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The six piano suites of R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943) constitute a substantial body of piano music that illustrates the musical development of an important, but historically neglected American musician. Dett was a seminal figure in the preservation and study of spirituals, both as a writer and choral leader, and as a great teacher and inspirer of African-American musicians in the generations that followed him. Educated at Oberlin and Eastman, he was lauded as the first American composer to fuse Negro folk music with European art music tradition. The writing of a series of like-genre works over a composer's lifetime, reflecting stylistic changes and a deepening world view, is a special event in the history of keyboard music. Unfortunately, Dett's piano music is rarely performed except for the second of the suites, In the Bottoms. Although his importance to African-American musical history is generally acknowledged by musicologists, his works for piano have remained largely unexplored by performers. Dett's eclectic pursuits included poetry, the Rosicrucian Society, and religion. This study explores the connections between the suites and other musical styles and traditions, Dett's many extra-musical interests, and his performing life. It also offers some possible explanations for the relative lack of attention received by his piano music. This study incorporates research from readily-available sources, as well as the Nathaniel Dett archives at the Niagara Falls New York Public Library and Hampton University. The first three chapters give an overview of Dett's style and influences, as well as a description of how his musical language developed from his first suite, Magnolia (1912), to his last, Eight Bible Vignettes (1941-43), written at the end of his life. Each suite is examined individually in detail in the following six chapters. It is hoped that this work will stimulate appreciation of Dett's piano music and lead to more frequent performances. Its goal is to give to the reader the same sense of admiration and joy that the author's exploration of these works has given him. / Music Performance

Historically, African American male students have been marginalized in our society and we have seen the repeatedly through the media, educational statistics, and prison statistics. This study was completed to examine the intersection of race and gender in urban classroom setting by looking at the impact of African American male student. This study challenges culturally responsive pedagogy and looks at a more specific pedagogy, African Centered pedagogy to determine the effective practices African American female educators use to positively impact the African American male student in the classroom setting. The data collected in this study demonstrated that African American female educators make a conscious effort to prepare African American male students in their class for the obstacles they will have to face in society. They provide positive classroom environments and multiple opportunities for these students when American society does not, and they demonstrate a critical understanding of the gendered experiences of African American students and act accordingly. This study proposes that there is a need for a more specific pedagogy introduced in teacher education programs in order to prepare not only African American educators but also all educators to better support African American male students by using Black feminist thought.

<p> The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate the perceptions of African American farmers&rsquo; regarding the use of organic farming as a viable business model to prevent land loss. The exploratory case study design was used to explore the perceptions and opinions of 13 African American participants regarding their experiences farming. Interviews, field notes, and observations were used to collect the data, and the data were analyzed to identify themes. The study results indicate that discriminatory practices, little access to government aid, and ineffective business models are reasons for land loss. The findings also show that organic farming is a sustainable solution that African American farmers can use to impede land loss. Based on the study results, leaders in the African American farming community are encouraged to adequately address the issues of the organic farming in the African American community, including discrimination, lack of knowledge about organic practices, and infrastructure issues. The results of this study can be used as the basis for quantitative research that involves gathering information from a wider range of African American organic farmers. Research could also be conducted to investigate whether farmers of other ethnicities have faced the phenomenon explored in the current study.</p>

<p> This study builds on research that explains <i>why</i> differences in drug arrest rates exist across space and by race, and sheds light on <i> how</i> these differences are produced. By identifying police organizational arrangements and practices associated with race-specific drug arrest rates, this research highlights the influence law enforcement agencies have on producing drug arrests, and identifies potential mechanisms that help to explain how disproportionate drug arrest rates across space and by race are produced. Using data gathered from the Law Enforcement Management and Administration Statistics: 2000 Sample Survey of Law Enforcement Agencies, the Uniform Crime Reporting Program Data: Arrests by Age, Sex, and Race 1999, 2000, and 2001, and the 2000 decennial Census for city-level demographic information, findings demonstrate that police organizational arrangements and practices influence drug arrest rates.</p><p> Key findings from this study indicate that (1) the presence of specialized drug unit personnel and the practice of police agencies supplementing their budgets with drug asset forfeitures are significantly associated with higher drug arrest rates. The positive associations are twice as strong on the black population as the white population; (2) indicators of bureaucratic conditions of structural control, structural complexity and officer diversity are associated with drug arrest rates; and, (3) the practice of police agencies supplementing their budget with drug asset forfeitures is not significantly associated with black or white drug trafficking arrest rates, but is significantly and positively associated with black and white drug possession arrest rates. This indicates that drug asset forfeiture programs may not be achieving their originally intended goals of reducing drug crime by attacking the economic viability of the drug trade (i.e., drug trafficking), and provides preliminary evidence that drug asset forfeiture programs incentivize police agencies to target low level drug users, and minority drug users more specifically.</p>

<p> African American males are typically subjected to unbelievable barriers and negative trends, which include institutional racism, discrimination, multigenerational poverty, lack of education, chronic unemployment, and fatherlessness. These findings are rooted within historical contexts that paint a picture of American schooling filled with the denial of educational opportunities for African Americans. However, using a critical lens these descriptors are challenged and dispelled by critical educators, who examine the bleak historical and contemporary circumstances that African Americans and other communities of color experience as a result of structural inequality perpetuated by white-dominated systems of power. In this study, the framework of Critical Race Theory is used to make sense of how race and racism shape the experiences of historically oppressed people, and to tell the story of eight African American high school males in a Northern California city, who describe factors that contributed to their failure and success as high school graduates, and how these experiences shape their college pursuits. This study uses the methodology of hermeneutic phenomenology as a tool to focus on the voices of African American male students in an effort to centralize these voices. This ensures that educators are not speaking for these students, but rather are listening to their stories.</p>

