Kesha Morant Williams | Elizabethtown College (original) (raw)
Papers by Kesha Morant Williams
For many college professors, Covid-19 prompted an abrupt shift to online learning. Colleagues scr... more For many college professors, Covid-19 prompted an abrupt shift to online learning. Colleagues scrambled to plan the rest of the spring semester as the transition’s ambiguity led to anxiousness and frustration. I, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief. A few days before the stay-at-home order went into place, I was the victim of a hate crime on campus. Although I am well aware of racial challenges and tensions that consistently exist on my and other college campuses, I escaped direct target until this point. After nearly a decade of employment with the same university, I have grown comfortable in my surroundings, perhaps too comfortable. One of the few Black faculty members on campus, I rarely blend in. People tend to know of or recognize me well before the same level of recognition is returned. I love my job and feel respected by my colleagues and the students. Nevertheless, in just a few short seconds, one distressing critical incident severely damaged my feeling of safety a...
Communication Education, 2016
It was a dark and stormy night … Wait …. why does it always have to start with a dark and stormy ... more It was a dark and stormy night … Wait …. why does it always have to start with a dark and stormy night? We were around the campfire playing the "build a story" game; you know, the one where one person starts and then stops midsentence and the next person continues the story. Yes, it was true: I had started each of my stories with the same phrase: "it was a dark and stormy night." In my own defense, how else do you start a ghost story? But no: I got called on it. Why can't we start it on a bright and sunny day? Look, I just provide the opening line. When it is your turn you can take it anywhere you want. Does how we start the story really matter?
Journal of Medical Humanities, 2016
Through her stories and mine, my sister and I allow the outside world to see the ways in which we... more Through her stories and mine, my sister and I allow the outside world to see the ways in which we grapple with a critical health incident along her journey of living with lupus. Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease that is difficult to recognize and to diagnose. The ambiguous nature of the disease creates considerable confusion for the ill person as well as her support system. Using an illness narrative, I analyze a real life event linked to chronic illness, invisibility, living loss, liminality and family-and more specifically, to social support within the sibling relationship.
Journal of Health Communication, 2009
Recent public service announcements (PSAs) directed toward Black youth utilize various formats an... more Recent public service announcements (PSAs) directed toward Black youth utilize various formats and appeals to stimulate a motivated cognitive process that engenders personal involvement in the HIV=AIDS issue. The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) by Petty and Cacioppo argues that engagement with messages that consist of substantive content causes the audience member to critically analyze the message, which can produce awareness and attitude change. An efficient way to add emphasis to the message and seize the attention of the target audience is to insert the message into an entertainment context. Our study attempted to analyze the impact of the peripheral cue, character appeal, on audience members' attitude change in response to analyzing high-and low-involvement message content. A 2 Â 4 factorial design was used, with message involvement (high=low) and character appeal (White=Black and celebrity=noncelebrity) as independent variables. The findings showed that celebrity status is the salient factor, with source perception inducing attitude change as a main effect or in an interaction effect with highand low message content. The impact of persuasive communication on knowledge, attitudes, and behavior has garnered a great deal of attention from scholars in various fields. Health communication experts, in particular, have focused on the question of how to develop health messages that elicit desired changes in target audiences' perceptions of their personal risk and the efficacy of recommended actions. The purpose of this article is to determine how to best reach Black youth by reporting the results of an experiment Versions of this article were presented at the annual conferences of the American Public
American Academy of Family Physicians , 2017
I learned about S.M. through her sister, Kesha, who published an account of her relationship with... more I learned about S.M. through her sister, Kesha, who published an account of her relationship with her chronically ill sibling in the Journal of the Medical Humanities. The sisters' voices in these two writings are complementary, emphasizing close listening, the tuned-in give-and-take in response to a loved one's changing needs. Family physicians do the same. No wonder family physicians have likened their practice to jazz. Each person improvises her role in an ensemble. Or, to put it differently, as Kesha Morant Williams writes: "a story never solely belongs to its teller."
