Service Learning Project

For my service learning project I am going to have a film screening of the Time Wise lecture with my group. I am also going to be volunteering with the African American Youth Harvest Foundation with their SHIFT program. I am really looking forward to this project and know that I will gain a lot out of it.

WEEK 9

What do you see as strengths of the Black Family?  List and explain several.

• Extended family being united with the rest of the family during a time of crisis such as funerals or ceremonies, providing emotional support in these instances.
• Another strength that I see dominantly present in the Black Family is the high level of faith and spirituality.

How can these strengths be leveraged to address some of the current challenges facing the Black family?

• One of the current and biggest challenges in the Black Family is the lack of Black marriages. Like the video we saw in class earlier in the semester, faith and spirituality along with communication, can play a huge role in successfully saving marriages.

Research and discuss one program that is making a positive difference for Black families.

• The Strengthening Families Program
• "The Strengthening Families Program (SFP) is a nationally and internationally recognized parenting and family strengthening program for high-risk and regular families. SFP is an evidence-based family skills training program found to significantly reduce problem behaviors, delinquency, and alcohol and drug abuse in children and to improve social competence and school performance. Child maltreatment also decreases as parents strengthen bonds with their children and learn more effective parenting skills."

Week 6

What can we make of this if only 2%  of psychologists are African American?

What are the major areas of concerns for Black men ?

·         Considering the fact that only 2% of psychologists are African American here in the United States makes it more difficult for African American men to get help if they need to. I believe they can trust and be more open with someone who can understand, relate, and whom even experienced some of the struggles and issues they have been through…someone who knows exactly what it means to be black in today’s America and whom can relate on a spiritual level as well.

·         Educational and employment disparities, masculinity, anger from racism and oppression, group counseling and family therapy issues, as well as the issues some young adolescents are struggling with (being unwed fathers, dropping out of high school, and taking part in crime related activities), are current concerns for black men today.

What were the 2 components of self-esteem for Black women?     

·         Their need for social support and self-reliance.

What do Black heterosexual and Black same-sex couples have in common?

·         Contrary to popular beliefs, they are able to have long-term stable relationships and even sustain a family.

     

Is being gay a choice?  Who are the strange bedfellows that Watson is talking about?

·         According to the Pitts being gay is not something one chooses.

·         The strange bedfellows Watson is talking about are conservative whites, anti-gay activists, and the Black church.

What’s your opinion about how to address homophobia in Black community?  On college campuses?

·         In order to address homophobia in the Black community, I think people first need to have a sense of awareness and take into consideration that not only are black gays being oppressed due to racism  just as straight blacks are, but they are also facing heterosexism even within their own community. I think a good way to address this issue would be to have more classes, forums, or symposiums regarding this issue.

What does this mean for African American gay and lesbian teens?   How difficult would a coming out process be for Black gay and lesbian teens, particularly in Quadrant 4 of the African-centered behavior model?

·         This makes it even harder for African American gays and teens to come out or even be comfortable with their identity, suppressing who they really are just because of what society wants them to be.

Week 5

Brainstorm 3 solutions to address the challenges discussed in the article.

     - One helpful solution in regards to the challenges Chapman discussed in his article in my opinion would be having more African American couples therapists and faith-based programs like Nisa Muhammad’s, from the film we watched in class. More of these programs and classes should be available across the nation, especially in the south. Another solution would be for both African American men and women to let go of the stereotypes that society has created for them. Lastly, I would focus on African American males pursuing post-secondary education and earning degrees.

A. How have the stereotypes about Black men and women affected the Black family? 

               -According to the Bethea article, African American men have internalized the dominant view of seeing African American women as “domineering” which has resulted in black men viewing themselves as “second best” to them. Furthermore, black men have victimized themselves in terms of achievement and independence compared to black women. On the other hand, black women have adopted the stereotypes society has created for black men which are that men are unreliable and are more preoccupied with sexual exploitation. Black women have also accepted the ideal image of manhood based on physical characteristics, salary, and professional status.

B. The authors end by discussing areas that need to be addressed if counselors are to be effective with Black couples.   Describe the 3 areas of Issues and Approaches that need to be addressed in counseling African Americans.  What are your thoughts about the solutions posed?

       - According to Bethea counselors need to be aware of the culture, background, history, and life concerns when counseling African American women. Secondly, there needs to be more empirical research. Lastly research on African American women and African American men need to be integrated.

       -I personally believe these are great approaches for when counseling African American couples. Awareness of African American culture is vital to the success of black marriage.

