Syndemic Health Disparities and Resilience Processes Related to HIV Transmission Risk among African American/Black Men in South Florida

Rates of HIV infection continue to climb among minority populations and men who have sex with men (MSM), with African American/Black MSM being especially impacted. Numerous studies have found HIV transmission risk to be associated with many health and social disparities resulting from larger environmental and structural forces. Using anthropological and social environment-based theories of resilience that focus on individual agency and larger social and environmental structures, this dissertation employed a mixed methods design to investigate resilience processes among African American/Black MSM. Quantitative analyses compared African American/Black (N=108) and Caucasian/White (N=250) MSM who participated in a previously conducted randomized controlled trial (RCT) of sexual and substance use risk reduction interventions. At RCT study entry, using past 90 day recall periods, there were no differences in unprotected sex frequency, however African American/Black MSM reported higher frequencies of days high (P Qualitative data collected among a sub-sample of African American/Black MSM from the RCT (N=21) described the men’s experiences of living with multiple health and social disparities and the importance of RCT study assessments in facilitating reductions in risk behaviors. A cross-case analysis showed different resilience processes undertaken by men who experienced low socioeconomic status, little family support, and homophobia (N=16) compared to those who did not (N=5). The dissertation concludes that resilience processes to HIV transmission risk and related health and social disparities among African American/Black MSM varies and are dependent on specific social environmental factors, including social relationships, structural homophobia, and access to social, economic, and cultural capital. Men define for themselves what it means to be resilient within their social environment. These conclusions suggest that both individual and structural-level resilience-based HIV prevention interventions are needed.

The Effects on Students' Self-Efficacy Beliefs Regarding Their Comprehension of American Literature When Aesthetic Reading and Reader Response Strategy are Implemented

High-stakes testing and accountability have infiltrated the education system in the United States; the top priority for all teachers must be student progress on standardized tests. This has resulted in the predominance of reading for test-taking, (efferent reading), in the English, language arts, and reading classrooms. Authentic uses of print activities, like aesthetic reading, that encourage students to engage individually with a text, have been pushed aside. During a 3-week time period, regular level, English 3/American literature students in a Title I magnet high school, participated in this quasi-experimental study (N = 62). It measured the effects of an intervention of reading American literature texts aesthetically and writing aesthetically-evoked reader responses on students’ self-efficacy beliefs regarding their comprehension of American literature. One trained teacher and the researcher participated in the study: student participants were pre- and post- tested using the Confidence in Reading American Literature Survey which examined their self-efficacy beliefs regarding their comprehension of American literature. Several statistical analyses were performed. The results of the linear regression analyses partially supported a positive relationship between aesthetically-evoked reader responses and students’ self-efficacy beliefs regarding their comprehension of American literature. Additionally, the results of the 2 (sex) x 2 (treatment) ANCOVAs conducted to test group differences in self-efficacy beliefs regarding the comprehension of American literature between treatment and control groups indicated a main effect for treatment (but not sex; nor was there a significant sex x treatment interaction), suggesting the treatment was partially effective in increasing students’ self-efficacy beliefs. Seven of the twelve ANCOVAs indicated a statistically significant increase in the treatment group’s adjusted group mean self-efficacy belief scores as a result of being exposed to the intervention. In six of these seven analyses, increases in self-efficacy beliefs occurred in tasks that required three or more higher-order levels of thinking/learning. The results are discussed in terms of theoretical, empirical and practical significance. Future research is recommended to extend the intervention beyond the narrow confines of a Title I magnet school to settings where the intervention could be tested longitudinally, e. g., honors and gifted students, elementary and middle schools.

On the Threshold of Paradise and Present: Memory in Contemporary Cuban – American Literature

