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Social inequality not only shapes resource access for minority entrepreneurs but also limits their dreams and aspirations. While scholars have argued that entrepreneurship education can play an important role by facilitating individual identity transformation, the potential of community-based identity transformation remains largely unexplored. Through an ethnographic exploration of STEM Entrepreneurial Excellence Program (STEEP), a Detroit-based entrepreneurship education program for Black women tech founders, this study examines the pivotal role of the communal liminal experience in production of alternative entrepreneurial identities of minority entrepreneurs. Drawing on classical anthropological theories of liminality, we synthesize the concept of “liminal community” to describe an interstructural social organization of individuals undergoing identity transformation and study whether it could be purposefully designed by educational programs to facilitate communal liminal experience in the fulfillment of explicitly emancipatory goals. By explicating and theorizing the specific practices that were deployed, we show how marginalized actors can extricate themselves from the constraints of normative social imaginaries and fashion for themselves alternative identities. It is our hope that these findings may serve as a useful framework for entrepreneurship education scholars and practitioners to better support minority entrepreneurs and thereby address persistent inequalities in business venturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To inform the development of culturally and socially appropriate interventions, this study examined the lived experiences of Black female college athletes (BFCAs) and identified sources that increase their vulnerability to anxiety. Black Feminist Thought, with sub-tenets of intersectionality and outsider within status, was used as the theoretical foundation to examine the lives of the BFCAs. Using an interpretative phenomenological approach, this qualitative study addressed the question: What sociocultural factors affect anxiety in Black female college athletes? Nine Black female college athletes from an NCAA Division I program agreed to participate in this study. Regarding the sources of anxiety, four themes emerged: regimented schedule (subthemes: lack of freedom, decreased choices, and external locus), forced community (subthemes: isolation and team conflict), emphasis on athletics (subthemes: coaching pressures, training pressures, and academic pressures) and navigating marginalization (subthemes: gender and racial stereotypes and gender and racial inequality). Two unexpected themes also materialized: family support and suggested solutions (subthemes: representation and communication). The findings and analysis were based on the data collected and the theoretical lens. The results suggest the need for culturally appropriate interventions to support this specific college athlete population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study analyzed what shaped the aspirations of Black women graduate student alumnae to earn advanced degrees. Using an assets-based conceptual framework of Community Cultural Wealth and Black Feminist Thought, findings suggested that the aspirational capital of Black women alumnae who obtained advanced degrees was fueled by other familial, navigational, resistance, and social capital and that they also implemented notions of Black feminisms within their trajectories into graduate education. Additionally, by bridging Community Cultural Wealth and Black Feminist Thought, the data suggests a new form of capital, which we call community uplift capital, that is rooted in elevating one’s community, family, and culture. The findings have implications for the recruitment and retention of Black graduate students and for stakeholders associated with graduate education matriculation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many Black women scholars, like bell hooks, have been subjected to academic capitalist white supremacist patriarchal values that minimizes and invalidates the epistemologies, theories, methods, and knowledge production processes of Black women. Thus, as a means to move past antiquated theorization and knowledge production practices, I proposed a pathway forward by introducing a "bell hooksian approach" to higher educational research that is based on four "hooksian love typologies" (love as an active choice, revolutionary self-love, familial, and romantic) rooted in the scholarship of Black feminist theorist bell hooks. This framework helps to better understand and research the multifaceted conceptualizations of love that can assist and better support Black women and women of color on college campuses and in the academy more generally. Lastly, asserting that notions of love is a central aspect of Black life, I made recommendations for researchers and practitioners on how to utilize a love-centered hooksian approach within qualitative inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lemonade (2016) is a genre-blending text that imports cultural and fantastical devices in order to revise, interrogate, and re-examine history–specifically, the traumas inherited from enslavement. In its analysis of history, Lemonade immortalizes Afrodiasporic spiritual practices and enshrines Black women-healers and magic-users as folk heroes. This work advances that the Afrodiasporic spiritual practices and gynocentric connections are used to form Black female collectives. It draws largely on Black and Africana feminist and womanist scholarship to frame an expanded discussion of spirituality and Black motherhood in the American South, and to demonstrate how collectives–sacred, transhistorical communities–are critical to Black female healing. It contextualizes Lemonade’s “chapters,” visuals, and wider narrative, and it examines the Southern psychic and epistemological resources that Beyoncé, as protagonist, consults. In doing so, this work ultimately intends to create new intellectual space for readers to revisit questions of collectivity in