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The Discourse of the Divine: Radical Traditions of Black Feminism, Musicking,and Myth within the Black Public Sphere (Civil Rights to the Present) is an exploration of the historical precursors and the contemporary developments of Black feminism in America, via Black female musical production and West and Central African cosmology. Historical continuity and consciousness of African spirituality within the development of Black feminism are analyzed alongside the musical practices of two Black female musicians, Nina Simone and Me’shell Ndegéocello. Simone and Ndegéocello, The High Priestess of Soul and the Mother of Neo-Soul, respectively, distend the commodified confines of Black music and identity by challenging the established norms of music and knowledge production. These artists’ lyrics, politics, and representations substantiate the “Signifyin(g)” elements of West and Central African feminist mythologies and music- making traditions. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015 / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The subject of my thesis project is black nonfiction, namely the essay, memoir, and autobiography, written by black authors about and during the Post-Civil Rights Era. The central goals of this work are to briefly investigate the role of genre analysis within the various subsets of nonfiction and also to exemplify the ways that black writers have taken key genre models and evolved them. Secondly, I aim to understand the historical, political, and cultural contributions of the Post-Civil Rights Era, which I mark as hitting its stride in 1968. It is not my desire to create a definitive historical framework for the Post-Civil Rights Era, but instead to understand it as a period of transition, revolt, and transformation which asked many important questions that have remained unanswered. I apply multiple theoretical frameworks to my research — like queer theory, Afro-pessimism, fugitivity, and more — to offer insights into the nonfiction works of writers such as James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, Angela Davis, Alice Walker, Larry Neale, and Toni Cade Bambara. It is my hope to continue the work of such scholars as Hortense Spillers, Angela Ards, and Margo V. Perkins, by illustrating not only how these authors offered literary and aesthetic innovations, but also, through the archiving of their life experiences in print, create theories and practices for survival, forged in the past, which impact our current moment, and inspire us as scholars and activists to do the same.

African American women, in particular those who are economically marginalized, are disproportionately subject to surveillance by social service and criminal justice agencies (James et al., 2003) and are vulnerable to race- and gender-biased policy implementation (Chibnall et al., 2003; Zerai, 2002). They also experience population-specific personal (Ehrmin, 2001, 2002), social (Riehman, Iguchi, Zeller, & Morral, 2003; MacMaster, 2005), and economic barriers (Tighe & Saxe, 2006) to accessing and entering substance abuse treatment services. These factors contribute to lower rates of treatment entry follow-through (Siqueland et al., 2002) and higher drop-out rates (Scott-Lennox, Rose, Bohlig, & Lennox, 2000) than women from other racial and ethnic groups. This qualitative study explored African American women’s perceptions of mandated referral to substance abuse treatment and the impact of those perceptions on their treatment entry. The sample included 17 women age 18 years and over who were currently enrolled at three gender-specific treatment programs (one intensive outpatient and two residential) in a major southeastern urban area. This naturalistic inquiry (Lincoln and Guba, 1987) was informed by Black feminist epistemology (Collins, 2000) in accordance with recommendations for culturally sensitive research with women of color (Landrine, Klonoff, & Brown-Collins, 1995). Participants completed one-time, in-depth (one to two hour) interviews in which they were invited to explore their experiences with mandated substance abuse treatment referrals from state agencies (child protective services and the criminal justice system). Results indicate that participants generally perceived the treatment mandate as helpful. However, they also indicated that their willingness and ability to follow-through with treatment entry were influenced by multidimensional (Marlowe, Merikle, Kirby, Festinger, & McLellan, 2001) and interacting factors. Participants identified influence factors that included intra- and interpersonal concerns, the quality of interactions with state agencies, and treatment-specific issues. Results are presented along with suggestions for counselors and future research.

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African-American and Zimbabwean women live and do theology from different cultural and contextual worldviews, although they share the same skin colour. The narrative stories of three Zimbabwean and one African-American Christian women and how they share inter culturally the struggle of identity, identity-formation and survival/liberation while maintaining their cultural uniqueness form die basis of this research project. These shared experiences can offer significant contributions to the broader feminist liberation theology. The Christian faith has served as a shared source of sustenance, resilience, healing and renewal as well as a shared source for constructive and affirming identity-formation for Zimbabwean and African-American women. Consequently, building strong relationships that address contextual issues facing women of Africa and the Diaspora, as suggested by this research, offers significant opportunities for eliminating some of the barriers and boundaries that prevent Zimbabwean and African- American women from enjoying the quality of life that God meant for everyone. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M.Th. (Missiology)

African-American and Zimbabwean women live and do theology from different cultural and contextual worldviews, although they share the same skin colour. The narrative stories of three Zimbabwean and one African-American Christian women and how they share inter culturally the struggle of identity, identity-formation and survival/liberation while maintaining their cultural uniqueness form die basis of this research project. These shared experiences can offer significant contributions to the broader feminist liberation theology. The Christian faith has served as a shared source of sustenance, resilience, healing and renewal as well as a shared source for constructive and affirming identity-formation for Zimbabwean and African-American women. Consequently, building strong relationships that address contextual issues facing women of Africa and the Diaspora, as suggested by this research, offers significant opportunities for eliminating some of the barriers and boundaries that prevent Zimbabwean and African- American women from enjoying the quality of life that God meant for everyone. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M.Th. (Missiology)