African American Booklist: Articles

Literature about Black cultural centers (BCCs) detail the histories of these campus spaces and studies have explored BCCs and their contributions to Black students' experiences. Racial identity development is often a lifelong journey, but less is known about the role of BCCs in this process during college. This ethnographic study offers how a BCC at a historically White institution (HWI) functions for Black students as they explore their racial identity as a potential strategy for strengthening campus engagement. Using individual interviews and participant observations, the findings show how the BCC proactively supports students' understandings of (1) their personal racial identity, (2) the diversity that exists across Blackness, and (3) the common experiences that inform a shared racial identity.

College students' alcohol consumption remains a significant concern for colleges and universities. However, most research overwhelmingly utilizes White samples from predominantly White universities, limiting knowledge of African American students' drinking behaviors on historically Black campuses. This study examined alcohol usage among African American college students by investigating relationships between alcohol consumption and positive and negative expectancies as well as self-efficacy. A convenience sample of 282 students was used. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) measured alcohol consumption and identified individuals whose consumption created hazardous drinking patterns. Alcohol expectancy was measured by the Alcohol Effects Questionnaire (AEQ), and the Spheres of Control Scale measured self-efficacy. Students in this sample tended to believe that alcohol consumption was linked with more negative than positive alcohol expectancy beliefs. Alcohol expectancies, specifically positive expectancies, appeared to play a significant role in predicting alcohol consumption. There was also a positive relationship between positive expectancies and alcohol consumption. Despite these results, our regression model was only able to account for about 20% of the variance (r2 = 0.187). These findings are important in developing prevention and intervention programs to address the pervasive and critical social ills and reduce alcohol consumption among African American college students.

Abolitionists founded interracial schools and colleges with the aim of undoing popular associations of dark skin with deficiency. School leaders at integrated institutions like Oberlin College or New York Central College invoked the spectrum of complexions on campus to demonstrate the extent of their commitment to racial justice. The side effect of this strategy was the singling out of students with especially dark skin, who could fall special victim to the patronizing of faculty and/or the ridicule of peers. This article analyzes two black students' confrontations with colorism at abolitionist colleges to reveal the ways complexion shaped the lives of people of color in the mid-nineteenth century. It shows how skin tone affected Sabram Cox and Mahommah Baquaqua's school careers and how they responded to color prejudice.

Objectives: Studies of discrimination and sleep have largely focused on between-person differences in discrimination as a correlate of sleep outcomes. A common criticism of this research is that standard questionnaire measures of discrimination may be confounded by personality and identity and are subject to recall bias. Partially addressing these limitations, the current study examined within-person, day-to-day fluctuations in perceived discrimination as a predictor of day-to-day fluctuations in sleep. The role of internalized racism as a moderator of the within-person association between discrimination and sleep was also considered.Method: Participants were African American college students attending a predominantly White institution (N = 124, 26% male, Mage = 20.1, SD = 1.6). Each student was asked to complete a baseline questionnaire and a 9-day diary. Experiences of discrimination were assessed in the questionnaire and daily diary format. Sleep problems were measured each day using self-report measures focusing on sleep quality. Internalized racism was assessed with the miseducation scale, which captures the degree to which individuals associate negative characteristics such as laziness and criminality with their racial/ethnic group. Established measures of racial identity were considered as covariates.Results: Multilevel analyses indicated that on days when participants experienced more discrimination, subsequent sleep problems increased (B = .037, SE = .017, p = .034). Furthermore, this within-person association was moderated by internalized racism such that the effects of daily discrimination on sleep were stronger among those who scored higher on miseducation (B = .046, SE = .021, p = .033).Conclusions: Overall, results suggest that ongoing efforts to reduce discrimination, support the adjustment of racial/ethnic minority students, and address internalized racism are warranted.

The emphasis, and in most cases, overemphasis of abysmal academic outcomes without deeper critical analyses regarding ways predominantly White institutions (PWIs) obviate the success of Black males has often dominated the research literature. As such, Black male perspectives regarding the ways in which they support each other in successfully navigating these fundamentally racist, hostile, and exclusive spaces are often missing from or under-discussed in the extant literature. This idea is particularly true for Black males who are members of Black Greek-lettered organizations whose experiences are often tainted by negative media and popular press surrounding hazing, death, and other types of malfeasance. Drawing on Lynn's notion of otherfathering, the purpose of this article is to propose what the authors term otherbrothering and otherbrothers not only to locate the ways in which Black male collegians provide networks of support to assist each other in navigating PWIs but also to highlight the positive purposes of these organizations. Recommendations are provided for the field of higher education.

This study explored perceptions of African American college students concerning harriers to enrolling in higher education institutions, focusing on a public comprehensive regional university in Kentucky, using interviews and focus groups. The focus of the research pertained to ACT testing requirements, home and school support systems, and the role of financial aid. Data from the interviews and the focus groups suggested the study's findings were consistent with the literature. The findings included that African American students perceived ACT testing requirements, lack of support systems, and access to financial aid as barriers for to enrollment in higher education at a public regional university. While this is a single case study with limited transferability, this research does provide a snapshot of the barriers African American students may face when enrolling in higher education and provide a structure other campuses could use to more fully explore their students' pathway to enrollment

Many scholars examined the difficulties that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or queer (LGBQ) students face on college campuses (Bowen & Bourgeois, 2001; Nadal, 2013; Platt & Lenzen, 2013; Rankin, Weber, Blumenfeld, & Frazer, 2010; Wright & Wegner, 2012). Rankin et al. (2010) highlighted a previous nationwide study that found that among underrepresented groups, “the climate was ‘least accepting’ of people who are LGBT” (p. 30).

Without "counterspaces" where they can find refuge and strengthen their resolve, students can be undermined by slights.