The exile leaving his or her homeland for new and unknown territory travels with much more than just luggage and the clothes on his or her back. He or she carries a weighty collection of memories. Available for the exile in times when the harmony of the past is far removed from the difficult circumstances present during the process of cultural assimilation, these memories present an opportunity for the exile to fashion for him or herself an identity that mimics the realities of life in the home left behind. In this creative endeavor, I seek to examine the powerful potential of memory as it is exercised by a collection of Cubans and Cuban-Americans in different corners of the United States. Analyzing Achy Obejas’ Memory Mambo, Cristina García’s Dreaming in Cuban, Ana Menéndez’s In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd, and Elías Miguel Muñoz’s Brand New Memory, I aim to trace the suggestive potential of memory as it is used by each of the characters in these works in an effort to reconcile their Cuban identities with the ones that are in the process of creation in the U.S. I will borrow from a collection of literature dealing with identity and exile, relevant graduate-level theses on Cuban-American literature, as well as theoretical perspectives on memory formation and nostalgia in order to trace the various ways in which memory is relied on in the process of cultural assimilation and emotional coping. Being presented in Miami, which hosts the largest concentration of Cuban immigrants, this thesis aims to present itself as a reflective tool for Cubans and Cuban-Americans who may find value in seeing their personal sentiments portrayed in literature, thus allowing for a potential reevaluation of identity. If the existing literature on my topic of analysis reveals anything, it is that the scope of my project is one that has not been inspected previously, thus making my analytical contribution a new one that will add a new interpretive set of lens through which readers of contemporary Cuban-American literature can examine the works.

On the Threshold of Paradise and Present: Memory in Contemporary Cuban‐American Literature

The exile leaving his or her homeland for new and unknown territory travels with much more than just luggage and the clothes on his or her back. He or she carries a weighty collection of memories. Available for the exile in times when the harmony of the past is far removed from the difficult circumstances present during the process of cultural assimilation, these memories present an opportunity for the exile to fashion for him or herself an identity that mimics the realities of life in the home left behind. In this creative endeavor, I seek to examine the powerful potential of memory as it is exercised by a collection of Cubans and Cuban-Americans in different corners of the United States. Analyzing Achy Obejas’ Memory Mambo, Cristina García’s Dreaming in Cuban, Ana Menéndez’s In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd, and Elías Miguel Muñoz’s Brand New Memory, I aim to trace the suggestive potential of memory as it is used by each of the characters in these works in an effort to reconcile their Cuban identities with the ones that are in the process of creation in the U.S. I will borrow from a collection of literature dealing with identity and exile, relevant graduate-level theses on Cuban-American literature, as well as theoretical perspectives on memory formation and nostalgia in order to trace the various ways in which memory is relied on in the process of cultural assimilation and emotional coping. Being presented in Miami, which hosts the largest concentration of Cuban immigrants, this thesis aims to present itself as a reflective tool for Cubans and Cuban-Americans who may find value in seeing their personal sentiments portrayed in literature, thus allowing for a potential reevaluation of identity. If the existing literature on my topic of analysis reveals anything, it is that the scope of my project is one that has not been inspected previously, thus making my analytical contribution a new one that will add a new interpretive set of lens through which readers of contemporary Cuban-American literature can examine the works.

The perception of the African-American community through the eyes of the Hispanic media in the U.S.: a critical discourse analysis of the reporting of the death of Michael Brown

In this paper, 36 English and 38 Spanish news articles were selected from English and Spanish newspapers and magazines published in the U.S.A. from August 2014 to November 2014. All articles discuss the death of Michael Brown, the ensuing protests and police investigations. A discourse analysis shows that there are few differences between reporting by the mainstream and the Hispanic media. Like the mainstream media, the Hispanic media adopts a neutral point of view with regard to the African-American minority. However, it presents a negative opinion with regard to the police. It appears that the Hispanic media does not explicitly side with the African-American community, but rather agrees more with the mainstream media’s opinion and is substantially influenced by it.

Jubilee and the Limits of African American Freedom after Emancipation

Scholarship generated in the post-civil rights US underpins a growing consensus that any honest confrontation with the American past requires an acknowledgment both of the nation’s foundations in racially-based slave labour and of the critical role that the enslaved played in ending that system. But scholars equally need to examine why the end of slavery did not deliver freedom, but instead – after a short-lived ‘jubilee’ during which freedpeople savoured their ‘brief moment in the sun’ – opened up a period of extreme repression and violence. This article traces the political trajectory of one prominent ex-slave and Republican party organiser, Elias Hill, to assess the constraints in which black grassroots activists operated. Though mainly concerned with the dashed hopes of African Americans, their experience of a steep reversal is in many ways the shared and profoundly significant legacy of ex-slaves across the former plantation societies of the Atlantic world.

