“‘It ain’t have no sort of family life for us here’”: Community and its Discontents in Sam Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners

<div>Sam Seldon's The Lonely Londoners depicts an emergent collectivity of black immigrants who lead literally and metaphorically subterranean lives in 1950s Britain. Against the backdrop of a city undergoing an ambivalent transition from colonial metropole to postmodern cosmopolis, Seldon's "boys" remain largely inscrutable to and estranged from not only white Londoners but also one another. Critics have associate a depoliticized preoccupation with the everyday and eschewal of critical consciousness in Seldon’s work with widely critiqued features of Anglophone modernism. The present analysis suggests several reasons why political collectivity remains elusive to Seldon's black male immigrant characters. Specifically, they face discriminatory access to the labor market and social services, loci of possible solidarity with working-class white Londoners where formal political resistance might be coordinated. These systemic pressures combined with an atmospheric racism cause many of the boys to internalize the racialist, individualist, consumerist, and heterosexist attitudes and behaviors of the dominant white culture, which they adopt as survival strategies, in effect undermining black group identity and cohesion. If a note of optimism is to be sounded amid the many challenges to inter- and intraracial community the novel presents, it is in the potential undoing of black cultural nationalism that cultural theorist Paul Gilroy sees as a crucial step in the making of an egalitarian, convivial postcolonial world. The novel contests the homogenizing impulses of essentialist identity politics by portraying the heterodox, sometimes paradoxical, affinities that emerge between characters and communities.</div>

“‘It ain’t have no sort of family life for us here’”: Community and its Discontents in Sam Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners

<div>Sam Seldon's The Lonely Londoners depicts an emergent collectivity of black immigrants who lead literally and metaphorically subterranean lives in 1950s Britain. Against the backdrop of a city undergoing an ambivalent transition from colonial metropole to postmodern cosmopolis, Seldon's "boys" remain largely inscrutable to and estranged from not only white Londoners but also one another. Critics have associate a depoliticized preoccupation with the everyday and eschewal of critical consciousness in Seldon’s work with widely critiqued features of Anglophone modernism. The present analysis suggests several reasons why political collectivity remains elusive to Seldon's black male immigrant characters. Specifically, they face discriminatory access to the labor market and social services, loci of possible solidarity with working-class white Londoners where formal political resistance might be coordinated. These systemic pressures combined with an atmospheric racism cause many of the boys to internalize the racialist, individualist, consumerist, and heterosexist attitudes and behaviors of the dominant white culture, which they adopt as survival strategies, in effect undermining black group identity and cohesion. If a note of optimism is to be sounded amid the many challenges to inter- and intraracial community the novel presents, it is in the potential undoing of black cultural nationalism that cultural theorist Paul Gilroy sees as a crucial step in the making of an egalitarian, convivial postcolonial world. The novel contests the homogenizing impulses of essentialist identity politics by portraying the heterodox, sometimes paradoxical, affinities that emerge between characters and communities.</div>

Health of the black immigrant population during the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review

The black population has had a distinct impact on incidence and lethality during the COVID-19 pandemic. On immigrants, there are gaps in their health reality, few countries identify the nationality of the infected population or those who died because of COVID-19 in the notification forms. The aim of this research is to identify the health situation of black immigrants in the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. The method chosen was a scoping review, with the formulation of a research question that sought information about the health situation of black immigrants during the COVID-19 pandemic. Primarily 807 documents were founded, among them, there were petitions, books, manuals, reports, editorials, letters to the editor, and articles. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, as well as removing repeated files, 13 materials remained to compose the final sample of this review, including articles, letters to the editor, editorial, and commentary. The data point to silence from the academic community and a lack of in-depth debates on how structural racism is decisive in the health of the black population, as well as material that discussed the health of the immigrant population in general.

Religiosity and stigmatization related to mental illness among African-Americans and Black immigrants: cross-sectional observational study and moderation analysis