The Routledge Handbook of Gender and Communication , 2020
Our understanding of gender identity and how it is expressed and communicated is essential to the... more Our understanding of gender identity and how it is expressed and communicated is essential to the effectiveness of healthcare interactions. The health-care context demands a greater consideration of the impact of gendered communication because the interactions can affect a patient's health and healing. Although there has been a gradual embracing of the fluidity of gender with gay, lesbian, and trans identities, there is still a need for more knowledge, greater sensitivity, and more acceptance of the complex and gendered lived experiences. This chapter focuses on the challenging gendered interactions women, men, and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) community encounter during the illness experience. In the review for each group, the authors also highlight a type of experience that more significantly impacts that group than the others: for women, the chapter highlights an overemphasis on maternal health and the delegitimization of pain; for men, the stigma of mental illness; and for the LGBTQ community, ignorance surrounding health needs, and the lack of LGBTQ-friendly spaces. Then, the chapter highlights strategies that patients and practitioners can take to cope with, manage, or resist dominant structures that sustain prejudicial and harmful gendered communication. The chapter ends with suggestions for areas of future research in this field.
Survive & Thrive: A Journal for Medical Humanities and Narrative as Medicine, 2021
For many college professors, Covid-19 prompted an abrupt shift to online learning. Colleagues scr... more For many college professors, Covid-19 prompted an abrupt shift to online learning. Colleagues scrambled to plan the rest of the spring semester as the transition’s ambiguity led to anxiousness and frustration. I, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief. A few days before the stay-at-home order went into place, I was the victim of a hate crime on campus. Although I am well aware of racial challenges and tensions that consistently exist on my and other college campuses, I escaped direct target until this point. After nearly a decade of employment with the same university, I have grown comfortable in my surroundings, perhaps too comfortable. One of the few Black faculty members on campus, I rarely blend in. People tend to know of or recognize me well before the same level of recognition is returned. I love my job and feel respected by my colleagues and the students. Nevertheless, in just a few short seconds, one distressing critical incident severely damaged my feeling of safety and connectivity to my professional home. In this essay, I use reflexivity to make explicit personal-cultural connections between the hate crime, intergenerational trauma, and the Covid-19 stay at home order. Moving exclusively to a virtual learning environment allowed me to unpack the incident and its link to my family histories based in the Jim Crow South absent of the respectable Black woman role that typically shields my intersecting identities. Through these experiences, I connected with a level of vulnerability, patience, and self-awareness in personal and professional spaces that I would not have displayed before Covid-19.
Western Journal of Communication , 2021
In the current essay, the author examines culturally relevant mindfulness practices. The author a... more In the current essay, the author examines culturally relevant mindfulness practices. The author argues that an Afrocentric Worldview is essential within African American experiences. Mindfulness interventions directed toward African Americans must consider characteristics that are integral to many within the people group. The Africentric therapeutic approach NTU is used as a framework. This essay gives special attention to the success of mindfulness with African American women in family settings. The author discusses health disparities, stressors, and social support and concludes with recommendations for future research.
Journal of Communication and Religion , 2018
Whereas biblical texts were used to justify the practice of discrimination and prejudice, Christi... more Whereas biblical texts were used to justify the practice of discrimination and prejudice, Christian principles have also been the motivation for social activism. However, today it is arguable that the Christian church has lost sight of this mission in light of other goals such as expansion and profit. Rapper Lecrae Moore has been the topic of controversy as his music aims to carry out the mission of social justice by intentionally challenging the assumptions of whiteness rooted in the institution of the American Christian Church. Using Stewart's (1980) functional approach to the rhetoric of social movements, this study examines the extent to which Lecrae uses his music to transform perceptions of history, transform perceptions of society, and prescribe a course of action. The mission of this research and arguably of Lecrae's work is to hold people of the Christian faith across all races accountable to the mission and biblical commands of unity and social justice often overlooked or dismissed in the American church.
Student work from a health communication course. We partnered with Penn State Health St. Joseph.
It was a dark and stormy night … Wait … . why does it always have to start with a dark and stormy... more It was a dark and stormy night … Wait … . why does it always have to start with a dark and stormy night?
Through her stories and mine, my sister and I allow the outside world to see the ways in which we... more Through her stories and mine, my sister and I allow the outside world to see the ways in which we grapple with a critical health incident along her journey of living with lupus. Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease that is difficult to recognize and to diagnose. The ambiguous nature of the disease creates considerable confusion for the ill person as well as her support system. Using an illness narrative, I analyze a real life event linked to chronic illness, invisibility, living loss, liminality and family—and more specifically, to social support within the sibling relationship.
