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A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z Conceptualizing Gender and Race in
ContempOSP-RAry Brazil. This paper examines social, economic, and cultural factors that have influenced the development of Black women's subjectivity in contempOSP-RAry Brazil. Although conceptualized as social constructions, I posit gender and race as interlocking forms of subjectivity that have a "real" impact on the social experiences of Black Brazilian women. By conducting an analysis of socio-economic indicators and cultural representations, I examine the impact of material and discursive practices on the construction of Brazilian gender and racial hierarchies. My discussion seeks to bridge the gap that is often found between structure (material conditions) and discourse as separate and separable. I argue that they are mutually influential and reinforcing in the construction and maintenance of racialized and gendered social hierarchies. In doing so, this analysis is informed by feminist theorist Chris Weedon's observation that: "In order to be effective powerfully, a discourse needs a material base in established social institutions and practices." (1987:100). African American Women in the Profession of
Special Education Leadership. This roundtable discussion highlighted a study on African American women holding doctOSP-RAl degrees in the field of special education leadership and their experiences in composing scholarly agendas. It included a plethOSP-RA of themes regarding the challenges of the dominant cultural paradigm as it related to these women's experiences with special educational programming, doctOSP-RAl studies curricula, motivational sources, processes in hiring, and concerns for the field of special education. Each of these themes was contrasted with current literature to better understand the unique perspective of Africana feminist scholarship. The findings from this study contribute new dialogue to professional development in higher education special education. Welfare Reform and Higher Education. The extent and nature of differences among states in the treatment of higher education vis-a-vis welfare reform is the subject of this roundtable discussion. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWOSP-RA) of 1996 ushered in a massive change in the nature and administration of the beleaguered public assistance program, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). AFDC, established in the 1930’s as part of the nation’s response to the Great Depression, was previously considered as an entitlement program. It has been replaced by TempOSP-RAry Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), which is designated as a welfare-to-work program. Although states played a key role in the administration of the AFDC program, they became more responsible under PRWOSP-RA. Devolution of program administration gives state governments the task of devising programs with less federal intrusion and more discretion. While the federal legislation sets some parameters, states have already shown variation in several elements. Among these are the length of time a household can receive cash assistance, the minimum ages of the youngest child before the head of household must seek a job, the number of work hours required, and how long a household may receive benefits before actively seeking employment or training, among others. Job training and education are clearly indicated as necessary for many recipients to gain employment. States are likely to vary with regard to how employment and training are treated for purposes of meeting the work requirement. Acceptance of higher education, particularly in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree, to meet the work requirement is doubtful. Despite evidence that sustainable self-sufficiency is more probable as a person receives more education, some states have not provided that opportunity. Papers in process considered the following questions:
The Power of Pennysavers: African American
Women Household Workers and Leadership. Cultural confluences are the fulcrum for analyzing the leadership activities of women in the first half of the twentieth century. Women's non-traditional economic, social, and political control loci and paradigms are addressed in this study. This paper theoretically illustrates why, for African American working class women, it is important to correctly interpret the facts to transform events of the past into patterns of meaning that a literal representation of the facts could not render. By going beyond the historiographically constructed patterns of dominance and marginality, studies of African American women leaders can precisely delineate the special issues and factors these innovators overcame. African American Female and
the Glass Ceiling: A Cultural Model for Success. This study explored the career advancement experience of African American women who have successfully broken through the glass ceiling. The term "glass ceiling" refers to artificial and invisible barriers based on attitudinal or organizational bias that prevent qualified women and minorities from advancing into senior-level management positions. Studies have confirmed that a glass ceiling does exist for African American women and that they are severely underrepresented in top level government jobs. They have less opportunity for advancement and both gender and race are perceived as factors in their limited representation (MSPB, 1992). What is the impact of breaking the glass ceiling for African American females in senior level management position? To answer this research questions, I interviewed 20 African American female executives to gain insight as to their experiences, lessons learned, successes, failures and their progressions toward shattering the glass ceiling in the government. I accomplished this study using a qualitative research design with in-depth interviews as the primary research instrument. The executives identified nine factors contributing to their success in penetration of the glass ceiling (1) survival skills, (2) network/support system, (3) work ethic, (4) mentors and sponsors, (5) a sense of self-worth and self-confidence, (6) spiritual values, (7) balance in life, (8) leadership style, and (9) cultural identity. Three factors out of the nine include characteristics unique to African American women that create a cultural model of success: networking/support systems, spiritual values, and cultural identity. The Double Bind: Racism and Sexism