I Want to be Black: Cultural Appropriation of the African American Culture

La tesi analizza il fenomeno dell'Appropriazione Culturale, ne definisce le varie forme e si concentra su vari casi di Appropriazione Culturale negli anni 2000, con un focus sull'Appropriazione della cultura Afroamericana.

The 2014 Greater Iowa African American Resource Guide, May 30, 2014

The Iowa Accountability program (IAP) was established to address the disproportionate numbers of African American affected by domestic violence. IAP specializes in programming tailored to working with the community, African American leaders, victim advocates and members of the legal system.

The 2015 Greater Iowa African American Resource Guide, March 9, 2015

The Iowa Accountability program (IAP) was established to address the disproportionate numbers of African American affected by domestic violence. IAP specializes in programming tailored to working with the community, African American leaders, victim advocates and members of the legal system.

The 2016 Greater Iowa African American Resource Guide, April 16, 2016

The Iowa Accountability program (IAP) was established to address the disproportionate numbers of African American affected by domestic violence. IAP specializes in programming tailored to working with the community, African American leaders, victim advocates and members of the legal system.

Experiences of African American male engineering students: a qualitative analysis

Prior to the 1970s, African Americans were essentially invisible in the science and engineering academic and professional communities (Babco, 2001a). The few who did earn degrees in these fields, obtained them primarily from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and these institutions also served as the primary employer for these graduates in science and engineering (Hines, 1997; Babco, 2001a, 2001b). Since the 1970s, African Americans have made considerable progress, but still are not on a level playing field with White males in terms of opportunities for preparation of science and engineering careers or for employment and advancement in those careers. The purpose of this study was to explore second and third-year African American male engineering students’ perceptions and examine what experiences have contributed to their access to and persistence in engineering. A qualitative research design was employed to gather data necessary to answer the research questions. Eight second and third-year African American male engineering students from Research University (pseudonym) participated in interviews with the researcher. The data from the interviews was used to consider the themes that emerged from the participants. The findings from this study suggest that African American male engineering students at Research University have specific experiences that influence their persistence and academic achievement. Themes identified from the interview data include: (1) pre-college experiences; (2) participation in academic and social networks; (3) institutional programming and organizational support; (4) personal accountability and motivation; and (5) goals outside of engineering. As a result of this research, several future implications are highlighted. These include acknowledging the value of diversity, continued support through organizations, and increased knowledge of best practices.

BLACK SURVIVAL POLITICS: ORGANIZED MOBILIZATION STRATEGIES IN AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES TO END THE HIV/AIDS EPIDEMIC

The purpose of this study is to examine organizational patterns of African American activism in response the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Given their political, economic, and social disenfranchisement, African Americans have historically developed protest and survival strategies to respond to the devaluation of their lives, health, and well-being. While Black protest strategies are typically regarded as oppositional and transformative, Black survival strategies have generally been conceptualized as accepting inequality. In the case of HIV/AIDS, African American religious and non-religious organizations were less likely to deploy protest strategies to ensure the survival and well-being of groups most at risk for HIV/AIDS—such as African American gay men and substance abusers. This study employs a multiple qualitative case study analysis of four African American organizations that were among the early mobilizers to respond to HIV/AIDS in Washington D.C. These organizations include two secular or community-based organizations and two Black churches or faith-based organizations. Given the association of HIV/AIDS with sexual sin and social deviance, I postulated that Black community-based organizations would be more responsive to the HIV/AIDS-related needs and interests of African Americans than their religious counterparts. More specifically, I expected that Black churches would be more conservative (i.e. maintain paternalistic heteronormative sexual standards) than the community-based organizations. Yet findings indicate that the Black churches in this study were more similar than different than the community-based organizations in their strategic responses to HIV/AIDS. Both the community-based organizations and Black churches drew upon three main strategies in ways that politicalize the struggle for Black survival—or what I regard as Black survival politics. First, Black survival strategies for HIV/AIDS include coalition building at the intersection of multiple systems of inequality, as well as on the levels of identity and community. Second, Black survival politics include altering aspects of religious norms and practices related to sex and sexuality. Third, Black survival politics relies on the resources of the government to provide HIV/AIDS related programs and initiatives that are, in large part, based on the gains made from collective action.