Black women as promiscuous, irresponsible, psychologically immature, and murderers. Using critica... more Black women as promiscuous, irresponsible, psychologically immature, and murderers. Using critical rhetoric and visual textual analysis, we analyze the campaign alongside Life Always' website in an effort to illuminate the hidden agenda behind the ads and the ramifications for those ads on the discourse surrounding African American women's reproductive health disparities. We argue that if Life Always wants to change our nation's ideologies concerning abortion, creating laws that attack Black women's wombs is an ineffective and misdirected plan. We must create a new ideology that eliminates the pro-life/pro-choice dichotomy and instead promotes pro-health and reproductive justice. The terms Black and African American are used interchangeably in this study. Impregnated with my 2nd child, a baby girl growing a reproductive system much like my own in the center of my womb, I scheduled a monthly check up with a Dr. that wasn't my regular physician due to scheduling conflicts. A short, balding, White man entered my room and introduced himself. He started asking me questions about my lifestyle, my pregnancy, and my plans for birth control. "What are you going to do for birth control?" My response: "We practice the rhythm method." With skeptical eyes he interrogated me further: "You know that doesn't always work. Do you have a backup plan? My wife and I tried that and we have four kids now." My thought: What does your family have to do with my rhythm? "We used it before and it worked quite well, Dr." His response: "Well what are you going to do if you get pregnant?" The bantering continued for some time, and in the end, I had questions of my own. "Why do you assume I don't want more children? Why do you assume I am incapable of tracking my own body's reproductive schedule and keep from getting pregnant?" Why do you compare your white, upper-class lack of family planning to my Black, middle-class, careful attention to family planning?" I was happy when my regular Dr. returned. We had an understanding about our Black bodies and the historical reproductive injustices indented in the dimples of our buttocks, the frown lines molded to our temples, the scarring written across our wombs. The substitute Dr's negative health messages symbolized the thousands of negative health messages we witness daily. We must analyze these
A number of studies across disciplines have examined the influence of popular music on identity; ... more A number of studies across disciplines have examined the influence of popular music on identity; however, comparative study of Christian music genres, which are clearly racially marked, is lacking. Based on Tajfel and Turner's social identity perspective, this article examines the ways in which Black listeners of Black gospel and White listeners of Contemporary Christian music (CCM), evaluate themselves and one another. Although there have been popular speculations about these differences, there is no empirical evidence of these assumptions. Findings suggest that while in-group members are generally more favorable toward their music than the out-group, privilege allows for Black listeners to be more open toward White majority music while the opposite is not true.
Journal of Media and Religion, Nov 21, 2013
Drawing from social location and the uses and gratification approach, the purpose of this study i... more Drawing from social location and the uses and gratification approach, the purpose of this study is to examine the reasons Christian music listeners engage with different types of Christian music. Specifically, we examine how social location influences listeners' relationship with racialized Christian music, namely Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) and gospel music. While both genres share a common focus—that is faith—they differ in musical styles and marketability. The gospel genre primarily targets the African American community, while the contemporary Christian genre casts a wider net, which includes primarily White listeners. Findings reveal that there are connections between focus group participants' background and needs. We explore the ways in which focus group participants experience, perceive and come to understand the gratifications they seek and gain when listening to CCM or gospel music.
Race, Gender and Identity: A Social Science Comparative Analysis of Africana Culture, 2013
Although considerable scientific research about the causes and treatments for lupus are underway ... more Although considerable scientific research about the causes and treatments for lupus are underway research from the perspectives of those living with the disease is absent. Nine out of 10 of the 1.5 million people living with lupus are women. African American women are three times more likely to have lupus than Caucasian women. Lupus strikes more people than AIDS, Sickle Cell Anemia, Cerebral Palsy, Multiple Sclerosis, and Cystic Fibrosis combined however the communication and awareness surrounding this life altering and potentially deadly disease is limited at best. This disease is poorly understood by society and those living with it are often dismissed as lazy. This case study uses in-depth thick description when exploring the self-reported experiences of eight African American women living with Lupus. In this research we will explore how lupus affects the identity of the participant. Following the principles of grounded theory, this research will allow the voices of the participants and themes to emerge from the data. To obtain as complete a picture of the participant as possible we will employ participant observation of group discussions, written responses to relevant question prompts, open ended surveys, personal drawings and participant responses to lupus messages in an online support group. All interaction occurs in a private online lupus social support group (Berkenkotter, Huckin & Ackerman, 1988; Gold & Clapp, 2011; Lauer & Asher, 1988).