Lemonade and consider the indispensability of community for Black women and girls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the disproportional impact of HIV, Black individuals are benefiting the least from pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Motivational interviewing (MI) for PrEP uptake (MI-PrEP) is a two-session culturally tailored intervention incorporating MI strategies to improve PrEP motivation and uptake among cisgender Black women. A pilot randomized control trial was conducted in the Southeastern United States, and 41 women were randomized to MI-PrEP (session 1 with PrEP psychoeducation and MI and session 2 with MI and light case management) or enhanced treatment as usual (ETAU; two sessions of PrEP psychoeducation [videos explaining PrEP]). Women completed one follow-up assessment (1 month after visit 2). Measures captured primary (motivation [via contemplation and readiness ruler] and PrEP uptake via medical records) and secondary outcomes (e.g., PrEP knowledge, barriers to PrEP, and speaking to a provider about PrEP). Difference-in-differences analyses comparing MI-PrEP with ETAU as well as t-tests for within-group changes over time were conducted. Women who completed MI-PrEP (90.5% retained) compared with ETAU (100% retained) had a significantly higher likelihood of speaking to a provider about PrEP (OR = 4.42e7, CI [8.55e6, 2.29e8], DiD = 17.60, se = 0.84, p < 0.001). Within the MI-PrEP group, women had significant increases in PrEP prescription, knowledge, and motivation/contemplation, and significant decreases in financial resources as a PrEP barrier and medical mistrust (MMT). ETAU had within-group increases in PrEP prescription and speaking to a provider, no changes in motivation and MMT, and increases in specific barriers to care (e.g., transportation). MI-PrEP shows promise, and a large-scale study may be beneficial to further assess efficacy and examine implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study used multilevel social determinants of health (SDoH) models to determine how SDoH influence different sexes of patients diagnosed with HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell cancers (OPSCC) across the US. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study assessing HPV-confirmed patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell cancers from 2010 to 2018 using census-level Yost Index socioeconomic status (SES) score and rurality–urbanicity measures alongside individual-level race–ethnicity while stratifying by biological sex. Age-adjusted multivariate regressions were performed for survival, treatment receipt, and delay of treatment initiation (of 3+ months). Results: Across 14,076 OPSCC-HPV-positive patients, delay of treatment uniquely featured positive predictors for males of black race–ethnicity (OR, 2.07; 95% CI, 1.68–2.54) and poor Yost SES (1.43; 1.24–1.65). Five-year all-cause mortality uniquely showed positive predictors of females of black race–ethnicity (2.74; 1.84–4.71) and of males with poor Yost SES (1.98; 1.79–2.19). Three-year all-cause mortality shared positive predictors across sexes but were exacerbated in females of black race–ethnicity (2.50; 1.82–3.44) compared to males (2.23; 1.91–2.60); this was reversed for poor Yost SES (male, 1.92, 1.76–2.10; female, 1.60, 1.32–1.95). Surgery showed negative predictors of black race–ethnicity that displayed worsened effects in females (0.60, 0.44–0.79) versus males (0.75, 0.66–0.86). First-line radiation receipt uniquely featured negative predictors for males of black race–ethnicity (0.73; 0.62–0.86) with poor Yost SES (0.74; 0.68–0.82). Conclusions: Comprehensive models of multilevel SDoH displayed exacerbated disparity effects of community-level SES in males and black race–ethnicity among female HPV-positive OPSCC patients. These objective comparisons of specific SDoH factors inform providers and policy direction on how to strategically target the most pertinent SDoH factors affecting a rapidly growing cancer population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Several disparities exist for Black mothers during the postpartum period, including but not limited to increased maternal mortality and morbidity rates, decreased access to care, and limited access to resources. Given the racial discrepancies in attention to postpartum care, coupled with the critical importance of the postpartum period for preventing adverse maternal health outcomes, research is warranted to explore how mobile health (mHealth) applications may help to alleviate maternal health disparities by optimizing postpartum care and addressing barriers to care for postpartum Black women. Thus, this review examines the perceptions of mHealth applications and their utility in health outcomes among postpartum Black women. Methods. We undertook a comprehensive literature search using PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. We included peer-reviewed articles published between 2010 and 2022 that were written in English, utilized mHealth as a primary intervention, and focused on postpartum health and access to resources, primarily among Black women in the United States. Results. A total of eight articles were included in our synthesis, encompassing mobile phone-based interventions for Black women. Cultural tailoring was included in five studies. Interventions that incorporated tailored content and fostered interactions reported high rates of follow-up. Conclusions. Tailored mHealth interventions can effectively promote behavior change and improve health care outcomes for Black women. However, there is a critical need for more research to assess user engagement and retention and whether these improvements indicate long-term sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the influence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on Black sexual minority women's mental health and substance use disorders in adulthood. Secondary data analysis was conducted using N = 149 Black sexual minority women's reports from the Generations Study. Study variables included psychological distress, chronic strains, stressful life events, ACEs, and