded by a multi-district consortium created to support Black student achievement. The study focused on Black perceptions of curriculum investigating racial identity development theory, White privilege and the influence of racism in classroom practices. The methodology included ethnographic data, in-depth interviews and analysis of documents from a 52 hour, year long course. The analysis examines Black educators' attitudes on what facilitates or obstructs schools' capacity to provide equitable and anti-racist education. This study finds that Black educators want staff development that provides comprehensive and reflective approaches to address racism. This type of experience is supported by a curriculum that explicitly addresses White privilege, racial identity theory, and social dynamics that perpetuate racism. To carry out this experience instructors need to be experienced in facilitating anti-racist training and indicators of individual and institutional commitment to anti-racist staff development goals must be recognized. This research recommends staff development planners and facilitators working in predominantly White settings recognize distinctive professional conflicts African American educators experience and the significance of having a critical mass of Black participants present in the training experience. It further recommends support for on-going communication for Black and other racial minority members via affinity groups. Finally, this study supports organizational analysis that informs strategic interventions promoting student achievement and active anti-racist programming. From inception to conclusion this study asserts the need to solicit the perceptions of African American and other educators of color regarding institutional commitment to inclusion and educational equity.

Higher education institutions have a responsibility to educate all. Yet, significant proportions of blacks are not being successfully reached. This, coupled with changing demographics, is forcing educators to be concerned about the future. Under-representation exists in faculty and administrative ranks as well as with students. The hostile climate for black students on predominantly white campuses has been cited as a major concern and barrier to success. Black student alienation has been attributed to a number of variables, but the root of the problem is often traced to the campus climate. It is clear that the environment has a substantial impact on a student's level of satisfaction and can make a difference in whether a student leaves or persists. As the shapers of the climate and the experts on students, student affairs administrators play a key role in campus climate. With this major responsibility, one must ask how much of an understanding of black students' problems and experiences do these administrators have? Through the process of in-depth interviewing, the study examined the perception and the level of understanding of student affairs administrators of the campus climate for black students at Easton College, a predominantly white institution. Administrators are grouped into three groups for comparative purposes: those who are knowledgeable about black students, those who know little about black students, and those who are black. It also includes the perceptions of black students who attend the college. Results of the study indicate that the climate at Easton College is hostile and unwelcoming to its black students. While all the administrators are aware of the hostile climate, the level of knowledge and specificity differed among the three groups. Easton College is doing little to create a learning environment that promotes appreciation. Social and cultural isolation is prevalent. Care and support is limited because of insufficient knowledge and inadequate exposure to black culture. To improve the climate for black students, a number of recommendations are made.

The focus of this inquiry is on the forces that influence and underpin persistence to college degree completion as revealed through the experiences of sixteen African American male graduates of four year traditionally white colleges and universities. This descriptive, exploratory inquiry utilized a multi-method, in-depth, qualitative approach. Because the persistence perspective invites difficult methodological choices, this inquiry met this challenge with a perspective that mirrors persistence itself. An effort was made to gain a new perspective concerning degree completion from the narratives of the experiences of African American male college graduates. The inquiry looked to their life experiences in order to identify shared factors which influenced their success. Therefore, the choices made by this study were guided by the question: what are the basic, but essential requirements for African American male students to persist in completing a four-year college degree program on traditionally white campuses? The data revealed the complexity of the persistence perspective with special emphasis on factors that influenced successful degree completion. Early positive experiences in the family and the community, positive self-identity, self reliance, early recognition of discouragement and harm, techniques for managing potential harm and discouragement, and building a support network were identified as factors that influenced persistence in college degree completion. Recommendations for further research and practice are offered to contribute to understanding the persistence perspective, and fertile areas for improving the persistence rates of African American males attending traditionally white colleges and universities.

African-American students commonly experience many personal difficulties while attending predominantly Caucasian universities. According to the literature, these students often report feelings of isolation and alienation, and have comparatively high attrition rates, even when compared with members of other minority groups. Researchers have found that for African-American students, the experience of affiliation counters feelings of isolation. Participation in athletics is one way for students to feel that they are important members of the university community. This study was a qualitative investigation of small samples of African-American and Caucasian athletes and nonathletes at a large, public, predominantly Caucasian university. Particular attention was paid to African-American students and the relationship between athletic participation and feelings of affiliation within the university community. Students participated in a semi-structured interview, completed The Participation Motivation Questionnaire, The Collective Self-Esteem Survey, and the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale, and responded to selected stimuli from the T.A.T and R.A.T.C. For all of the athletically involved individuals in this study, regardless of race, athletic participation has been important throughout life. These students view their childhood athletic involvement as having provided a valuable and enjoyable learning experience in which they increased their self-awareness and self-confidence, and in which they developed and used skills in cooperation and competition. At the university, students of both races acquired valuable skills and insight that they believed would be useful in their lives after college. For African-American students who experienced feelings of alienation at the university, athletics gave them a peer group in which they could feel safe and accepted. Several of the African-American students spoke about negative experiences before college associated with their being visibly distinct from the majority. Athletic participation gave these students a way to be visible in a positive way, and to feel like important members of the larger university community.

