scholarly journals One Hundred Voices: Harrisburg’s Historic African American Community, 1850-1920

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
American Studies ◽  
Change Agents ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Business Leaders ◽  
The Political ◽  
African American Community ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Dickinson College

In 2020, a coalition of citizens, organizers, legislators, and educators came together to commemorate the Fifteenth and Nineteenth Amendments by establishing a new monument in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. This would be a memorial dedicated to the capital city’s significant African American community and its historic struggle for the vote. The Commonwealth Monument, located on the Irvis Equality Circle on the South Lawn of Pennsylvania’s State Capitol Grounds, features a bronze pedestal inscribed with one hundred names of change agents who pursued the power of suffrage and citizenship between 1850 and 1920. This book is a companion to this monument and tells the stories of those one hundred freedom seekers, abolitionists, activists, suffragists, moralists, policemen, masons, doctors, lawyers, musicians, poets, publishers, teachers, preachers, housekeepers, janitors, and business leaders, among many others. In their committed advocacy for freedom, equality, and justice, these inspiring men and women made unique and lasting contributions to the standing and life of African Americans—and, indeed, the political power of all Americans—within their local communities and across the country. Calobe Jackson, Jr., is an historian of Harrisburg African American studies, Katie Wingert McArdle is a writer and researcher currently serving as the head swim coach at Dickinson College, and David Pettegrew is a professor of history at Messiah University.

scholarly journals Community-Led Action to Reduce Menthol Cigarette Use in the African American Community

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 72S-81S ◽  
Author(s):  
John H. Kingsbury ◽  
Asha Hassan
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Change Agents ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
Health Department ◽  
African American Community ◽  
Health Staff ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Menthol Cigarette

Background. African Americans suffer a disproportionate burden of tobacco harm and researchers have posited that menthol cigarettes are a key contributor to this disparity. In 2015, a county health department and African American community-based organization (CBO) in Minnesota partnered to educate and engage the African American community on menthol and its role in tobacco-related health disparities. The following case study describes successes, challenges, and recommendations from this work. We focus on the role of a public health and community partnership in menthol policy adoption so others can more effectively implement a community-driven approach in their own communities. Methods. Interviews were conducted with local and state public health staff, leadership from the CBO, youth coordinators, and change agents—that is, leaders in the African American community recruited to educate and engage the community on menthol. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed in Atlas.ti using thematic analysis. Results. Participants identified several successes: (1) assessment data from community members helped inform policy decision making, (2) collaboration between local public health and CBO was powerful and a key to success, and (3) change agents were trusted communicators and effectively engaged and provided education to the community. Participants faced challenges related to stylistic and cultural differences in communication. Participants recommended engaging youth and incorporating cessation into the broader context of issues systemically affecting African American communities (e.g., economic inequity, police violence, incarceration). Implications. Menthol tobacco restrictions have the potential to reduce tobacco-related health inequities for African Americans. Findings highlight the role that public health and community partnerships can play in supporting this critical work to effect policy change.

Consequences of a match made in hell: the harm caused by menthol smoking to the African American population over 1980–2018

2021 ◽  
pp. tobaccocontrol-2021-056748 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Mendez ◽  
Thuy T T Le
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Smoking Initiation ◽  
African American Community ◽  
American Population ◽  
The Public ◽  
African American Population ◽  
Menthol Cigarettes ◽  
Life Years

BackgroundFor many years, national surveys have shown a consistently disproportionately high prevalence of menthol smokers among African Americans compared with the general population. However, to our knowledge, no prior study has quantified the harm that menthol smoking has caused on that population. In this work, we estimate the public health harm that menthol cigarettes have caused to the African American community over the last four decades.MethodsUsing National Health Interview Survey data, we employed a well-established simulation model to reproduce the observed smoking trajectory over 1980–2018 in the African American population. Then, we repeat the experiment, removing the effects of menthol on the smoking initiation and cessation rates over that period, obtaining a new hypothetical smoking trajectory. Finally, we compared both scenarios to calculate the public health harm attributable to menthol cigarettes over 1980–2018.ResultsOur results show that menthol cigarettes were responsible for 1.5 million new smokers, 157 000 smoking-related premature deaths and 1.5 million life-years lost among African Americans over 1980–2018. While African Americans constitute 12% of the total US population, these figures represent, respectively, a staggering 15%, 41% and 50% of the total menthol-related harm.DiscussionOur results show that menthol cigarettes disproportionally harmed African Americans significantly over the last 38 years and are responsible for exacerbating health disparities among that population. Removing menthol cigarettes from the market would benefit the overall US population but, particularly, the African American community.