Choose 2 Anti-Intimacy Beliefs and relate each back to the legacy of slavery

1.      I’ll lose anyone who gets close to me. This belief came about because of the constant separation slaves endured; from their familiar villages, to loved ones being sold away from their families.

2.      I have to control everyone around me to protect myself from being hurt again. This belief came about because of all the controlling factors attributed to the legacy of slavery, causing extreme emotional pain, thus learning to be controlling.

Describe the four distinct ways that men in the study defined manhood.

1.      Self-determinism and accountability

2.      Family

3.      Pride

4.      Spirituality and Humanism

What were the top 2 themes emerging as most prominent for the men interviewed in the study? Are these the themes you might have expected?

                        - Responsibility-Accountability & Autonomy were the themes most prominent in the study.  The results did not surprise me because this is how society perpetuates the idea of manhood.

       

Week 4

In the article "Living in a class apart: The separate world of America's Black elite," the author Lawrence Graham addresses the issues of the Black elites and the African Americans who are not part of that social class, and how it impacts the African American community in general. Firstly, this article was informational for me because I never really thought about this gap within the African American community (upper-class vs. lower class African Americans), and also learning about the history of the Black Elite and where it stems from was surprising for me. It was shocking to know how critical skin color really was - slaves being divided into two separate groups, "house slaves" and "field slaves" based off whether they were light-skinned or dark-skinned. It really brought to light for me the issue of colorism and how it extremely coincides with classism. The issues Graham discusses are the pride and guilt among the Black elite. He states that Black elites are sort of torn between different emotions and feelings regarding their wealth and success. Some he says, understand that they should use their status to help build equality for the rest of the African American community, others he says "feel embarrassed by our less-accomplished black brethren" (Graham), and finally those who feel guilty about being successful and wealthy. I do believe these emotions and feelings amongst the African American community are prevalent today, and it also has a lot to with identity...having to constantly battle between "afrocentricity" and being "authentic" within the African American community, but at the same time battling society's norm and "whiteness." I am not of African American descent, I identify myself as Mexican-American, but I can relate to this issue as well within my own community. Coming to a predominantly white institution,and being a first-generation Mexican-American, friends and family back home believe that somehow it has changed me, thinking that it has made me "arrogant", better than them, or that I am not in tune with my own Mexican culture and roots, but at the same time my background and the fact that I am a minority also do not fit the social norm in America. With this being said, I can only imagine how this issue impacts African Americans today.

The explanations that Offner addresses in my opinion seem reasonable. The dramatic increase of African American women attending college and earning degrees has caused an imbalance in the Black Family. I agree with the author that a start to fixing the bigger issue would be increase college attendance among African American men. 

    

In response to the editorial "Successful women who are childless," 55% of African women between 28-55 years old whom earn $55,000+ a year are married. Cornel West believes that in 1970 the male/female ratio among African Americans was almost equivalent, however today the ratio has drastically changed to "9-1 female." 

In reference to “Studies sound alarm on plight of black males”, in the last 2 decades, there have been more high school drop outs, higher incarceration rates, and more African American men without jobs. The 2 factors Holzer cites are first, the high incarceration rates and second the strict enforcement of child support towards African American men.

Week 3

Below are the events I chose to discuss for each of the 4 eras.

Part 1

Early Days & Slavery Era (1400's-1865)
Event 1 (1832-1865): "Approximately 75,000 slaves escape to the North and freedom using the Underground Railroad, a system in which free African American and white "conductors," abolitionists, and sympathizers guide, help, and shelter the escapees."

The Underground Railroad system in my opinion reflected unity, collective work, and responsibility among African Americans.

Event 2 (1849): "Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery. She returns to the South and becomes one of the main "conductors" on the Underground Railroad, helping more than 300 slaves to escape."

Harriet Tubman's leadership and passion for helping African Americans impacted their migration patterns, helping her community reach their common goal which was freedom.

Building Democracy Era (1866-1953)
Event 1 (1903): "Sarah Breedlove Macwilliams, better known as Madam C. J. Walker, starts an African American hair-care business in Denver and eventually becomes America's first self-made woman millionaire."

Madam C.J. Walker set the ground for African American women and provided collective self-esteem despite the atrocities and odds held against her during a sensitive and challenging era for African Americans.

Event 2 (1909): "The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded by a group of African American and white activists, including W. E. B. Du Bois. Du Bois is the only of the seven African American activists to serve on the NAACP board."

The NAACP was a key component for pushing for the rights and social justice of African Americans, self-determination was vital for this organization's success.