Integrating Environmental Justice and Social-Ecological Resilience for Successful Adaptation to Climate Change: Lessons from African American Communities on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay

This research concerns the conceptual and empirical relationship between environmental justice and social-ecological resilience as it relates to climate change vulnerability and adaptation. Two primary questions guided this work. First, what is the level of resilience and adaptive capacity for social-ecological systems that are characterized by environmental injustice in the face of climate change? And second, what is the role of an environmental justice approach in developing adaptation policies that will promote social-ecological resilience? These questions were investigated in three African American communities that are particularly vulnerable to flooding from sea-level rise on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, I found that in all three communities, religious faith and the church, rootedness in the landscape, and race relations were highly salient to community experience. The degree to which these common aspects of the communities have imparted adaptive capacity has changed over time. Importantly, a given social-ecological factor does not have the same effect on vulnerability in all communities; however, in all communities political isolation decreases adaptive capacity and increases vulnerability. This political isolation is at least partly due to procedural injustice, which occurs for a number of interrelated reasons. This research further revealed that while all stakeholders (policymakers, environmentalists, and African American community members) generally agree that justice needs to be increased on the Eastern Shore, stakeholder groups disagree about what a justice approach to adaptation would look like. When brought together at a workshop, however, these stakeholders were able to identify numerous challenges and opportunities for increasing justice. Resilience was assessed by the presence of four resilience factors: living with uncertainty, nurturing diversity, combining different types of knowledge, and creating opportunities for self-organization. Overall, these communities seem to have low resilience; however, there is potential for resilience to increase. Finally, I argue that the use of resilience theory for environmental justice communities is limited by the great breadth and depth of knowledge required to evaluate the state of the social-ecological system, the complexities of simultaneously promoting resilience at both the regional and local scale, and the lack of attention to issues of justice.

Preliminary Validation of the "Plausibility of Intraracial Marriage Scale": A Study of Upwardly Mobile African American Women

Like many Americans, African American women often view marriage as an important life goal; however, it is likely that many also view it as one that is out of reach (Dixon, 2009; Wallace, 2014). The present study sought to address this issue by developing a new measure to assess African American women’s experiences in this regard in hopes of shedding light on how it impacts their dating and mating experiences. A total of 251 heterosexual African American women who were either enrolled in college or who had completed some form of postsecondary education completed an online survey assessing a variety of topics including their attitudes and emotions regarding a shortage of marriageable men, their standards to marry, and their willingness to date interracially. Results from this study established preliminary construct validity for a new scale assessing African American women’s attitudes and emotions about the shortage of “marriageable” African American men.

CERVIXCHECK: A SPIRITUALLY-BASED SMS TEXT MESSAGING PILOT INTERVENTION TO INCREASE CERVICAL CANCER AWARENESS AND PAP TEST SCREENING INTENTION AMONG AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN

African American women account for a disproportionate burden of cervical cancer incidence and mortality rate when compared to non-Hispanic White women. Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable types of cancer, and women can be screened for it with a routine Pap test. Given that religion occupies an essential place in African American lives, framing health messages with important spiritual themes and delivering them through a popular communication delivery channel may allow for a more culturally-relevant and accessible technology-based approach to promoting cervical cancer educational content to African American women. Using community-engaged research as a framework, the purpose of this multiple methods study was to develop, pilot test, and evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and initial efficacy of a spiritually-based SMS text messaging intervention to increase cervical cancer awareness and Pap test screening intention among African American women. The study recruited church-attending African American women ages 21-65 and was conducted in three phases. Phases 1 and 2 consisted of a series of focus group discussions (n=15), cognitive response interviews (n=8), and initial usability testing that were conducted to inform the intervention development and modifications. Phase 3 utilized a non-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design to pilot test the 16-day text messaging intervention (n=52). Of the individuals enrolled, forty-six completed the posttest (retention rate=88%). Findings provided evidence for the early feasibility, high acceptability, and some initial efficacy of the CervixCheck intervention. There were significant pre-post increases observed for knowledge about cervical cancer and the Pap test (p = .001) and subjective norms (p = .006). Additionally, results post-intervention revealed that 83% of participants reported being either “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the program and 85% found the text messages either “useful” or “very useful”. 85% of the participants also indicated that they would “likely” or “very likely” share the information they learned from the intervention with the women around them, with 39% indicating that they had already shared some of the information they received with others they knew. A spiritually-based SMS text messaging intervention could be a culturally appropriate and cost-effective method of promoting cervical cancer early detection information to African American women.