The Black Family in the 21st Century and the Church as an Action System: A Macro Perspective

Abstract

The Black church has played a leadership function for African Americans during times of crisis such as slavery and the civil rights movement. This article suggests that the current crisis in the African American community is the disintegration of the African American family because of economic, social and value shifts, as well as misguided social policy. The Black church must again mount a spiritual and political campaign to save African American families, thereby ensuring their prosperity.     

A synergy of contemporary activism to address police maltreatment of Black males: An intersectional analysis

ABSTRACT

A panoramic overview of contemporary and historical activism to address the perennial tension between police and young Black males in the United States of America is extensively articulated. Furthermore, an intersectional analysis framework is utilized to provide, and explain the unintentional synergy of activism among different groups in the Black community such as the Black Lives Matter movement, the inveterate political class, and the venerable Black church to mitigate police maltreatment of Black males during the era of the nation’s first Black president. Moreover, we discuss the various aggressive policing tactics used in maltreating Black males, some criminal justice reforms achieved in the last eight years, and more importantly we offer suggestions to improve the relationship between police and the Black community.     

Examining the role of racism in the risky alcohol use behaviors of black female college students

Objective: This study explores the impact racism has on the drinking behaviors of Black college women. Little is known about Black college women's experience of racism and the impact racism has on their psychological wellbeing and drinking behaviors. The current study fills a gap in our understanding of the role racism plays in the risky drinking behavior of Black college women. Participants: 469 Black college women ages 18–29 were sampled from 8 colleges and universities across the US, in 3 waves from December 2014-August 2017. Results: Findings suggest that general life stress and perceived racism are significantly associated with alcohol use among Black college women. However, only increased experiences of racism increase Black college women's engagement in risky drinking. Conclusions: The findings of this study serve as an entry point for a more nuanced assessment of stressors among Black college women that may inform drinking behaviors in this population.     

By all appearances: thoughts on colonialism,visuality and racial neoliberalism

ABSTRACT

In a Montreal neighbourhood in the fall of 2013, a community mural celebrating ‘diversity, adversity and solidarity’ was vandalized: the image of a Black woman was spray-painted white. In this paper, I take the events and discourses surrounding this incident and my personal responses to them as a starting point for examining the racialized politics of visual representation. Using critical race-class analysis informed by contemporary theories of Black visuality, I consider dynamics of Black invisibility and visibility in Canada and consider the role visual texts play in reinforcing, reproducing, and resisting racialized social relations. I argue for caution regarding politics of representation, and consider Black and Indigenous art practices for the creative forms of resistance to colonial-capitalist ideology and visual logics they offer.     

Violence in the Black Church

Abstract

Violence in the Black Church is an issue that is frequently discussed in quiet corners, mainly among church devotees. This article argues that the Black Church is the backbone of the Black community. Moreover, if it becomes secularized, and ensnared with disruptive factionalism, its role may be significantly diminished. Faith-based programs, school vouchers, the role of women in the church, and ministerial behaviors are among the structural issues giving rise to violence in the Black Church. The paper draws on many sources of data, and is interpreted within the theoretical framework of a systems perspective.     

Black women’s experience of colorist microaggressions

ABSTRACT

This paper reports the findings of a study that investigated Black women’s experiences of colorism. The authors introduce a new framework, “colorist microaggressions”, which highlight the microaggressions experienced by Black women. The results indicate that colorist microaggressions impacted the social, relational, emotional, and relational aspects of Black women’s lives and their well-being. The results also showed that like racial microaggressions, the “colorist microaggressions” that Black women encountered in their community, family, and in society, were pervasive. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for social work research, education, and practice.     

Promoting public health through community engagement: Embracing the journey

ABSTRACT

This case study recounts and analyzes the journey that graduate students, enrolled in an experiential, interdisciplinary health promotions course, took with a diverse, urban, Black, Midwest community. Community members, faculty, and graduate students in social work and public health were fellow travelers on this voyage into uncharted territory. A major goal of the journey was to teach students how to recognize community strengths and to facilitate the community in using those strengths. The learner’s stance is used as the guiding principle for this reflective journey that generated serendipitous benefits and challenges. The article concludes with recommendations for interdisciplinary education and curriculum development.     

Decolonizing my hair,unshackling my curls: an autoethnography on what makes my natural hair journey a Black feminist statement

ABSTRACT

There is unquestionably a buzz in US Black women’s communities about a trending “natural” phenomenon. Sales of chemical relaxers (sometimes dubbed “creamy crack” among the US Black community) have dropped 34 percent since 2009, while sales of “natural” hair care products that promise to non-chemically enhance or beautify “natural” curls are up exponentially. Corresponding to the rise in sales of “natural” hair care products are beauty blogs, YouTube instructional videos and supportive social groups—such as “natural hair” meet-ups, which have organically emerged for, and been mostly created by, Black women as a tool to support and nurture women as they take this journey. In this article, I use Black feminist P.H. Collins’s work because her understanding of the relationship between knowledge, consciousness and empowerment provides a framework or point of departure for grasping my own lived experience of going “natural” with regards to modes of oppression and methods of resistance.     