Sexuality and Culture, Nov 2013
This exploratory study analyzes the responses of 80 open-ended online surveys to examine the sexu... more This exploratory study analyzes the responses of 80 open-ended online surveys to examine the sexual beliefs and behaviors of college students aged 18–22 attending a Christian university in the northeastern region of the USA. This study investigates the transitions the participants encountered in relationship to their sexual beliefs and behaviors. The findings of this study indicate that many students at the beginning, middle, or end of their college transition are committed to abstaining from sexual intercourse until marriage. However, there is also a large minority of students who have not made this commitment. Although well over half of the participants self-reported that they would abstain from sexual intercourse until marriage, more than a third are comfortable with, are engaging in, or are contemplating premarital sex.
Qualitative Research Reports in Communication, Nov 2012
In this study the author uses the Health Belief Model to explore the perceived influence of urban... more In this study the author uses the Health Belief Model to explore the perceived influence of urban music lyrics (i.e., Musiq Soulchild's, Buddy) on the sexual health beliefs and behaviors of African American female undergraduate students. Research documents the potential influence of television viewing (i.e., media images), including music videos, upon the beliefs and sexual behaviors of African American youth (Watkins, 2000; Wingood et al., 2003). However, limited, if any, published research moves beyond the images and specifically examines the influence of listening to lyrics, and the sexual beliefs and behavior of youth (Martino et al., 2006). Using data gathered from 28 participants via focus groups, the researcher explored the perceptions of this at-risk population. The findings support a disturbing trend of casual sex in noncommitted relationships, both in music lyrics and the beliefs and behaviors of focus group participants.
Journal of Black Studies, Jan 2011
From work songs and spirituals during slavery to the gospel, soul, and funk of the civil rights m... more From work songs and spirituals during slavery to the gospel, soul, and funk of the civil rights movement, Black music offers a new historicist interpretation of the African American experience. Through Black popular music, the struggles, faith, and joys of a people are expressed. More than mere entertainers, Black musicians are the village griots, the revisionist historians, and the voice of a people. African American music solidifies messages of societal concerns, offering snapshots of social conditions and defining moments within a society. This research posits that funk music was the social protest discourse of poor and working-class Black youth after the euphoria of the civil rights movement faded in “the decade of the detached.” Music accompanied many prominent protest movements, including the civil rights and Black power movements. But with an apparent lull in protest activities in the 1970s and 1980s, research focused on the previous decade, leaving an absence of immediate post—civil rights scholarship. While large mainstream social protest movements were less apparent, a counter protest movement emerged through the rhetorical means of funk music. This form of creative communication used everyday experiences to challenge the dominant power structure and ideology of the time period. Consciously or unconsciously, the work of funk musicians recognized language as a form of social control, thus ending their blind consent to manipulation through language by developing a counter-discourse that challenged accepted social norms. The functional approach to rhetorical social movements is applied to further support this claim.
Howard Journal of Communications, 2011
This study sought to examine the continuity and extension of African American communication chara... more This study sought to examine the continuity and extension of African American communication characteristics in the talk elements (the host, guest, and callers) of the Michael Baisden Radio Show by exploring the specific oral practices that characterize talk elements of Black radio as well as the way(s) these practices related to the African American oral tradition. The African American communication characteristics of the vernacular use of language, humor, empathetic understanding, and community harmony are readily apparent in this research. The findings of this research also support the idea that when motivated by the power of the spoken word, listeners respond to the call of their radio griot.
For many college professors, Covid-19 prompted an abrupt shift to online learning. Colleagues scr... more For many college professors, Covid-19 prompted an abrupt shift to online learning. Colleagues scrambled to plan the rest of the spring semester as the transition’s ambiguity led to anxiousness and frustration. I, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief. A few days before the stay-at-home order went into place, I was the victim of a hate crime on campus. Although I am well aware of racial challenges and tensions that consistently exist on my and other college campuses, I escaped direct target until this point. After nearly a decade of employment with the same university, I have grown comfortable in my surroundings, perhaps too comfortable. One of the few Black faculty members on campus, I rarely blend in. People tend to know of or recognize me well before the same level of recognition is returned. I love my job and feel respected by my colleagues and the students. Nevertheless, in just a few short seconds, one distressing critical incident severely damaged my feeling of safety a...