substance use disorders, including alcohol use disorder and drug use disorder. Quantitative data analysis consisted of descriptives and bivariate correlations. Participants' total ACE scores were positively significantly correlated with increased alcohol misuse, chronic life strains, and stressful life events. Exposure to household interpersonal violence and household mental illness during childhood were significantly correlated with alcohol misuse. Black sexual minority women with ACEs are at higher risk for mental health concerns throughout their lifespan and maladaptive coping strategies (e.g., substance use). Implications for counselors and therapists are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black women have disproportionately alarming HSV-2 infection rates yet receive little attention in sexual health literature. Using a strengths-based resilience framework, this study sought to determine culturally relevant protective predictors of self-esteem for Black women who are justice-involved and have HSV-2. The authors conducted secondary data analysis on data from the "Black Women in the Study of Epidemics (B-WISE) Project," a longitudinal prospective study investigating health disparities and health services utilization among Black women with justice involvement. At baseline, N = 151 Black women with HSV-2 who were incarcerated or on probation completed survey measures assessing self-esteem, ethnic identity affirmation and belonging, perceived social support, and John Henryism Active Coping. Hierarchical linear regression analyses revealed ethnic identity affirmation and belonging and John Henryism Active Coping were significant predictors of self-esteem at 6-month follow-up. Implications are provided for current health professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In South Africa's urban hubs, young women are increasingly participating in the global fertility market by donating their eggs. Egg providers, who supply oocytes for others' use in fertility treatment, are a key resource in the fertility market, and they are emblematic of new forms of biolabor. Egg markets have tapped into a precariously middle‐class population of young Black women in Johannesburg, where the neoliberal state has largely retreated from fostering social mobility. What role does egg donation play in the social world of young South African women? I approach this question by extending Cohen's concept of "operability," which can illuminate how egg donation becomes a means for young women to enact modernity, or relationality beyond the postapartheid state and the horizons of their social worlds, structured as they are by the entanglements of race, class, and gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This project explores the experiences of two Black women on the tenure track at a predominantly white university in California. Inspired by Lorgia García Peña's Community as Rebellion: A Syllabus for Surviving Academia as a Woman of Color, the authors engage in a duoethnographic journey, reflecting on their resilience and resistance in academia. Using García Peña's book as a catalyst, they share challenges and successes, discussing survival strategies and resisting pressures towards complicity with whiteness. The authors examine the prickliness of establishing trust with their colleagues, with students, and in the broader institutional context. They explore the metaphorical notion of standing in the gap as a symbol of advocating for future students and creating a trusting learning environment. The project is a testament to the importance of cultivating friendship, fostering community, and challenging institutional norms for Black women and women of color faculty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the lived experience of two Black women within the enclave of their educational environments and childhood upbringing. The authors examine their lived experiences through the lens of Black Feminist Thought (BFT) and Transnational feminism. Using a duoethnographic approach, these women unpacked and re-wrote their stories through three themes: Hair as a site of performance for Black Womanhood, The othering of Blackness in the academy, and Owning our Black womanhood. The findings from this study add to the literature on de-centering whiteness and colonization among Black women in academia through a cross-cultural understanding of Blackness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black women in higher education routinely face and combat intersecting structural inequities to accomplish their goals in their roles as students, staff, administrators, and faculty members. Black women have also consistently found ways to create pathways to support one another in navigating multiple structural inequities in academia to achieve success. In this study, we used duoethnographic methods to explore our lived experiences of formal mentorship by Black women scholars who made the academy bearable for us. Our findings highlight, honor, and demonstrate the ways Black women stood in the gap for us as Black women in our roles as staff, doctoral students, adjunct faculty, and tenure-track faculty members in predominately white institutions. The findings illustrate the collective ways Black women scholars thrive despite the inequitable institutional culture and climate in which they work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss fictionalized stories from interventions with young people in public socioeducational care programs. Based on these encounters as well as those of authors such as Lélia Gonzalez, bell hooks and Françoise Vergès, we suggest possible articulations between anti-racist feminisms and masculinities. From memories and stories brought on the palm of the hand, we enunciate a writing politics that, at the same time in which the body-researcher narrates stories about and with the young people, questions their black woman body in a perspective implicated with the potency of insurgency against ways of racist and sexist oppression. We bet on a feminist anti-racist perspective implicated with the dismantling of patriarchy's and colonialism's