scholarly journals The Ramifications of Covid-19 Within the African American Community

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 15-26
Author(s):  
Libby Goodman ◽  
Fayetta Lake ◽  
Chinyere Maureen Ndu
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
African American Community ◽  
Current Policy ◽  
African American Culture ◽  
African American Population ◽  
General Article ◽  
Perceived Reasons ◽  
Healthcare Leaders

The coronavirus (Covid-19) perplexed many aspects of everyday life. Sadly, Covid-19 took a greater toll on African Americans. As Covid-19 developed, medical professionals, health care authorities, and advocates recognized several day-to-day living situations and intrinsic medical conditions that distressed African Americans with higher mortality rates during the pandemic. It is imperative that healthcare leaders understand the ramifications that have occurred and that may continue to surface from the Covid-19 affliction, which could be utilized to adjust and amend current policy surrounding the adversely affected African American population. We explored several substantial questions regarding this pandemic: the perceived reasons for the vast impact of Covid-19 within the African American culture; and what recommendations are needed to aid healthcare leaders in the fight against Covid-19 within the African American community. There are six ramifications that the authors address in this general article, including- employment, poverty, deaths, mental illness, and distrust. We offer suggestions to implement, prevent, and educate the African American public to circumvent these ramifications for present and future pandemics.

scholarly journals The Effect of Social Class on Political Party Affiliations in the African American Community

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sindiso Mafico
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Social Class ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Political Party ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
African American Community ◽  
Party Affiliation ◽  
Economic Class ◽  
Combining Data ◽  
Political Party Affiliation

Does social class affect political party affiliation in the African-American community? Drawing on two contrasting theories: the theory of group interests and class-based theories of stratification put forth by Wilson and Shelton (2006), I propose that African -Americans who report being of a high socio-economic class are more likely to be Republican than African Americans of a lower socio-economic class. Through secondary analysis of data provided by the General Social Survey (GSS), I investigate the relationship between political party affiliation and social class in the African-American community. By combining data across 20 years between 1996 and 2016, the sample size is 1557 African-Americans. Measures of socio-economic status are limited to a single variable that asks respondents about their subjective social class, while the dependent variable was operationalized by a variable that inquires the respondent's political party affiliation. Multiple regression analysis reveals that there is no statistically significant relationship between social class and political party affiliation. There is however, a relationship between political party affiliation and another measure of social class, specifically the respondents' level of education. The strongest predictor of political party affiliation is the age of the respondents which gives insight on future voting patterns in the African-American community. While the hypothesis is not supported, the results shed light on the potential reasons for increased support for the Republican Party among African-Americans and could be used to predict voting outcomes among African-Americans for future elections.

Age Differences in Knowledge about HIV Transmission among African-American Men and Women

2007 ◽  
Vol 101 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1133-1140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Kathleen Burlew
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
African American Women ◽  
Hiv Transmission ◽  
African American Men ◽  
Hiv And Aids ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Younger Women ◽  
Older African Americans ◽  
The Difference

To test whether knowledge about HIV transmission may be one contributing factor to the disproportionately high rates of HIV and AIDS cases among older African Americans, this study examined data from 448 African-American men and women, who completed the AIDS Knowledge and Awareness Scale. Overall the findings supported the hypothesis that older African Americans were not as knowledgeable as their younger counterparts. However, the analyses also indicated older (age 61+) African-American women were significantly less knowledgeable about HIV transmission than the younger women. However, the difference between older and younger men was not significant. One implication is that older African Americans, especially women, should be targets of educational efforts.

Elizabeth Keckly’s Union War

2019 ◽  
pp. 39-62
Author(s):  
Tamika Y. Nunley
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African American Men ◽  
African American Woman ◽  
American Woman ◽  
African American Community ◽  
Men And Women

This essay shows what the Union meant from the perspective of an African American woman. Elizabeth Keckly is most famous as Mary Lincoln’s seamstress and confidant, as a memoirist, and as a leader in Washington’s African American community. The essay places Keckly’s life and words into a broader historiographic context and argues that Keckly envisioned a Union of politicized African American men and women.