Communication Education, 2016
It was a dark and stormy night … Wait …. why does it always have to start with a dark and stormy ... more It was a dark and stormy night … Wait …. why does it always have to start with a dark and stormy night? We were around the campfire playing the "build a story" game; you know, the one where one person starts and then stops midsentence and the next person continues the story. Yes, it was true: I had started each of my stories with the same phrase: "it was a dark and stormy night." In my own defense, how else do you start a ghost story? But no: I got called on it. Why can't we start it on a bright and sunny day? Look, I just provide the opening line. When it is your turn you can take it anywhere you want. Does how we start the story really matter?
Journal of Medical Humanities, 2016
Through her stories and mine, my sister and I allow the outside world to see the ways in which we... more Through her stories and mine, my sister and I allow the outside world to see the ways in which we grapple with a critical health incident along her journey of living with lupus. Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease that is difficult to recognize and to diagnose. The ambiguous nature of the disease creates considerable confusion for the ill person as well as her support system. Using an illness narrative, I analyze a real life event linked to chronic illness, invisibility, living loss, liminality and family-and more specifically, to social support within the sibling relationship.
Journal of Health Communication, 2009
Recent public service announcements (PSAs) directed toward Black youth utilize various formats an... more Recent public service announcements (PSAs) directed toward Black youth utilize various formats and appeals to stimulate a motivated cognitive process that engenders personal involvement in the HIV=AIDS issue. The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) by Petty and Cacioppo argues that engagement with messages that consist of substantive content causes the audience member to critically analyze the message, which can produce awareness and attitude change. An efficient way to add emphasis to the message and seize the attention of the target audience is to insert the message into an entertainment context. Our study attempted to analyze the impact of the peripheral cue, character appeal, on audience members' attitude change in response to analyzing high-and low-involvement message content. A 2 Â 4 factorial design was used, with message involvement (high=low) and character appeal (White=Black and celebrity=noncelebrity) as independent variables. The findings showed that celebrity status is the salient factor, with source perception inducing attitude change as a main effect or in an interaction effect with highand low message content. The impact of persuasive communication on knowledge, attitudes, and behavior has garnered a great deal of attention from scholars in various fields. Health communication experts, in particular, have focused on the question of how to develop health messages that elicit desired changes in target audiences' perceptions of their personal risk and the efficacy of recommended actions. The purpose of this article is to determine how to best reach Black youth by reporting the results of an experiment Versions of this article were presented at the annual conferences of the American Public
American Academy of Family Physicians , 2017
I learned about S.M. through her sister, Kesha, who published an account of her relationship with... more I learned about S.M. through her sister, Kesha, who published an account of her relationship with her chronically ill sibling in the Journal of the Medical Humanities. The sisters' voices in these two writings are complementary, emphasizing close listening, the tuned-in give-and-take in response to a loved one's changing needs. Family physicians do the same. No wonder family physicians have likened their practice to jazz. Each person improvises her role in an ensemble. Or, to put it differently, as Kesha Morant Williams writes: "a story never solely belongs to its teller."
The Routledge Handbook of Gender and Communication , 2020
Our understanding of gender identity and how it is expressed and communicated is essential to the... more Our understanding of gender identity and how it is expressed and communicated is essential to the effectiveness of healthcare interactions. The health-care context demands a greater consideration of the impact of gendered communication because the interactions can affect a patient's health and healing. Although there has been a gradual embracing of the fluidity of gender with gay, lesbian, and trans identities, there is still a need for more knowledge, greater sensitivity, and more acceptance of the complex and gendered lived experiences. This chapter focuses on the challenging gendered interactions women, men, and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) community encounter during the illness experience. In the review for each group, the authors also highlight a type of experience that more significantly impacts that group than the others: for women, the chapter highlights an overemphasis on maternal health and the delegitimization of pain; for men, the stigma of mental illness; and for the LGBTQ community, ignorance surrounding health needs, and the lack of LGBTQ-friendly spaces. Then, the chapter highlights strategies that patients and practitioners can take to cope with, manage, or resist dominant structures that sustain prejudicial and harmful gendered communication. The chapter ends with suggestions for areas of future research in this field.
