Fighting the Strai(gh)tjacket: black women bonding in Loving Her and The Color Purple

O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar como as relações lésbicas são retratadas nas obras Loving Her e The Color Purple. Ao analisar as relações entre homens/mulheres e mulheres/mulheres, este estudo também revê e critica o golpe triplo sofrido por lésbicas negras, por serem, ao mesmo tempo, mulheres, afro-americanas e homossexuais. Utilizando fatos históricos para situar as obras em um contexto social, além da teoria do lesbian continuum afim de atestar a riqueza e diversidade do laço afetivo entre mulheres, este trabalho vem por desmistificar as noções simplistas em relação à literatura lésbica Afro-Americana, afugentando a sombra que pairava sobre o tabu e elevando a mulher negra, lésbica ou não, a seu lugar de direito na sociedade

No Easy Way Through: Black Workers and Race Leadership at the Nadir

It is difficult, even excruciating, to imagine the staggering descent from high optimism to despondency experienced by many African Americans who lived between emancipation and the dawn of the twentieth century. For historians living in the post–civil rights era, recapturing the scale, velocity, and brutality of that dramatic fall has been hampered by two conceptual problems. The first of these, undergirded by prominent trends in the formerly “new” social history, is a widely shared enthusiasm for illuminating those hidden corners of daily life where men and women on the receiving end of Jim Crow continued to wield a degree of control. “Agency” has been the buzzword for a generation of scholarship that emphasizes the staying power and persistence of black Southerners in the face of relentless assaults on their social and economic status, their civil rights, and even, at times, their collective existence. This is, in many ways, an understandable reaction to an earlier consensus that relegated black historical initiative to the margins of a national fable cleansed of unseemly violence and sharp social conflict, but it can also be problematic.

Leisure sports and postural control:Can a black belt protect your balance from aging?

To determine potential benefits of intensive leisure sports for age-related changes in postural control, we tested 3 activity groups comprising 70 young (M = 21.67 years, SD = 2.80) and 73 older (M = 62.60 years, SD = 5.19) men. Activity groups were martial artists, who held at least 1st Dan (black belt), sportive individuals exercising sports without explicit balance components, and nonsportive controls. Martial artists had an advantage over sportive individuals in dynamic posture tasks (upright stance on a sway-referenced platform), and these 2 active groups showed better postural control than nonsportive participants. Age-related differences in postural control were larger in nonsportive men compared with the 2 active groups, who were similar in this respect. In contrast, negative age differences in other sensorimotor and cognitive functions did not differ between activity groups. We concluded that individuals engaging in intensive recreational sports have long-term advantages in postural control. However, even in older martial artists with years of practice in their sports, we observed considerable differences favoring the young. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

HIV positive men as fathers: Accounts of displacement, ir/responsibility and paternal emergence

It is now apparent that socio-cultural constructions of masculinity variously impact men’s experiences of their HIV positive status, yet how being a father can feature in this mix remains under-researched. This study employed in-depth semi-structured interviews and Foucauldian-informed discourse analysis to explore the accounts of six self-identifying heterosexual fathers (four black African migrants, two white European) who had been living with HIV from five to 24 years. While the HIV-related literature calls for the need to subvert ‘traditional’ expressions of masculinity as a means of promoting HIV prevention and HIV health, we argue that the lived experience for HIV positive men as fathers is more socially, discursively and thus more psychologically nuanced. We illustrate this by highlighting ways in which HIV positive men as fathers are not simply making sense of themselves as a HIV positive man for whom the modern (new) man and father positions are useful strategies for adapting to HIV and combating associated stigma. Discourses of modern and patriarchal fatherhoods, a gender-specific discourse of irresponsibility, and the neoliberal conflation of heath and self-responsibility are also at work in the sense making frames that HIV positive men, who are also fathers, can variously deploy. Our analysis shows how this discursive mix can underpin possibilities of often conflicted meaning and identity when living as a man and father with HIV in the UK, and specifically how discourses of fatherhood and HIV ‘positive’ health can complicate these men’s expressions and inhabitations of masculinity.

HEALTH BELIEFS REGARDING DIET: A PERSPECTIVE OF HYPERTENSIVE BLACK INDIVIDUALS

The objective of this descriptive-exploratory study was to identify the health beliefs of black individuals with hypertension regarding the barriers and benefits of diet for controlling the disease, including the sociodemographic factors associated with the health beliefs surrounding diet control. One hundred and six black adults with hypertension were interviewed using a specific instrument. The data were analyzed considering the percentages, frequency of the cases, scores and prevalence ratio. The global analysis of beliefs showed a preponderance of beliefs regarding the benefits of diet control. It was observed that men, younger individuals, lack of a partner and low educational level and income were related to the beliefs regarding the benefits of adopting a healthy diet. In conclusion, health promotion among the black population requires an interdisciplinary approach and specific health policies addressing this populations' needs, aimed at preventive and curative aspects.