Rhythm Nation

ABSTRACT

Bion’s remarks about music were few but fascinating. This paper provides a close reading of Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly (2015), an album that has been embraced as the musical centerpiece of the Black Lives Matter movement in terms of Bion’s profound comments on the power of rhythmic speech to engage other minds and bodies in otherwise noncommunicable aspects of experience. Bion’s observations about rhythm are elaborated with respect to the French psychoanalyst Nicolas Abraham’s notion of “rhythmizing perception” and Freud’s fundamental rule of psychoanalysis.     

The Privatization of Social Services from Public to Sectarian

ABSTRACT

This article explores the privatization of social services from public to sectarian points of view while examining the implications of the Charitable Choice movement on the gay and lesbian community. The history of this movement is explored from a developmental perspective outlining the socioeconomic makeup of gays and lesbians, the societal perceptions and mythology of the economic status of homosexuals, and actual figures related to the number of gays and lesbians who rely on publicly supported social service providers. The article explores the history as well as the positive and negative aspects this type of privatization movement involves. Finally, a comprehensive assessment of the effects of this movement on the gay and lesbian community is presented and future recommendations will be made.     

Black Edens,country Eves: Listening,performance, and black queer longing in country music

ABSTRACT

This article explores Black queer country music listening, performance, and fandom as a source of pleasure, nostalgia, and longing for Black listeners. Country music can be a space for alliance and community, as well as a way of accessing sometimes repressed cultural and personal histories of violence: lynching and other forms of racial terror, gender surveillance and disciplining, and continued racial and economic segregation. For many Black country music listeners and performers, the experience of being a closeted fan also fosters an experience of ideological hailing, as well as queer world-making. Royster suggests that through Black queer country music fandom and performance, fans construct risky and soulful identities. The article uses Tina Turner's solo album, Tina Turns the Country On! (1974) as an example of country music's power as a tool for resistance to racial, sexual, and class disciplining.     

A partnership forged: BSW students and service learning at a historically Black college and university (HBCU) serving urban communities

ABSTRACT

Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have a long-standing history of engaging the African-American community. In most instances, these institutions are located in predominantly African-American communities. This article intends to offer a discussion of a pedagogical approach used at an HBCU, located in a large mid-Atlantic city. The purpose of this macro-assignment was an effort designed to prepare BSW students for macro-practice with communities through participation in service-learning projects that involved community engagement with urban communities. Outcomes reflect that students have a vested interest in working with underserved communities, which exemplifies the School of Social Work’s mission; said mission is to fully prepare urban social work leaders who are committed to the alleviation of human suffering, social justice, and the improvement of the quality of life for diverse urban populations.     

Recruiting Participants for Community Practice Interventions

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on recruiting participants for community practice interventions. We begin by presenting a case study of the recruitment methods used in a community-based development effort in the southeastern United States. In the next sections, we review some key issues in recruitment as discussed in the community practice and social movement literatures, and use them to reflect upon the case study. In the final section, we try to make social movement theory more accessible to community practitioners by developing a set of principles for use in recruitment.     

The strength of Black families: A commentary on Leading with Racial Equity

ABSTRACT

This commentary provides an overview of resilience in the Black family. It also offers a reflection on important work in this issue assessing the historical and future-oriented conceptualization of Black families in the social welfare system. A research program spanning an investigation of low-income Black families to theoretical and intervention development is also provided. The commentary concludes with a call to increase the number of researchers and the quality of research in this area to improve the lived experiences and well-being of Black families.     

The National Conference of Black Political Scientists (NCOBPS): Organizational Empowerment Through Signaling and Valuing Women and Diversity During #MeToo

ABSTRACT

The National Conference of Black Political Scientists (NCOBPS) is an almost 50-year-old organization. Its history is rooted in challenging racial discrimination and exclusion of people of African descent in the political science discipline and profession. Over time, the organization also has sought diversity and inclusion in various forms, whether through inclusion of intersectional identities and expressions or philosophical perspectives. This article describes the significance of signaling inclusive values through the institutionalization of the organization. It also offers best practices for the #MeToo movement through accounting for inclusive practices of NCOBPS.     

