This dissertation explores the ways in which black single mothers in the Washington, DC metropolitan area use material goods and consumption practices to inform their identities as members of the middle class. Black middle class women are challenging stereotypes surrounding single mother households, the idea of family, and class status in the United States, as more women overall are having children while single, delaying or deciding against marriage, and are entering the middle and upper-middle classes as a result of advanced education and career opportunities. Because of these demographic and sociocultural shifts, the romanticized “nuclear family” which consists of a married heterosexual couple and their children is becoming less authoritative as a symbol of middle class status. Instead, the middle class is represented through lifestyle options such as home ownership, neighborhood selection, fashion choices, education, and leisure activities. In the Washington, DC metro area, black women are asserting their single status while employing strategies to raise their children and excel professionally in order to maintain a middle class lifestyle. In this dissertation I examine black women, who are both single mothers and nonpoor, as an understudied, but constructive group in the DC metro area. Through ethnographic field research, I explored their experiences in the home, workplace, and greater community by employing a mixed methods approach including participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups. I demonstrate the ways material goods and experiences shape their complex identifies against and in support of various stereotypes. This research is unique in its focus on the black middle class from a new perspective and contributes to scholarly literatures on class and identity formation, black womanhood and motherhood, and material culture.

The majority of the Lao American population arrived in the United States after the end of the “American War in Southeast Asia” in 1975 as political refugees. Nevertheless, as Asian Americans, Lao Americans are also stereotyped to be the “model minority” and therefore do not face the same educational and socioeconomical challenges like other communities of color. However, Lao Americans are not the model minority and face numerous obstacles as the community is overlooked and history is forgotten by mainstream America. The lack of scholarly literature on Lao Americans highlights not only the general misunderstanding of the community, but also the community’s struggles in social upward mobility in addition to low higher educational attainment levels. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to learn from the experiences of Lao American college graduates in order to support younger Lao Americans pursue their higher educational goals. This basic qualitative study provided participants the opportunity to interpret their experiences as Lao American college graduates and make sense out of their lives. Through one-on-one semi-structured interviews, participants reflected upon their educational journeys as Lao American students. Based upon the data analysis of the interview notes and transcripts, five major themes were identified. The first two themes highlight the Lao American students’ stories in K-12 and higher education respectively. Lao American Counternarratives provides an alternate understanding of the Asian and Lao American experience. Lao American Pathways to Degree Completion details the roadmap utilized by participants to complete their degrees. Finally, in Words of Wisdom, participants offer guidance to younger Lao Americans interested in pursuing higher education. Stemming from the findings and literature, there are four implications for action. First, Lao American Awareness, to differentiate between the experiences of Asian and Lao Americans. Secondly, the proliferation of Lao American Support Networks, to Lao American support students and family successfully pursue higher education. Thirdly, Economic Development, to provide Lao American students more equitable educational opportunities. Finally, Beyond the Model Minority Myth, to uplift all marginalized minority communities while highlighting the need to disaggregate data. By focusing on Lao Americans who have been able to successfully earn higher educational degrees, the researcher learned from their experiences to better support future Lao Americans pursue their academic and educational goals to uplift the entire Lao American community.

According to current U.S. labor statistics, Black male executives are underrepresented in every major industry in the United States. Common impediments preventing Black males from occupying executive positions include workplace white supremacy, biculturalism, repressive structures, and disparate career development. Using critical race theory as a framework, this basic qualitative study investigated the experiences of eight male executives, five Black and three white, from various industries to understand their perceptions and perspectives on race and racism, and examined their workplace lived experiences to study why there are not more Black males in the e-suite. Moreover, strategies to increase Black male representation in executive leadership positions were explored. The results of this study indicated white supremacy and norms are ubiquitous and dominant in the workplace. Consequently, this prevailing workplace ideology determines an organization’s culture, policies and practices, and, altogether, trigger traumas for Black males. Black male participants associated many of their workplace experiences with traumas in the forms of white favoritism, marginalization, stereotyping, microinvalidation, and compulsive assimilation. As a coping mechanism, they found support and organizational belonging through social networking in peer relationships and affinity groups, but their white counterparts almost exclusively used networking for career advancement.5 An emergent strategy from this study to increase Black male representation in the e-suite was the notion of a designed relationship model between aspiring Black male executives and equity-minded white male executives. However, because scholarship concerning career barriers impeding Black males from executive leadership positions is limited, future research is required to better understand the relationship between their workplace traumas and their underrepresentation.

Nigerian immigrant women undergo constant navigation of their personal identities when conflicting cultural dynamics sometimes engender a balancing act between their personal beliefs and the ongoing process of acculturation. Their new Southern environment offers its own traditional mores, as well as greater opportunities for economic advancement. This places Nigerian Immigrant Women in a position where they must reconcile their desires for personal independence and empowerment with societal expectations that emphasize more traditional gender roles. This study explores the interview narratives of Nigerian immigrant women, reinforced by fictional accounts from prolific African women writers, which provides a more nuanced discussion of the female experience within the Western Nigerian diaspora. Highlighted within this study are the ways in which these women navigate and reconcile their indigenous norms, religious beliefs, and gendered expectations with the different cultural understandings of the host diasporic spaces.

Black Lives Matter (BLM) has been a concern in the US since 2013, thereby becoming an increasing interest. Several US corporations’ attention has been drawn to BLM due to its radical strategy on social media to facilitate engagements. Research shows that a company's engagement in activism by taking a stance on socio-political issues often records growth. Also, scholars have focused on corporate responses to BLM through the lenses of the implications or intentions of the brand’s engagement. This study, however, analyzes 236 corporate Instagram BLM posts through the lenses of the attributes of their responses. It is assumed that brand responses should be significant in respect to clarity and intentionality. Therefore, to answer the research questions, a five-coding scheme was created. Results suggested that a brand’s frequency of responses to BLM, direct reference to BLM, and response content influence followers’ engagement and speak volumes of their stance while addressing BLM.