Experienced by Black Women Scientists and Engineers in the Academy. This roundtable presentation was a review of the current data the status of Black women scientists and engineers in academe and perceived barriers to success. The specific focus is racism, sexism, and a comparison of experiences from biological and physical sciences in different types of institutions. The expectations of these discussion papers is to define and recognize the problem and explore strategies to combat career damage and assure that new academics are aware that there may be local problems. Can We Be "Helped"? Black Female
Sexuality-Public & Private Discourses of Normality. The historical legacies that relate to Black women's sexuality are central to an awareness and understanding of the ways in which gender and race determines that which is normal, abnormal or criminal. From the jezebel and sapphire to the welfare mother, Black women's sexuality has always been deemed "suspect." The questions become can Black women's sexuality ever be normal? Through an analysis of contempOSP-RAry popular texts and magazines such as "Essence," I attempt to raise questions about the ways in which discourses about self-help and healing and sex and race intersect and contribute to an erotic of Blackness that is centered in restriction and repudiation. I highlight the ways in which depictions of Black female sexuality are imagined in the public domain of self-healing. Using Isaac Julien's film The Attendant as a model and as a site of description of the ways in which Black bodies have traditionally been represented, I examine the meanings of self-help, healing, criminality, and prohibition as they pertain to Black women. The central question for this method of investigation is how a meta-language might look if Black women's sexuality was used as the signifier of difference across discourses of sex and race? This presentation utilizes a four-part process of inquiry. First, I analyze how discourses about Black women's sexuality have invoked interdiction and regulation. Second, I explore how the manipulation of terminology such as abnormal and normal has functioned in relation to Black women's sexuality. Third, I investigate the meaning of self-help and the importation of this movement into popular Black texts. Finally, I juxtapose self-help discourse with the work of Koena Mercer, Evelyn Hammonds, Hortense Spillers, and Isaac Julien and interrogate the multiple meanings of race and sex that emerge. This process is a consideration of the ways in which we (Black women) come to think about power, sex and sexuality, and representations of Black women, as well as how we might re-imagine sites of discourse whereby Black women's sexuality is not contained within binary oppositions. Historically, the signifiers of Black female sexuality have been centered in a discourse of abject-ness and within a split between that which is considered communal and that, which is individual. This paper speaks to the evolution of the history such that contempOSP-RAry productions of Black women's sexuality and bodies are now inflected with the terms of self-healing and the attendant boundaries that delineate the normal and abnormal. Because definitions of eroticism, sex and Blackness are part of the production of Black female subjectivity, the contempOSP-RAry circulation of Black female sexuality in popular texts permeates the conditions for Black women in everyday life. It becomes crucial and indispensable to discern the ways in which the racial and sexual discourses that help to inform Black women's subjectivity have been categorized and proliferated. Academic
Tenure in the
Public Research University: Is Tenure Still Viable? This paper focuses on whether academic tenure is still necessary and practical in the 21st century public research university. What follows is a discussion of three issues: (1) the purpose of tenure; (2) whether tenure is currently the most effective and efficient means for protecting faculty rights (specifically academic freedom and job security); and (3) post-tenure review and suggested alternatives to tenure. Although this paper is specific to the public research university, the information presented can be applied to other institution types. An approach for
Alternative Schools Mentoring African American Mothers and their Daughters
from Violent Environments. This article describes an innovative community service-mentoring project designed for African American single parent mothers and their adolescent daughters who attended an alternative school in a southern inner city environment. The Community Services Associate from an area university, in collabOSP-RAtion with the school personnel, played key roles in executing the project. The adolescent girls and their mothers, a group often overlooked, live in violent communities and are plagued by the stressors of the environment. Violence within the homes and in the community exacerbates the problems that the girls bring to the school. The focus of this paper is two-folds. First, we present the reality of the impact of the environment in which these mothers and their daughters live. Second, we present the results of the mentoring project as an intervention and the unavoidable systemic barriers that often occur when working with schools. There are also some implications for policy and practice for working with schools and some implication for policy and practice for African American adolescent girls from single-parent homes. The importance of connecting to empathic mentors for both girls and their mothers is emphasized. Throughout the paper the terms African American and Black will be used interchangeably. African American Women
Administrators in Higher Education: Mentoring in Career Choice and
Development. This roundtable considers the importance of mentoring in African American women's selection of higher education as a career choice and in their development as professionals in that career. The roundtable is descriptive and provides clear recommendations on how African American female administrators in higher education can advance their career choice and development. Mentoring has been identified as a factor leading to upward mobility in employment, success in education, and personal development. Research on mentoring in each of these areas failed to pinpoint its impact on special populations such as ethnic, gender, and cultural groups and in particular African American women. This paper addresses the following questions:
The intended results are a clarification of how mentoring impacts the career choice of African American women who become administrators in higher education and how their sociocultural and gender experiences define their career choice and development. A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z Empowering
African American Girls in the
Black Church. This paper explains the ways in which one church program unwittingly contributed to the low self-esteem of girls while attempting to empower young men. A six-week Vacation Bible School on the South Side of Chicago attracted between 37 and 72 children daily. The volunteer instructors found the African American girls in the program engaged in name-calling directed only at other girls. They taunted one another about "nappy hair" and skin that was too Black. At the same time, they worked very hard to attach themselves to the boys in the program and the two-lone European American girls. The paper addresses ways in which the Vacation Bible School Program added to feelings of inadequacy by tailoring lessons toward the needs of young men. Finally, the paper describes the methods used to empower the young women along with the young men. Personal
Efficacy: A
Casualty of Welfare Reform. The changes in the federal welfare system have important ramifications for how "helping professionals" will practice in the foreseeable future, with an emphasis on returning the responsibility of social welfare to the marketplace and the private sector. There is increasing support for the laissez-faire economic and social philosophy of America's earliest history. Using the ecological perspective, the paper examines how the lack of choice and limited economic benefits will reduce the capacity of families who receive TempOSP-RAry Assistance to Needy Families to exercise their own self-determination and personal efficacy. Thus, the policy changes will contribute to diminishing these families’ ecological competence and help insure their continued economic marginality and dependency. As a result of these policy values, the parameters and outcomes for social support and mental health services are determined. The implications for helping professionals are addressed in the paper. Digitizing
Divas:
Technological Resources to Enhance Courses on African Americans. This paper emphasizes ways in which technology can be used to enhance learning. It specifically focuses on strategies for incorpOSP-RAting the use of media technologies in humanities courses regarding African women writers. The proposed 90-minute multi-media session will explore pedagogical issues and practical research related to the study of writings by and about women of African ancestry. Sister Circle: Creating
a Community of Black Women Scholars. Since September of 1995, twenty-one women scholars from eight different institutions have been participating in an interdisciplinary collaborative project entitled "Meaning and Representations of Black Women's Work." Within a seminar-type structure members meet with the goal of coming to understand how women's work affects creativity, culture and community; how it has changed over the past two hundred years; how it colors and changes Black women's own identities and family relationships; and how much Black women shape and are shaped by work and the workplace. This panel will focus on the development and maintenance of the seminar's collabOSP-RAtion process from its conception, to retaining participants, finding intellectual freedom in the exchange among Black women academics, and finally producing individual scholarly products as the result of a collaborative vision. Sister Circle: Black
Women in the Social Sciences. Since September of 1995, twenty-one women scholars from eight different institutions have been participating in an interdisciplinary collaborative project entitled "Meanings and Representations of Black Women's Work". Within a seminar-type structure members meet with the goal of coming to understand how women's work affects creativity, culture, and community; how it has changed over the past two hundred years; how it colors and changes Black women's own identities and family relationships; and how much Black women shape and are shaped by work and the workplace. This paper focuses on the work of Black women in the Social Sciences from the nineteenth century to the presents. Several participants present papers and discuss how the collaborative process affected their work and the understanding of their place in the academy. Black Women Faculty
Artists: Creating New Models of Service and Leadership in the Arts. This panel discussion was led by Black women faculty from fields of music, dance and theater who are redefining the role of women artists in our communities and in higher education. The panelists discussed their riles as change agents and cultural workers in the areas of curriculum development, teacher education, performance styles and standards, multimedia technology, and community revitalization. Each artist shared her successes, challenges, and strategies for survival in academia and addressed the need to create progressive models of service and leadership ion the arts. Social
Cost and Enterprise Development
with African American Communities. Social costs are successful disenfranchisement efforts aimed at denying racial/ethnic minorities and women opportunities to participate in the larger social, cultural, and economic arenas of society. One example of the effects of this phenomenon may be found in the continued exclusion of African Americans in inner-city neighborhoods from community-wide enterprise development. Within African American communities small business start-up, retention, and expansion remain at issue 30 years after the Kerner Commission Report, 20 years after the implementation of the Urban Renewal and Model Cites Programs, and two years after the Clinton-Administration's renewed emphasis on compliance with the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. Investment in these communities remains at the margins of metropolitan cities' community-wide economy, while economic shifts over the past three decades have impacted their neighborhoods and communities by reducing employment opportunities, limiting expansion or elimination of their employment bases, and decreasing their revenue. This paper discusses the Business Plus Program in Louisville, Kentucky as one of several microenterprise programs which have been helpful in building a community-based economy within blighted inner-city communities, elimination social costs.
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