Civil Rights Era (1954-1971)
Event 1 (1963): "More than 200,000 poeple march on Washington, D.C., in the largest civil rights demonstration ever; Martin Luther King, Jr., gives his "I Have a Dream" speech.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s March on Washington served as a historically influential and inspiring event that united African Americans.

Event 2 (1964): "President Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act, which gives the federal government far-reaching powers to prosecute discrimination in employment, voting, and education."

 The Civil Rights Act was a huge stepping stone for African Americans as well as other minorities. This passing of this act helped tremendously in African Americas having better job opportunities as well as educational opportunities.

Modern Times (1972-Present)
Event 1 (1989): "Oprah Winfrey, the first African American woman to host a nationally syndicated (and wildly popular) talk show, founds Harpo Productions to produce her own movies and TV shows. In 2000, Forbes magazine will estimate Winfrey's earnings at $150 million."

Oprah Winfrey has established herself as one of the world's most wealthiest, powerful, and influential woman. Her impact on Black families is tremendous; inspiring women to be successful, hardworking, independent and driven entrepreneurs.

Event 2 (2002): "Halle Berry becomes the first African American woman to win an Oscar for Best Actress, for her performance in Monster's Ball."

Halle Berry's remarkable success as an African American actress has helped open many opportunities and gateways for other African American actors and artists. She has portrayed herself as a positive image in the entertainment business and now in 2014 we see many African American celebrities winning prestigious awards such as Oscar's and Grammy's to name a few.

Part 2
Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) and Nia (Purpose) in my opinion played a huge role in the progress of African Americans in the first two eras.

Part 3
In the article on Dynamic Duo, the Nguzo Saba principles that Lawrence Otis Graham and his wife Pamela Thomas-Graham utilize in their everyday lives are Ujima (Collective work & responsibility), Umoja (Unity), and Nia (Purpose). In Harvey's article, the interventions discussed reflect a few principles such as Nia, Ujima, Umoja, Kuumba (Creativity), and last but not least Imani (Faith).

Week 2

After completing the "Sorting Race Activity," and looking at the conclusion section, I was in complete shock. I was in shock for two reasons…the first was because I classified many people into the wrong race, people who I was completely confident about classifying, turned out to be the ones I got wrong. The second reason as to why I was shocked was that I realized I fell victim to the whole “race thing.” I fell victim to subjectively classifying these people as a certain race based on just physical traits and characteristics. I classified these people like the U.S. government did prior to 1960…all based on physical traits and appearance. 

Furthermore, after reading the facts under ”Is Race For Real?” the three that stood out to me the most were the following:

1. Race justified social inequalities as natural. This fact stood out to me because as one of the other facts stated, “race is a modern idea” especially here in the United States. With that being said, I believe this was used along with race itself, to justify the fact that the oppressed minorities who were already in the Western hemisphere were being stripped of their land. This eventually transformed and evolved into the cultural and social norms that we have now…it created stereotypes and laws that were meant to systematically oppress minorities. These institutionalized laws in my opinion are just an implicit way of allowing racism to exist in this century.

2. Colorblindness will not end racism. I agree with this fact because even if we all were colorblind, that still does not change the fact that we have these institutionalized laws and policies that make it almost impossible for everyone to have social justice and equality. We have to look at more of the macro aspect in order to truly progress because this system is very corrupt.

3. Race and freedom were born together. Looking back on the history of the United States, it is obvious that slavery was the foundation of this country, as disgusting as it may sound. It is crazy to think that this so called “Land of Opportunity” and the way our government was built and created, was specifically just for the affluent white man to prosper and succeed. 

In the video "White Privilege and its Consequences for Racial Equality & Justice" by Tim Wise made some exceptional valid points and the lecture he gave was empowering. First of all, it was great seeing a white male who fits the “norm”, actually advocating for social justice and equality. What stood out to me in one of his segments was when he mentioned that even if you have a black male who has a great job, is educated, and middle class versus the white male with the same credentials, the white man will be wealthier technically, because of the historic systematic institutionalized racist laws. The ancestors of this white man no matter their social class, had equal access to loans, assets, and equity, unlike minorities who basically had to start from the bottom. It hit home to me because I am a first generation Mexican American and a first generation college student, whom had parents who were undocumented, as well as much of my family, so it is really frustrating to me because now as a college student I am realizing that it takes a lot more than a Bachelor’s degree and a fair salary to break the cycle of poverty that most oppressed minorities are suffering from. It truly is unfair that because of these institutionalized laws, even those who are simply looking for a better opportunity to help their generation still will not have social justice. This all goes back to the first fact I discussed above, "Race justified social inequalities as natural."