HIV testing and burden of HIV infection in black cancer patients in Johannesburg, South Africa: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND HIV infection is a known risk factor for cancer but little is known about HIV testing patterns and the burden of HIV infection in cancer patients. We did a cross-sectional analysis to identify predictors of prior HIV testing and to quantify the burden of HIV in black cancer patients in Johannesburg, South Africa. METHODS The Johannesburg Cancer Case-control Study (JCCCS) recruits newly-diagnosed black cancer patients attending public referral hospitals for oncology and radiation therapy in Johannesburg . All adult cancer patients enrolled into the JCCCS from November 2004 to December 2009 and interviewed on previous HIV testing were included in the analysis. Patients were independently tested for HIV-1 using a single ELISA test . The prevalence of prior HIV testing, of HIV infection and of undiagnosed HIV infection was calculated. Multivariate logistic regression models were fitted to identify factors associated with prior HIV testing. RESULTS A total of 5436 cancer patients were tested for HIV of whom 1833[33.7% (95% CI=32.5-35.0)] were HIV-positive. Three-quarters of patients (4092 patients) had ever been tested for HIV. The total prevalence of undiagnosed HIV infection was 11.5% (10.7-12.4) with 34% (32.0-36.3) of the 1833 patients who tested HIV-positive unaware of their infection. Men >49 years [OR 0.49(0.39-0.63)] and those residing in rural areas [OR 0.61(0.39-0.97)] were less likely to have been previously tested for HIV. Men with at least a secondary education [OR 1.79(1.11-2.90)] and those interviewed in recent years [OR 4.13(2.62 - 6.52)] were likely to have prior testing. Women >49 years [OR 0.33(0.27-0.41)] were less likely to have been previously tested for HIV. In women, having children <5 years [OR 2.59(2.04-3.29)], hormonal contraceptive use [OR 1.33(1.09-1.62)], having at least a secondary education [OR:2.08(1.45-2.97)] and recent year of interview [OR 6.04(4.45-8.2)] were independently associated with previous HIV testing. CONCLUSIONS In a study of newly diagnosed black cancer patients in Johannesburg, over a third of HIV-positive patients were unaware of their HIV status. In South Africa black cancer patients should be targeted for opt-out HIV testing.

Interventions to reduce sexual risk behavior in African American men

The purpose of this review was to describe characteristics of interventions that have been conducted for African American men and identify similarities and differences between interventions for subpopulations of African American men. Of the 473 studies identified through database searching, 8 studies met the eligibility criteria for this review. Target populations within these studies included heterosexual men, homosexual and bisexual men, persons with mental health problems, and injection and non-injection drug users. Little variation was found in the theories and methods used in interventions for different target populations. However, several different behavioral determinants were addressed within these interventions. Although interventions for drug users generally did not exclude individuals based on sexual orientation, these interventions were able to address HIV sexual risk behavior in heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual-identified men. Given these findings, multi-faceted approaches to HIV prevention are recommended in order to reduce HIV risk in African American men.^

Let their voices be heard: Understanding the barriers to seeking early prenatal care for low-income non-Hispanic Black women

Background: Receipt of early prenatal care, care during the first three months of pregnancy, is the standard in the United States. Sixty percent of non-Hispanic Black women who had a live birth in the Sunnyside community of Houston did not obtain early prenatal care in 2009. ^ This study's aims were to: 1) Describe the barriers to obtaining early prenatal care in non-Hispanic Black women who live in the Sunnyside community of Houston; and, 2) Describe the actions that could encourage non-Hispanic Black women who live in the Sunnyside Community to obtain early prenatal care. The goal was to provide information to organizations that promote early prenatal care use in non-Hispanic Black women in Harris County that may aid in developing interventions. ^ Methods: The Participatory Learning for Action rapid assessment qualitative method was used in a group setting to answer the research questions on behalf of women in the community. Women who participated in the group sessions also participated in an in-depth interview. Key informants who work in the community with pregnant women, or promote the use of prenatal care services, were also interviewed. An inductive analysis of the data was conducted to identify common themes that address the study's aims. ^ Results: Aim 1: Group participants identified fear of the reaction from family and/or the baby's daddy and shame, not having insurance or money, and lack of knowledge of the pregnancy and resources as the top three barriers to early prenatal care for women in the community. Aim 2: Group participants stated that to help women to overcome these barriers, communication, awareness and support; help, resources and services; and information and early education are needed. Participant in-depth interviewees echoed the themes of fear of the reaction from family and/or the baby's daddy and not knowing of the pregnancy. Key informants mentioned these themes as well, though not at the same priority level. Participants and key informants also mentioned similar themes for helping women to overcome barriers to early prenatal care. ^ Conclusion: A comprehensive approach is needed to improve early prenatal care use in the Sunnyside community. Education efforts must include all members of the community, young and old, to promote support for pregnant women. Community members must be a part of the process for developing education campaigns. Engaging the community builds a relationship with organizations that serve the community, which may promote use of the organizations' services, and build trust with the community. All efforts must be ongoing so that women and men of all ages in the community understand the importance of prenatal care and support women obtaining care early in the pregnancy.^

English men of letters /

"Portrait edition."

Cornish worthies: sketches of some eminent Cornish men and families.

Title in red and black.

Plain answers to religious questions modern men are asking /

Mode of access: Internet.

Why men fight : a method of abolishing the international duel /

"Lectures ... written in 1915, and delivered in the beginning of 1916."--Pref. to London edition.