Survive & Thrive: A Journal for Medical Humanities and Narrative as Medicine, 2021
For many college professors, Covid-19 prompted an abrupt shift to online learning. Colleagues scr... more For many college professors, Covid-19 prompted an abrupt shift to online learning. Colleagues scrambled to plan the rest of the spring semester as the transition’s ambiguity led to anxiousness and frustration. I, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief. A few days before the stay-at-home order went into place, I was the victim of a hate crime on campus. Although I am well aware of racial challenges and tensions that consistently exist on my and other college campuses, I escaped direct target until this point. After nearly a decade of employment with the same university, I have grown comfortable in my surroundings, perhaps too comfortable. One of the few Black faculty members on campus, I rarely blend in. People tend to know of or recognize me well before the same level of recognition is returned. I love my job and feel respected by my colleagues and the students. Nevertheless, in just a few short seconds, one distressing critical incident severely damaged my feeling of safety and connectivity to my professional home. In this essay, I use reflexivity to make explicit personal-cultural connections between the hate crime, intergenerational trauma, and the Covid-19 stay at home order. Moving exclusively to a virtual learning environment allowed me to unpack the incident and its link to my family histories based in the Jim Crow South absent of the respectable Black woman role that typically shields my intersecting identities. Through these experiences, I connected with a level of vulnerability, patience, and self-awareness in personal and professional spaces that I would not have displayed before Covid-19.
Western Journal of Communication , 2021
In the current essay, the author examines culturally relevant mindfulness practices. The author a... more In the current essay, the author examines culturally relevant mindfulness practices. The author argues that an Afrocentric Worldview is essential within African American experiences. Mindfulness interventions directed toward African Americans must consider characteristics that are integral to many within the people group. The Africentric therapeutic approach NTU is used as a framework. This essay gives special attention to the success of mindfulness with African American women in family settings. The author discusses health disparities, stressors, and social support and concludes with recommendations for future research.
Journal of Communication and Religion , 2018
Whereas biblical texts were used to justify the practice of discrimination and prejudice, Christi... more Whereas biblical texts were used to justify the practice of discrimination and prejudice, Christian principles have also been the motivation for social activism. However, today it is arguable that the Christian church has lost sight of this mission in light of other goals such as expansion and profit. Rapper Lecrae Moore has been the topic of controversy as his music aims to carry out the mission of social justice by intentionally challenging the assumptions of whiteness rooted in the institution of the American Christian Church. Using Stewart's (1980) functional approach to the rhetoric of social movements, this study examines the extent to which Lecrae uses his music to transform perceptions of history, transform perceptions of society, and prescribe a course of action. The mission of this research and arguably of Lecrae's work is to hold people of the Christian faith across all races accountable to the mission and biblical commands of unity and social justice often overlooked or dismissed in the American church.
Student work from a health communication course. We partnered with Penn State Health St. Joseph.
It was a dark and stormy night … Wait … . why does it always have to start with a dark and stormy... more It was a dark and stormy night … Wait … . why does it always have to start with a dark and stormy night?
Through her stories and mine, my sister and I allow the outside world to see the ways in which we... more Through her stories and mine, my sister and I allow the outside world to see the ways in which we grapple with a critical health incident along her journey of living with lupus. Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease that is difficult to recognize and to diagnose. The ambiguous nature of the disease creates considerable confusion for the ill person as well as her support system. Using an illness narrative, I analyze a real life event linked to chronic illness, invisibility, living loss, liminality and family—and more specifically, to social support within the sibling relationship.
