Chapter 10. To Serve the Living: The Public and Civic Identity of African American Funeral Directors

2008 ◽  
pp. 249-262
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (SI) ◽  
pp. 102-113
Author(s):  
Paula Estrada Jones

The paper documents the initiative of two African American women educators who have utilized these theoretical approaches to solve the educational challenges in their respective communities. Marva Collins and Corla Hawkins decided to build schools in their own communities after realizing that the public schools were not equipped to educate minorities. The story of these two women demonstrates that individuals can address systemic injustices in their communities. Collins and Hawkins were not wealthy. What they possessed was a passion for helping others. Their example can inspire more individuals to take steps using liberating philosophies, like value-creating education and womanist approaches in education, to transform the state of education in their communities.        


2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-240
Author(s):  
Antje Kahl

Today in Germany, religion and the churches forfeit their sovereignty of interpretation and ritual concerning death and dying. The funeral director is the first point of contact when death occurs. Therefore he or she is able to influence the relationship between the living and the dead. In the course of this development, the dead body, often referred to as dirty and dangerous, is being sanitized by funeral directors. Funeral directors credit the dead body with a certain quality; they claim that facing the dead may lead to religious or spiritual experiences, and therefore they encourage the public viewing of the dead – a practice which was, and still is not very common in Germany. The new connotation of the dead body is an example for the dislimitation of religion in modern society. The religious framing of death-related practises no longer exclusively belongs to traditional religious institutions and actors, but can take place in commercial business companies as well.


2021 ◽  
pp. tobaccocontrol-2021-056748 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Mendez ◽  
Thuy T T Le

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.


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-161
Author(s):  
James B. Smith

Abstract Although many U.S. faith-based organizations have become partners with the government, the African American Pentecostal Church (aapc), which holds spirituality as a means of serving humanity as its theological framework, has remained a silent partner in public policy engagement. With the framework of spiritual intelligence, this qualitative case study addresses the perceptions of African American Pentecostal leaders regarding how the church’s theology may have an impact on the public policy engagement of its parishioners. Twelve African American Pentecostal Bishops were interviewed, and data were coded and analyzed to identify themes. Results revealed that participants use their spirituality to connect with public policy issues that relate to their personal experiences. Findings also indicated that the aapc is not an organized denomination, but rather a conglomeration of factions. Lack of an organized epicenter and lack of training and development of its leaders prevent this church from engaging in the public sphere. Although members embrace their responsibility to care for the needs of others, the church lacks a collective response to community issues. Findings may be used to prepare the next generation of aapc leaders to unify the church to offer spiritual solutions to public policy issues.


2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 349-373
Author(s):  
George Wilson ◽  
Vincent J. Roscigno

AbstractHas the adoption of “new governance” reforms over the last two decades eroded the public sector as a long-standing occupational niche for African Americans? Utilizing data from the General Social Survey, we address this issue in the context of earnings “returns” to three levels of job authority for African American men and women relative to their White counterparts. Findings, derived from analyses of three waves of the General Social Survey, indicate that the acceleration of this “business model” of work organization in the public sector has had relatively profound and negative consequences for African American income. Specifically, racial parity in earnings returns at all levels of authority in the “pre-reform” period (1992–1994) progressively eroded during “early reform” (2000–2002) and then even more so during the “late reform” (2010–2012) period. Much of this growing public sector disadvantage—a disadvantage that is approaching that seen in the private sector—is driven largely by income gaps between White and African American men, although a similar (though smaller) racial gap is witnessed among women. We conclude by discussing the occupational niche status of public sector work for African Americans, calling for further analyses of the growing inequality patterns identified in our analyses, and drawing attention to the implications for contemporary racial disadvantages.


1994 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-120
Author(s):  
Michael Greene ◽  
Emily Hoffnar

This research note uses a sample selection model to measure the earnings premium (or penalty) to public sector employment. A model correcting for both labor force participation and sectoral choice is estimated for both white and African American males. Results indicate that African American males are no better off in the public than in the private sector. Moreover, white males employed in the public sector earn significantly less than their private sector counterparts.


Author(s):  
Jenny M. Luke

With the greatest need for improvements of maternity care in the south, this chapter returns the focus to the southern states. The National Organization of Public Health Nurses acknowledged the vital role African American nurse-midwives played in the public health education of black women and their families and two schools were established, one of which was the Tuskegee School of Nurse-Midwifery in Alabama. Much of the chapter is devoted to the specific training required to be effective in the isolated, poverty stricken communities of the rural south and shows how cultural sensitivity was central to nurse-midwives’ work.


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