Objectives Stigma about mental illness is a known barrier to engagement in mental health services. This study aimed to estimate the associations between religiosity and mental illness stigma among Black adults. Design We conducted an online cross-sectional study of Black adults in the United States (n=269, ages 18-65) from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Results Most (n=248 [92%]) participants attended religious services; while 21 (8%) never attended. Social distance was assessed as an index of past or current stigmatizing behavior. After adjusting for demographic factors, respondents with higher attendance at religious services or greater engagement in religious activities (e.g., prayer, meditation or Bible study) reported greater proximity to people living with mental health problems (RR=1.72; 95% CI: 1.14, 2.59 and RR=1.82; CI: 1.18, 2.79 respectively). Despite reporting greater past or current social proximity, respondents with higher religiosity indices also reported greater future intended stigmatizing behavior (or lower future intended social proximity) (RRs=0.92-0.98). Ethnicity moderated the association between religiosity and future intended stigmatizing behavior. Black immigrants with higher religiosity reported lower future intended stigmatizing behavior (RR=1.16 CI: 1.02-1.32) whereas African-Americans with higher religiosity reported greater future intended stigmatizing behavior (RR=0.83 CI: 0.76, 0.91). Conclusions Higher indices of religiosity were associated with lower past or current stigmatizing behavior towards individuals living with mental health problems but not lower future intended stigmatizing behavior. Focusing specifically on future intended stigmatizing behavior and the respondents level of religiosity, age, and ethnicity may be critical for designing effective stigma-reducing interventions for Black adults.

Does Racism Discriminate? Racial and Ethnic Discrimination Among Nigerians and Jamaicans in Houston Texas

As a result of more racially inclusive immigration policies in the U.S., the African and Caribbean population has increased. Thus far, scholarly inquiry on Black immigrants have focused on their incorporation into the racial hierarchy, their experiences with racism, and their relationships with African Americans. While beneficial, these studies overlook the impact of ethnic discrimination for Black immigrants. Although all individuals of African descent share similar racialized experiences in the U.S., I hypothesize that diverse Black immigrant groups endure unique discriminatory experiences because of their ethnic identities. Thus, through in-depth interviews with 27 Nigerian and 20 Jamaican respondents, this paper explores Black immigrants’ experiences with racial and ethnic discrimination. I found that, regardless of ethnic background, 80% of my Nigerian and Jamaican respondents encountered racism. In contrast, ethnic discrimination varied between my Nigerian and Jamaican respondents. My Nigerian respondents were more likely to report their encounters with ethnic discrimination. These experiences ranged from being accused of internet scamming to being mocked for having an accent. On the other hand, not only were my Jamaican respondents less likely to report ethnic discrimination, but they were also more likely to see their ethnicity as an advantage.

Does America Make You Sick? A Critical Perspective on the Black Immigrant Paradox

The health trajectory of Black immigrants receives little attention in minority health discourse despite Black immigrants representing a notable share of the Black population. One aspect of their health that requires increased attention is the immigrant health paradox. This draws attention to the deteriorating outcomes of immigrants as they assimilate into the host country. Although a few scholars have acknowledged the role of race in this trajectory, few have examined it from a critical perspective. This article embraces critical race theory to argue that racial processes intersect with other forms of structural oppression to produce the immigrant health paradox. An understanding of this health trajectory of Black immigrants is instructive in understanding the impact of race on minority health.

Permanent Black Immigrants’ Experiences of Working in Ontario

This Major Research Paper is a qualitative study that utilizes a narrative approach through an anti-Black racism lens to investigate the cultural, historical, political and socioeconomic factors that influences the career advancement and employment journey for Black immigrants in Ontario, specifically those from the Caribbean. This study follows the employment journey of two adults of African descent in Ontario. Through their stories, the two participants detail their experiences with subtle systemic racism and resulting precarious employment. Other common themes that emerged amongst the participants were low income status, blocked career advancement opportunities, maintaining multiple jobs, lack of training specifically for Black immigrant adults, and low wage employment. The paper concludes by highlighting the importance of changing policies and structures in order to remove the barriers to stable employment and career advancement faced by people of African descent. Keywords: Anti-Black Racism, Narrative, Ontario, African, Caribbean, Black, Employment Stability, Systemic and Policy

Permanent Black Immigrants’ Experiences of Working in Ontario

This Major Research Paper is a qualitative study that utilizes a narrative approach through an anti-Black racism lens to investigate the cultural, historical, political and socioeconomic factors that influences the career advancement and employment journey for Black immigrants in Ontario, specifically those from the Caribbean. This study follows the employment journey of two adults of African descent in Ontario. Through their stories, the two participants detail their experiences with subtle systemic racism and resulting precarious employment. Other common themes that emerged amongst the participants were low income status, blocked career advancement opportunities, maintaining multiple jobs, lack of training specifically for Black immigrant adults, and low wage employment. The paper concludes by highlighting the importance of changing policies and structures in order to remove the barriers to stable employment and career advancement faced by people of African descent. Keywords: Anti-Black Racism, Narrative, Ontario, African, Caribbean, Black, Employment Stability, Systemic and Policy