A Model of Heterosexual Adaptive Relationship Functioning in South Africa: Implications for HIV Prevention Interventions

Abstract

Objectives: Couple-based HIV prevention efforts are an important HIV prevention strategy in South Africa but there is a lack of understanding as to what constitutes healthy relationships in South African sociodisadvantaged communities. Methods: To address this, 8 focus group discussions were conducted with 27 men and 23 Black African women living in a large disadvantaged community in Cape Town, South Africa. Results: A model of adaptive relationship functioning is put forth, which involves four primary relationship components that emerged as central to healthy relationships: active relationship building, emotional support/display, communication, and problem-solving. Conclusions: The results of this study can inform couple-based HIV prevention efforts.     

Potential Roles of Black Churches in HIV/AIDS Prevention

Abstract

This study examines the role of Black churches in AIDS/HIV prevention. This is a pilot survey study design administered to 11 churches represented by 11 ministers and one church member. The analysis is both qualitative and quantitative. The results showed that most of the ministers had spoken with their congregation on HIV/AIDS. A few ministers had previously sponsored or taken part in HIV/AIDS workshops and disseminated HIV/AIDS educational material in the African American community. None of the churches had an established HIV/AIDS prevention program. Most of the ministers were receptive to implementing an HIV/AIDS prevention program, provided that it did not violate the church doctrines. The findings in this study suggest that Black churches represent an important potential resource for HIV/AIDS prevention. For success, the initial strategy should involve the minister in the early planning stage. Future research should focus on expanding the scope of this study and improving communication between the church, community-based organizations, and health professionals.     

Schizophrenia,Community Integration,and Recovery

Abstract

Rooted in deinstitutionalization policy, the community inclusion required by the Olmstead case, and the grass roots recovery movement, community integration for those who have diagnoses of serious mental illnesses has become an increasingly important policy goal. The purpose of this project was to examine empirical evidence describing experiences with social or community integration for people with psychiatric disabilities, with a particular interest in the schizophrenias. Studies chosen for review all involved direct survey or interview data from people with psychiatric disabilities and examined subjective experiences with social relationships or linked social participation with clinical, functional, or quality of life outcomes. Experiences involving the dynamics of social stigma, the achievement of personal agency, and innovative pathways to satisfying social inclusion are core themes found that are highly relevant for practitioners. Social work, with its ecological perspective, is well suited to address the complexities of conflicting interests and objectives that have arisen in mental health care in the pursuit of community integration. Suggestions for fruitful responses are presented.     

Leading with racial equity: promoting Black family resilience in early childhood

ABSTRACT

It has been 47 years since Billingsley and Giovannoni penned a pointed analysis of child welfare’s failure of Black children the United States. This conceptual paper asserts that this failure will continue unless we take seriously the role that structural inequality plays in Black families’ lives. It updates Billingsley and Giovannoni’s paper by shifting the focus from children to families, grounding Black family well-being in a developmental model and constructing a racial equity approach to family resilience. The paper begins by establishing an empirical justification for focusing on Black families. This review of data on Black families further reveals early childhood to be a particular priority for intervention. The emerging model centers on Black families’ ability to navigate and negotiate for their needs. The model components are malleable factors that work together to form a “supportive state” and resilient pathway. Implications for the model’s compatibility with clinical family resilience models, two-generation approaches, and family-centered policymaking are discussed.     

TRANSLATING MELANCHOLIA

This paper is about the (im)possibility of ‘the Black community’. Specifically it is about how the process of translating melancholia in talk on life stories makes ‘the Black community’ (im)possible. Its (im)possibility arises because translating melancholia leads to critical agency (Khanna, 2003 Khanna, R. 2003. Dark continents: Psychoanalysis and colonialism, London: Duke University Press. [Crossref] [Google Scholar]) in Black women's and men's talk on identity, belonging and community. I deal centrally, therefore, with ‘the Black community’ and affect. As affect, melancholia's ‘object of emotions can be ideals [such as “the Black community”] and bodies, including bodies of [communities which] can take shape through how they approximate such “ideals”’ (Ahmed, 2004 Ahmed, S. 2004. The cultural politics of emotion, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.  [Google Scholar], p. 16). To this extent then translating melancholia is performative, as Black community takes shape in talk. I use talk on life stories to show that there is an ideal in the form of a dominant discourse on ‘the Black community’ which is constantly disturbed and re-made by melancholic translations at the level of the everyday. This disturbance constitutes what I call a poetics of Black interstitial community. By poetics I mean how community means, not just what it means to its members. I am then not talking about physical boundaries when I say ‘the Black community’, but those of affect. These boundaries are circumscribed by a politics of ‘race’ which underlie inclusion in the Black collective and are continually re-negotiated through talk on belonging. Here, the significance of essentialist notions of ‘race’ for inclusion within the Black community can be no longer taken for granted. Last, I consider what this means for the continuation of Black anti-racist politics.