Intern teachers are more likely to be placed in hard-to-fill content areas, such as math, science, and special education, which exacerbates their initial teaching experiences as teachers of record. For new teachers in their intern credential program, these factors compound the stress of attending coursework while managing their experience as a novice in the classroom. Without proper mentoring and support in these placements, teachers of color may perceive themselves as feeling less successful in the classroom. In this mixed methods study, the researcher investigated the types of support intern teachers of color need in successfully completing their teacher preparation program. Quantitative data were collected using archival research to determine perceived levels of preparedness by intern teachers of color. In alignment with explanatory sequential method, interviews were conducted to gather qualitative context to explain the quantitative data. Three themes emerged from the data analyses that formed these theories: (a) as a new teacher, it is common to feel overwhelmed, confused, or frustrated while trying to balance multiple demands; (b) teaching racially diverse students presents unique challenges; and (c) to thrive as a teacher, it is crucial to seek support from colleagues, mentors, and support networks. Implications for practice include systematizing strong mentorships, implementing teacher team models, and training intern support networks on cultural awareness. These findings provide information to intern programs about the types of support needed to be culturally responsive to the needs of both diverse teachers and the students they serve.

The web of Mexican-American life is complex in its origins, its manifestations, and its degree of identification with or alienation from the dominant culture. A thesis of the length of this one can deal with all this complexity only in a superficial way. However, by a rather narrowly defined examination of a few children certain insights may be gained which could be used as a basis for generalization about other children of similar background, and perhaps even for some tentative generalizations about the problems of the Mexican-American community as a whole. With this purpose in mind -- to inquire intensively concerning the lives of a very few people for whatever insights may accure -- this study has been undertaken. It should be added that the present paper represents an ongoing study, and should be viewed as part of a larger whole. The conclusions drawn from it are offered at this stage for their suggestiveness rather than as an attempted "system" or explanation of Mexican-American life. Doubtless with further investigation new questions will arise, and these conclusions may require modification and refinement It is hoped that this continuing investigation may be of service to the peers of the children studied, who need much help in their travels along the way, and for whom, indeed, the route is not clear nor the goal certain.

My own experience as an American have led to questions concerning stratification of Negroes by Whites and Negroes by Negroes. What, if any, is the history behind these social distinctions, based primarily on variables such as race and skin-color gradations? Evidence as to achievements by people representing all races and skin-color gradations is more available today than say, during slavery, because of better opportunities for all citizens of this country to become informed vis the mass media. What is there in history that lends basis to these ridiculous myths based on race and skin-color gradations? Could the institution of slavery in the United States be associated with these startifications? If so, what are the aspects of slavery that helped produce these stratifications of Negroes by Whites and Negroes by Negroes? In addressing myself to this problem, I intend to first list and operationally define the key variables in my problem. Then the probable associations among these variables will be inferred, followed by a triangulative historical analysis utilizing multiple data from various sources, to test my problem. Webb, Campbell, et al view that triangulations of data is the best method of controlling for rival explanations and/or data combinations. It is my hope that this thesis will be an addition to the somewhat limited current collections of works about the Negro and stratification, by “insiders” such as myself.

Because so little has been written concerning the Negro in California and because the dynamic and romantic sequences in the development of this country have always interested me, I have become interested in knowing what part the Negro, free and slave, played in this panorama of events. Were there Negroes with early expeditions? To what extent did they migrate to the West when "gold fever" had become a nation-wide epidemic? Did they find gold? Where did they settle? What did they do? What difficulty did they encounter politically, socially, and economically? These are questions that have filled my mind, and to which I shall endeavor to find the answers.

For this dissertation, I conduct an ethnography of three antitrafficking programs; interview 38 activists and survivors of trafficking; and analyze organizational texts, websites, and social media. I examine the history of the antitrafficking movement. Among the three organizations, activists provide housing; food, clothing, and hygiene items; medical services; mental health services and counseling; mentorship; education for survivors; a 24-hour hotline; outreach; case management and referrals; training for law enforcement; a drop-in center; and education and awareness events. I examine activists’ diagnostic, prognostic, and motivational framing of sex trafficking, and other framing tactics, such as frame alignment, frame diffusion, frame resonance, and cycles of protest. Activists within the three organizations connect sex trafficking to the Atlantic Slave Trade, referring to human trafficking as “modern-day slavery.” Activists also frame trafficking as happening in “our own backyards;” happening primarily to girls and women; and conflate sex work and sex trafficking. Activists believe that sex trafficking is caused by childhood sexual abuse, pornography and pornography addiction, and systems of oppression. I find that evangelical Christianity influences the organizations through services for survivors, training for staff and the public, the recruitment of staff and volunteers at church, and the practice of Christianity in front of and with survivors. I also find that evangelical activists employ language and strategies that cast them as white saviors seeking to ‘rescue’ survivors. There are several factors that have contributed to the success of the antitrafficking movement, such as increased political opportunities, resource mobilization, effective leadership, strategic use of grievances, and cultural context. Activists face several challenges in their work, namely lack of funding and resources, like housing. For the future, activists would like to see increased punishment of clients and traffickers; reductions in pornography and pornography addiction; increased education and awareness about trafficking; installation of survivors in leadership; and increased funding. I conclude by recommending that sex work and sex trafficking be distinguished in research, legislation, policies, and practice; rehabilitation of traffickers and clients; and make systematic changes to lessen the factors which contribute to trafficking.