This study examines the conflicting and differing political-economic crisis facing Kenya over time in an effort to explain people’s health and, especially women’s health in the areas of maternal mortality and morbidity. In that respect, this study has particularly assessed structural adjustment policies instituted by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in order to determine how they might have exacerbated the health conditions of women in Kenya. Since maternal mortality and morbidity in Kenya have escalated under structural adjustment policies, this study used two methodological approaches to assess the health situation: (1) the historical-comparative approach and (2) interviews with appropriate medical personnel. Basically, the historical approach allowed for a historical investigation of the imposition of colonial rule and the state policies on the general welfare of the Kenyan people, including the health care system. Interviews were used to assess specific behavioral patterns, conditions and circumstances related to the provision of health care services. Numerous factors such as the discrepancy between the growth in population and medical care, unsafe and clandestine abortions due to laws that prohibit abortion in Kenya, the problems of unmet need and poverty influence maternal mortality and morbidity. While the above explanations are relevant, it is important to note that the following factors are also relevant: 1. The colonial legacy is a factor. 2. The level of postcolonial appropriations to the health system which has declined over time; and 3. Post-1986 pressures placed on the government by the International Financial Institutions through structural adjustment policies. Conclusions drawn from the findings establish that, while other underlying endogenous causes have played an adverse role in the maternal health of Kenyans in particular, the problem has been exacerbated by the exogenous factors of structural adjustment policies.

This study examines the association between women with characteristics of Africana Womanism and hypertension (high blood pressure). An analysis was performed using data from the National Survey of Black Americans to determine the association between women with characteristics of Africana Womanism and hypertension. Data analysis consisted of univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses. An analysis of the data revealed that characteristics of Africana Womanism serve as a protective factor for hypertension in African-American women. The association between women with characteristics of Africana Womanism and hypertension when adjusting for age indicates that women with characteristics of Africana Womanism were 0.56 times as likely to have hypertension. African-American women have one of the highest rates of hypertension in the United States. The intersection of gender, race, and class has a direct impact on the health of African-American women. Cultural theoretical frameworks are critical for understanding the complex interaction of gender, class, and race on the prevalence of hypertension in African-American women and for eliminating the disparity in cardiovascular health outcomes experienced by African-American women as compared to white women. Adopting a theory such as Africana Womanism provides the necessary framework from which African-American women understand their lived experiences. It allows them the opportunity to operate from a positive cultural framework on a daily basis. Operating from this framework decreases the amount of stress and conflict that arises when African-American women operate from alien constructs such as feminism. Thus, by reducing the amount of stress and conflict, there should be a reduction in diseases-physical and mental. Africana Womanism offers internal resources that provide invaluable coping strategies for African-American women to fight the twin barrels of racism and sexism that they experience in the United States.

Objective: To determine: 1) 12-month prevalence rates of major depressive disorder (MDD) by race, comparing African Americans and Hispanics with whites, while controlling for covariates; 2) if there are any differences in treatment (i.e., pharmacotherapy, provider, and CAM) for MDD among African Americans, Hispanics and whites diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) in the past 12 months; and 3) if there are any racial differences in DSM-IV diagnosed alcohol and/or drug abuse among those with a diagnosis of 12-month MDD. Methods: This retrospective study utilized data from the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication, which was designed to collect information on the mental health status of a nationally representative sample (n = 9282) of U.S. adults. Respondents with an MDD diagnosis in the past 12 months were included. The dependent variables were: 12-month MDD, pharmacotherapy, provider (mental health specialist), CAM and alcohol and/or drug abuse. Pharmacotherapy was examined by assessing respondents’ reported antidepressant use and whether the medication used was an SSRI/SNRI. The primary independent variable was race. Additional covariates included: age, gender, income, education, marital and employment status. Logistic regression was used to address the study objectives. Results: African Americans were significantly less likely to be diagnosed with MDD during the preceding 12-month period, when compared to whites, while controlling for covariates (OR= 0.6, p = 0.0169). Other significant variables for prevalence were female gender (OR= 1.8, p <0.0001), divorced/separated (OR= 2.0, p <0.0001) and not in the labor force (e.g., homemaker/retired) (OR= 1.5, p = 0.0033). Although African Americans and Hispanics reported lower antidepressant use, the results were not significant. With respect to SSRIs/SNRIs, African Americans reported significantly lower use, when compared to whites (OR= 0.3, p = 0.0309). Hispanics in the study were less likely to see a mental health professional (OR = 0.2, p = 0.0002). CAM use was significantly lower among individuals with less than 12 years, 12 years and 13 to 15 years of education (OR = 0.3, p = 0.0110; OR = 0.3, p = 0.0035; OR = 0.7, p = 0.0368, respectively) when compared to respondents with 16 years or more of education. When examining alcohol and/or drug use in those with diagnosed MDD in the preceding 12 months, females were less likely to be abusers (OR = 0.4, p = 0.0204). Conclusion: Among respondents with a diagnosis of MDD, race plays an important role in the types of treatment utilized to manage the disorder. Considering, the disability associated with depression, greater efforts are needed to improve antidepressant therapy for African Americans and mental health specialty treatment for Hispanics. / text