Spirituality among African Americans

2021 ◽  
pp. 154-176
Author(s):  
Jason E. Shelton
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Personal Identity ◽  
Racial Differences ◽  
National Survey ◽  
African American Community ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Spiritual But Not Religious ◽  
Blacks And Whites

This chapter assesses the importance of spirituality among African Americans. More specifically, it examines the extent to which respondents in a large, multiyear national survey view themselves as a “spiritual person.” Four sets of comparative analysis are offered: (1) racial differences among black and white members of various evangelical Protestant traditions, (2) racial differences among black and white members of various mainline Protestant and Catholic traditions, (3) denominational differences specifically among African Americans, and (4) racial differences among blacks and whites who view themselves as “spiritual but not religious.” The findings reveal significant interracial and intraracial differences in how spirituality shapes one’s personal identity. Because organized religion has historically been so central to African American community life, the implications for the growth in noninstitutional spirituality are considered.

Public Opinion toward Equal Opportunity Issues: The Role of Attitudinal and Demographic Forces among African Americans

1992 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 705-720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terri Susan Fine
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Opinion Dynamics ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
African American Community ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Disadvantaged Populations ◽  
The Impact

This paper explores African American opinion toward equal opportunity issues using a demographic-attitudinal focus. Previous explorations have focused on black-white opinion comparisons. In this analysis, attitudinal forces, particularly core values, are identified as playing an influential role in policy support. Further, these patterns of values tend to reflect those expressed by whites on similar questions: the more individualistic and conservative one is, the less likely one is to support government intervention on African Americans behalf. In responding to questions concerning governmental responsibility, higher SES African Americans express stronger support than do their lower SES counterparts. This finding suggests that those who are experiencing “glass ceilings” are concerned about government guarantees of equal opportunity, despite their individualistic beliefs. This is inconsistent with previous explorations that analyze these beliefs among disadvantaged populations. The implications of social changes in the African American community and the impact of these changes on opinion dynamics are discussed.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Almeda M. Wright
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Young People ◽  
Black Church ◽  
Community Involvement ◽  
African American Youth ◽  
African American Community ◽  
Healthy Development ◽  
Highly Active

Young African Americans regularly experience racism, poverty, sexism, violence, and other affronts to their humanity. Though they are often highly active and vocal contributors to their churches, schools, and neighborhood communities, they are often silent about the possibility of God working to address the injustices in their lives. The disconnection between the issues young people face, their community involvement, and their conceptions of God point toward the pervasiveness of “fragmented” spirituality among African American youth. Spiritual fragmentation does not necessarily inhibit healthy development or functioning. However, the African American community and church are at risk if they fail to challenge the myth that the personal and the communal or the spiritual and political are in fact disconnected. But why are African American Christian adolescents experiencing spiritual fragmentation? Is spiritual fragmentation symptomatic of an irreparable chasm between the Black church and Black youth? Or are there other factors at play?

“To Build a New World”: Black American Internationalism and Palestine Solidarity

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 52-68
Author(s):  
Russell Rickford
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Middle East ◽  
New World ◽  
Black American ◽  
The Political ◽  
Freedom Struggle ◽  
Pan Africanism ◽  
Political Imaginary

This essay traces the arc of Black American solidarity with Palestine, placing the phenomenon in the context of twentieth-century African American internationalism. It sketches the evolution of the political imaginary that enabled Black activists to depict African Americans and Palestinians as compatriots within global communities of dissent. For more than half a century, Black internationalists identified with Zionism, believing that the Jewish bid for a national homeland paralleled the African American freedom struggle. During the 1950s and 1960s, however, colonial aggression in the Middle East led many African American progressives to rethink the analogy. In the late 1960s and the 1970s, African American dissidents operating within the nexus of Black nationalism, Pan-Africanism, and Third Worldism constructed powerful theories of Afro-Palestinian kinship. In so doing, they reimagined or transcended bonds of color, positing anti-imperialist struggle, rather than racial affinity, as the precondition of camaraderie.

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