Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This thesis sought to understand the messages Black women receive from contemporary images and how these messages may be used to help them develop a sense of womanhood. The framework for the analysis used in this research lies within the feminist standpoint theory and Black feminist thought. The interviews conducted for this research helped to reveal that young Black women recognize patterns within the images of Black women in contemporary media. The images help them to understand the treatment of Black women and about the Black women they want to be.

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This critical qualitative research study describes and explores undergraduate Black women Resident Assistant (RA) experiences in the context of Predominantly White Institutions (PWI). While serving in the capacities of both student and student affairs professional, this study explored how women navigate the responsibilities of their role and the intersections of race and gender. Given the influx of campus hate crimes motivated by race across the United States, and to ensure the success and support of Black women students serving in these roles, it is imperative that we understand their racially gendered experiences within predominantly White contexts. Phenomenological research methods and a series of semi-structured interviews were used to examine the lived experiences of nineteen Black undergraduate women. Critical Race Theory, Black Feminist Thought, and Intersectionality were used as frameworks to examine how participants navigate their social identities and associated experiences as an employee and student. Findings from the study indicate that the intersection of Blackness (e.g. race), being a woman (e.g. gender), and serving in the leadership role as an RA, is influenced by oppressive conditions which presented themselves in the following seven themes: Institutional Oppression; Racism; Physical, Emotional, and Psychological Stress; Fear; The Outsider Within; Controlling Images; and Care through Counterspaces. This study’s findings and future recommendations have the potential to support and inspire Black and other minoritized undergraduate student RAs, illuminate the diverse experiences of undergraduate Black women, and to enhance professional leadership development of residential life practitioners at PWIs. / Urban Education

Using queer and Afrofuturist frameworks, this Black feminist qualitative study explored queer Black pre-and in-service teachers' cultural and intersectional practices as they navigated traditional heteronormative educational spaces. This research study relied on counternarratives and storytelling and drew from Afrofuturism to understand the use of their lived experiences to counter monolithic queer narratives. The queer Black teachers in this study examined and negotiated how their Blackness and queerness showed up in teacher preparation programs (TPP) and K-12 classrooms. Moreover, they eventually refused to hide or censure their authentic selves. An analysis of the narratives and counternarratives showed that queer Black teachers drew from ancestral traditions to create queer Afrofuturist spaces in TPPs and educational places. Furthermore, due to their queer Black intersectional approaches, their classrooms, assignments, curriculum, and pedagogy disrupted normative teaching practices. Implications, recommendations, and future research are discussed.

This study explored media discourse of gender violence against Black women in Black contemporary films. Four Tyler Perry films were examined using a novel, qualitative and analytical framework: Black Feminist Discourse Analysis. Discourses that were studied include, but were not limited to: portrayals of gender violence and victims, character dispositions and interactions, stereotypes, relationship dynamics as well as portrayals of race, gender, sexuality and religion. The use of new and existing controlling images based on systems of race, gender, sexuality and religion were revealed in a transitional and systemic model. Common themes across the films are provided. This research closes with concluding assertions grounded by existing literature and the current study’s findings, as well as recommendations for future film writing and production and implications for social work.

This applied anthropology study, guided by a feminist perspective and in particular, Black Feminist Thought is an outgrowth of an evaluation study of the Partnership for Peace Program (PFP) in Grenada, West Indies. The PFP is a Caribbean-specific model that was built into a sixteen-week cycle program by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (UNWomen). Since 2005, the PFP has been geared towards Grenadian men, who have used violence against women to express their masculine identities. PFP focuses exclusively on rehabilitating male perpetrators with a goal to protect the human rights of women. This research evaluated the PFP program, using qualitative and quantitative methods to measure the program's impact based on the behavioral changes that male participants adopted to avoid violence against women. Furthermore, this study investigated the relationship between masculine identities and domestic violence, exploring the significance of violence actions as markers of Grenadian masculinities. The findings presented show the impact of the PFP on the lives of PFP men, the women associated with the PFP men and the PFP stakeholders. The results illustrate the socio-ecological nature of violence and the power leverages that enact gendered messages for Grenadian men and women. Those entities were used to establish some theoretical understandings about Caribbean Violence.

The purpose of this life history qualitative study was to explore the Counter-Life Herstories of African American women faculty in U.S. Computing Education. Counter-Life Herstories are derived from Counterstories, life histories, and herstories as powerful social justice tools to uncover hidden truths about marginalized groups’ experiences. Through the collection of timelines, counter-life story interviews, and reflective journal writings, I co-constructed and interpreted the Counter-Life Herstories of five participants using an integrative conceptual framework that included critical race theory and Black feminist thought as interpretive frameworks, and Afrocentric feminist epistemology to govern my knowledge validation process. As an emerging African American woman scholar, with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, I have a “unique angle of vision” to situate African American women’s distinctive educational experiences in the social-political context of U.S. Computing Education. In this study, I build upon limited knowledge about African American women’s experiences throughout U.S. Computing Education. My discoveries indicated unequivocally that my participants’ persistence in U.S. Computing Education was not solely based on their early positive reinforcements or strong academic preparation, but their resilience and ability to bounce back from insurmountable barriers, such as negative stereotypes and biases. This inquiry directly supports the U.S.’ national interest to diversify the Computing workforce, while revealing hidden truths about African American women’s experiences in U.S. Computing Education.

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