Black women as promiscuous, irresponsible, psychologically immature, and murderers. Using critica... more Black women as promiscuous, irresponsible, psychologically immature, and murderers. Using critical rhetoric and visual textual analysis, we analyze the campaign alongside Life Always' website in an effort to illuminate the hidden agenda behind the ads and the ramifications for those ads on the discourse surrounding African American women's reproductive health disparities. We argue that if Life Always wants to change our nation's ideologies concerning abortion, creating laws that attack Black women's wombs is an ineffective and misdirected plan. We must create a new ideology that eliminates the pro-life/pro-choice dichotomy and instead promotes pro-health and reproductive justice. The terms Black and African American are used interchangeably in this study. Impregnated with my 2nd child, a baby girl growing a reproductive system much like my own in the center of my womb, I scheduled a monthly check up with a Dr. that wasn't my regular physician due to scheduling conflicts. A short, balding, White man entered my room and introduced himself. He started asking me questions about my lifestyle, my pregnancy, and my plans for birth control. "What are you going to do for birth control?" My response: "We practice the rhythm method." With skeptical eyes he interrogated me further: "You know that doesn't always work. Do you have a backup plan? My wife and I tried that and we have four kids now." My thought: What does your family have to do with my rhythm? "We used it before and it worked quite well, Dr." His response: "Well what are you going to do if you get pregnant?" The bantering continued for some time, and in the end, I had questions of my own. "Why do you assume I don't want more children? Why do you assume I am incapable of tracking my own body's reproductive schedule and keep from getting pregnant?" Why do you compare your white, upper-class lack of family planning to my Black, middle-class, careful attention to family planning?" I was happy when my regular Dr. returned. We had an understanding about our Black bodies and the historical reproductive injustices indented in the dimples of our buttocks, the frown lines molded to our temples, the scarring written across our wombs. The substitute Dr's negative health messages symbolized the thousands of negative health messages we witness daily. We must analyze these
A number of studies across disciplines have examined the influence of popular music on identity; ... more A number of studies across disciplines have examined the influence of popular music on identity; however, comparative study of Christian music genres, which are clearly racially marked, is lacking. Based on Tajfel and Turner's social identity perspective, this article examines the ways in which Black listeners of Black gospel and White listeners of Contemporary Christian music (CCM), evaluate themselves and one another. Although there have been popular speculations about these differences, there is no empirical evidence of these assumptions. Findings suggest that while in-group members are generally more favorable toward their music than the out-group, privilege allows for Black listeners to be more open toward White majority music while the opposite is not true.
Journal of Media and Religion, Nov 21, 2013
Drawing from social location and the uses and gratification approach, the purpose of this study i... more Drawing from social location and the uses and gratification approach, the purpose of this study is to examine the reasons Christian music listeners engage with different types of Christian music. Specifically, we examine how social location influences listeners' relationship with racialized Christian music, namely Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) and gospel music. While both genres share a common focus—that is faith—they differ in musical styles and marketability. The gospel genre primarily targets the African American community, while the contemporary Christian genre casts a wider net, which includes primarily White listeners. Findings reveal that there are connections between focus group participants' background and needs. We explore the ways in which focus group participants experience, perceive and come to understand the gratifications they seek and gain when listening to CCM or gospel music.
Race, Gender and Identity: A Social Science Comparative Analysis of Africana Culture, 2013
Although considerable scientific research about the causes and treatments for lupus are underway ... more Although considerable scientific research about the causes and treatments for lupus are underway research from the perspectives of those living with the disease is absent. Nine out of 10 of the 1.5 million people living with lupus are women. African American women are three times more likely to have lupus than Caucasian women. Lupus strikes more people than AIDS, Sickle Cell Anemia, Cerebral Palsy, Multiple Sclerosis, and Cystic Fibrosis combined however the communication and awareness surrounding this life altering and potentially deadly disease is limited at best. This disease is poorly understood by society and those living with it are often dismissed as lazy. This case study uses in-depth thick description when exploring the self-reported experiences of eight African American women living with Lupus. In this research we will explore how lupus affects the identity of the participant. Following the principles of grounded theory, this research will allow the voices of the participants and themes to emerge from the data. To obtain as complete a picture of the participant as possible we will employ participant observation of group discussions, written responses to relevant question prompts, open ended surveys, personal drawings and participant responses to lupus messages in an online support group. All interaction occurs in a private online lupus social support group (Berkenkotter, Huckin & Ackerman, 1988; Gold & Clapp, 2011; Lauer & Asher, 1988).