Mid-level management is often overlooked in studies of higher education administration. African-American women mid-level administrators are studied even less. This research study focuses on the experiences of African-American women administrators (Program Directors and Deans) in higher education institutions, the obstacles they face in pursuit of upward mobility, the support networks they use and strategies they implement. The research study methodology consisted of a mixed-methods approach for the gathering of data. The first method, qualitative, was implemented through conducting in-depth interviews with a small sample (7) of African-American women administrators from varying types of higher education institutions in the northeast region. The second method, quantitative, consisted of administering a survey questionnaire to a larger sample (101) of African-American mid-level women administrators in higher education institutions in the northeast region. From this, a total of 93 usable surveys were returned. From the qualitative and quantitative research data the researcher identified eight common themes. These themes are: institutional climate and culture; barriers faced, supports used; coping and advancement strategies; skills needed; racism and sexism; how African-American women are perceived; and mentoring. Each theme is supported with quotes from the qualitative data and number and frequencies of responses provided from the quantitative data. These themes serve as a framework for discussing the policy and practice implications of the data for institutions of higher education. Implications for the African-American female administrator are addressed also. Lastly, recommendations for future research are provided.

This study is a qualitative investigation in which five African American women science faculty, in higher education, within the age range of 45–60, were the participants. The data that was collected, over twelve months, was primarily obtained from the in-depth phenomenological interviewing method (Seidman, 1991). The interpretation of the data was the result of ongoing cross analysis of the participants' life experiences, perceptions, and beliefs of the how they navigated and negotiated pathways to careers in the natural sciences, and the meanings they attach to these experiences. The software Ethnograph (V5.0) was used to organize the participants' responses into patterns and emergent themes. The Black women in this study articulated several themes that were critical determinants of their successes and achievements in science careers. From the analysis of the data set, four major findings were identified: (1) "Black Intentional Communities" acted as social agencies for the positive development of the participants; (2) "My World Reality" which was described by the participants as their acceptance of their segregated worlds, not being victims of inequities and injustices, but being resilient and determined to forge on to early academic successes. Early academic successes were identified as precursors and external motivational stimuli to their interests and achievements in science; (3) Their experiences of "Tensions and Double Consciousness" from race and gender negative images and career stereotypes, required the women to make "intra-cultural deviations" from stereotypic career roles and to develop "pragmatic coping strategies" to achieve in science careers and; (4) "Meaning-making"—Significant to the meaning of their journey was the fact that the participants grounded their experiences in a social context rather than in a scientific context and that they ended their journey with expressions of personal satisfactions about their journey and their unique drive and commitment to others, which is, their social responsibility. Implications for future research and the need for a deeper understanding of Black women's experiences in science education and in natural science careers are discussed from a social historic context.

This qualitative study was a means to identify what motivated Black students to serve in the supplemental instruction (SI) leader role, the challenges they experienced, and what they learned while serving in the peer educator role within the context of an historically Black college or university (HBCU). Research targeting the experiences of SI leaders is limited, and there had yet to be a study completed on the experiences of SI leaders of color in any institution type. This research was an assessment of the perceptions of peer educators, providing a benchmark for further exploration on the impact SI can have at other HBCUs as well as how Black students are trained and supported in academic peer educator roles. Twelve SI leaders at Xavier University of Louisiana participated in interviews during the fall 2019 semester. The desire to help others and the position’s connection to their individual professional goals emerged as the primary themes when participants described what motivated them to serve in the SI leader capacity. Participants discussed the struggles of setting expectations and boundaries while serving in the SI role, as well as the positions of peer, friend, classmate, and leader when working with students in their SI sessions. Last, participants credited the SI leader position for helping them to develop and enhance the following skills: networking and relationship-building, communication, organization, emotional intelligence, critical and creative thinking, and leadership and teamwork skills. This study showed the what and how about SI peer educators are developing and enhancing themselves to graduate and professional schools and potential employers. More importantly, this study adds to the literature regarding students of color as the facilitators of the Supplemental Instruction program as most studies targeting the experiences of peer educators have been taken place at predominantly White institutions or samples. The results of this dissertation about SI leaders’ experiences at HBCUs can inform how training could better meet the needs of students of color as recipients and facilitators of peer educator programs. By presenting what peer leaders and SI programs at HBCUs are doing well, the findings can provide insight for peer education programs not accustomed to serving or hiring first-generation students and students of color effectively. This research contributes to addressing the gap in the literature regarding students of color serving in the peer educator role as well as showing the value of mentoring through academic peer education programs.