Counter-hegemonic Computing: Toward Computer Science Education for Value Generation and Emancipation

Students’ lives, both in and out of school, are full of different forms of value. Wealthy students enjoy value in the form of financial capital; their fit to hegemonic social practices; excellent health care and so on. Low-income students, especially those from African American, Native American, and Latinx communities, often lack access to those resources. But there are other forms of value that low-income students do possess. Most examples of what we will call Counter-Hegemonic Practice (CHP) in the African American community involve some mixture of Indigenous African heritage, contemporary innovation in the Black community, and other influences. Moving between these value forms and the computing classroom is a non-trivial task, especially if we are to avoid merely using the appearance of culture to attract students. Our objective in this paper is to provide a framework for deeper investigations into the computational potentials for CHP; its potential as a link between education and community development; and a more dignified role for its utilization in the CS classroom. We report on a series of collaborative engagements with CHP, largely focused on African American communities.

Spirituality among African Americans

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.

The Ramifications of Covid-19 Within the African American Community

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.

Neighborhood Collective Efficacy as a Culturally Responsive Resilience Process: A Longitudinal Study of African American Youth From Fragile Families

A reliance on informal supports and neighborhood relationships has its history within the African American community as a useful strategy for building and maintaining overall resilience. It is known that a history of systemic oppression gave rise to distinct cultural barriers to social services and resources, leading to a reliance on community to help foster success in the African American community. Thus, the notion of neighborhood collective efficacy (NCE) is assumed to be a valuable protective process to explore for African American youth. The current exploratory study utilizes multilevel growth curve modeling to examine the relationship between NCE and aspects of resilience over time. Findings reveal a significant, positive relationship and important implications for culturally responsive study and practice.

Lessons Learned From Focus Groups and Community Education Provision in the African American Community

The present symposium will synthesize themes derived from eight different projects designed to better understand dementia in Minnesota (MN) within the African American community (where individuals are disproportionately susceptible to dementia and the tolls of dementia care). These projects included focus groups, community outreach, community education, networking with aging service providers, and community forums. Projects were funded by and conducted in partnership with the MN Department of Human Services, the Alzheimer’s Association, the MN Board on Aging, and the MN Leadership Council on Aging’s Diverse Elders Coalition. Themes included the unique ways that African American elders share their viewpoints and the importance of faith-based outreach. Another major theme, which connects to the other symposium talks, was the importance of three S’s: Stigma, Shame, and Silence as cultural considerations in the African American, West African, and Latino/a/x/e communities as they apply to access to information and training to better understand AD/ADRD.

The Effects of Colorism on Self Perception and Self-Esteem

Colorism has been a historical racial dilemma for the African American community since slavery. Colorism can be defined as a form of bias, based upon different aspects of physical appearance including skin color, facial features, and hair that favors the facial appearance of Caucasian white Americans (Beopple, 2015). Over the last 10 years quantitative and qualitative data has been gathered to study the effect of colorism on the African American community with a specific focus on the psychological well-being of this population. A survey was conducted to evaluate the effects of colorism on African American women and their self-esteem and self-perception. A total of 25(N=25) surveys were gathered of women, ages 18-50, who all identified as black, African American or a person of color. The analyzed research results concluded that colorism, although has negatively impacted many participants, has not lowered or altered their self esteem or self perception.