Sexuality and Culture, Nov 2013
This exploratory study analyzes the responses of 80 open-ended online surveys to examine the sexu... more This exploratory study analyzes the responses of 80 open-ended online surveys to examine the sexual beliefs and behaviors of college students aged 18–22 attending a Christian university in the northeastern region of the USA. This study investigates the transitions the participants encountered in relationship to their sexual beliefs and behaviors. The findings of this study indicate that many students at the beginning, middle, or end of their college transition are committed to abstaining from sexual intercourse until marriage. However, there is also a large minority of students who have not made this commitment. Although well over half of the participants self-reported that they would abstain from sexual intercourse until marriage, more than a third are comfortable with, are engaging in, or are contemplating premarital sex.
Qualitative Research Reports in Communication, Nov 2012
In this study the author uses the Health Belief Model to explore the perceived influence of urban... more In this study the author uses the Health Belief Model to explore the perceived influence of urban music lyrics (i.e., Musiq Soulchild's, Buddy) on the sexual health beliefs and behaviors of African American female undergraduate students. Research documents the potential influence of television viewing (i.e., media images), including music videos, upon the beliefs and sexual behaviors of African American youth (Watkins, 2000; Wingood et al., 2003). However, limited, if any, published research moves beyond the images and specifically examines the influence of listening to lyrics, and the sexual beliefs and behavior of youth (Martino et al., 2006). Using data gathered from 28 participants via focus groups, the researcher explored the perceptions of this at-risk population. The findings support a disturbing trend of casual sex in noncommitted relationships, both in music lyrics and the beliefs and behaviors of focus group participants.
Journal of Black Studies, Jan 2011
From work songs and spirituals during slavery to the gospel, soul, and funk of the civil rights m... more From work songs and spirituals during slavery to the gospel, soul, and funk of the civil rights movement, Black music offers a new historicist interpretation of the African American experience. Through Black popular music, the struggles, faith, and joys of a people are expressed. More than mere entertainers, Black musicians are the village griots, the revisionist historians, and the voice of a people. African American music solidifies messages of societal concerns, offering snapshots of social conditions and defining moments within a society. This research posits that funk music was the social protest discourse of poor and working-class Black youth after the euphoria of the civil rights movement faded in “the decade of the detached.” Music accompanied many prominent protest movements, including the civil rights and Black power movements. But with an apparent lull in protest activities in the 1970s and 1980s, research focused on the previous decade, leaving an absence of immediate post—civil rights scholarship. While large mainstream social protest movements were less apparent, a counter protest movement emerged through the rhetorical means of funk music. This form of creative communication used everyday experiences to challenge the dominant power structure and ideology of the time period. Consciously or unconsciously, the work of funk musicians recognized language as a form of social control, thus ending their blind consent to manipulation through language by developing a counter-discourse that challenged accepted social norms. The functional approach to rhetorical social movements is applied to further support this claim.
Howard Journal of Communications, 2011
This study sought to examine the continuity and extension of African American communication chara... more This study sought to examine the continuity and extension of African American communication characteristics in the talk elements (the host, guest, and callers) of the Michael Baisden Radio Show by exploring the specific oral practices that characterize talk elements of Black radio as well as the way(s) these practices related to the African American oral tradition. The African American communication characteristics of the vernacular use of language, humor, empathetic understanding, and community harmony are readily apparent in this research. The findings of this research also support the idea that when motivated by the power of the spoken word, listeners respond to the call of their radio griot.
Inter/Cultural Communication: Representation and Construction of Culture, 2013
Lexington Books, 2017
Contemporary Christian Culture: Messages, Missions, and Dilemmas studies Christian media, its me... more Contemporary Christian Culture: Messages, Missions, and Dilemmas studies Christian media, its meanings, and its impact on social perceptions and lived experiences in a multicultural context and from within a communication framework. This interdisciplinary collection expands the dialogue surrounding race, culture, and Christian messages and provides a valuable resource for researchers, educators, and church practitioners who are interested in understanding how racial and cultural identity are impacted by religious media products.
Lexington Books , 2017
Reifying Women's Experiences with Invisible Illness: Illusions, Delusions, Reality provides a pl... more Reifying Women's Experiences with Invisible Illness: Illusions, Delusions, Reality provides a platform that recognizes that the experience of invisible illness is greatly influenced by context and personal circumstance. The contributors to this book include women who exude diversity as it relates to race and ethnicity, career, religious experience, education, social support, and interpersonal relationships. From recent college graduates to senior level professionals, these women share stories that create a space to advocate on behalf of the individual who is chronically ill rather than focusing on the often privileged perspective of medical professionals.