systemic violences, whose oppressions have an impact on black men and women, although in distinct ways. Thus, we defend feminist dialogues in the direction of building non-violent masculinities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research underscores how Black women's experiences as members of two marginalised groups, Black and female, influence their educational practices and experiences. Through intersectionality, this study explores three Black women principals' reflections on their journeys to the principalship and leadership styles. Results of this study highlight the women's paths to educational leadership; two principals entered education as a second career choice. The women entered education without leadership aspirations and only considered leadership after others' encouragement. The principals modeled their leadership styles and practices after previous supervisors. As a result of their pre-leadership experiences, the principals were democratic leaders who built teacher-leaders and desired to ensure teachers felt supported. Findings suggest that district and school leaders are essential in identifying leadership candidates who may not evidently express leadership interest. Further, districts must attend to the mentoring of aspiring and novice assistant principals and provide opportunities for Black and underrepresented aspiring principals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors draw upon their lived experiences as Black women in the academy to conceptualize a framework for Black women's peer mentorship, or 'sister scholarship,' within academia. Through auto-ethnographic 'sister talks,' the sister scholar relationship is conceptualized as a sanctum from gendered and racialized trauma, an impetus for the co-generation of knowledge, an approbation of intersectionality, and a gathering of the whole self. This work is grounded in Black feminist understandings of resiliency, resistance, and grace within academia. In discussion, the authors call for the abolition of oppressive policies and systems that aim to marginalize and disenfranchise Black women and other Women of Color in the academy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In mainstream discourse about immigrant students in the United States (U.S.), the experiences of Black immigrant women in higher education are often neglected. As two Black, immigrant women raised in the U.S. who are familiar with higher education, we have insight into this understudied population. In this qualitative, collaborative auto-ethnographic study that spans early childhood education to doctoral education, we ask the following research questions: 1) In each author's experience, what aspects of U.S. society have made their educational attainment challenging? 2) What is the day-to-day life experience of a Black immigrant woman in higher education? and 3) In each woman's experience, what events are linked to racism and inequality in educational access in the United States? While there were certainly differences in our individual trajectories, we found four major commonalities in our personal education histories: the prominence of migration, the impact of familial support, the role of gender, and layered racialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a contested site of struggle, Black women rappers' use of hip-hop and rap music provides them with a platform to affirm their sexual autonomy amid gratuitous sexual violence. Sexual agency is central to Black abolition. To imagine futures beyond violence necessitates that we view Black women's sexual rebellion as an abolitionist praxis amidst precarity. In this essay, I introduce subversive reclamation—a critical reading posture and experimental approach—to explore the imaginative potential of Black pussy talk as a rhetorical strategy employed in Black women's contemporary stripper rap. I situate this exploration of Black women's pussy talk within and in conversation with Black queer feminist (BQF) theories of sex and sexuality as well as pleasure and joy to consider how Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion's hip-hop song, "WAP" queers hegemonic inscriptions of Black women's sexualities. Ultimately, I argue that subversive reclamation offers a disruptive reading of Black women's pleasure, fundamentally shifting how rhetorical scholars should talk about Black women's bodies, sexualities, and futures in popular media and public discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surviving R. Kelly (Part I) (SRK) was intended to amplify the voices of tens of Black and Latino women who have faced sexualized violence at the hands of singer Robert Kelly. The creators hoped to highlight the fact that these women's testimonies had been deemed untrustworthy by the American legal system, and accosted within mainstream American media. Given that a lack of mainstream outrage regarding the violent experiences of Black women is neither new nor isolated to those victimized by Kelly, and considering that SRK documents the stories of visibly Black women, the docuseries constitutes a potential space for resistance to the harms perpetrated against Black girls and women overall. Thus, I will use a feminist critical theoretical lens to examine the extent to which SRK disrupts the imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchal paradigm within which Black girls' and women's accounts of sexualized violence are systematically denied credibility and/or attention. I argue that, while SRK begins to critique the harmful social norms that hinder the testimonies of Black victims/survivors from being both heard and believed, the docuseries falls short of holding responsible both the people and the systems complicit in the marginalization of Black female victims/survivors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss the concept of love presented in a set of songs composed by Brazilian samba singer Dona Ivone Lara about romantic and sexual relationships. Popular music is a pervasive kind of media, reflecting ideas, values, power relations, practices, prejudices and privileges. Black music in the diaspora has been a counter-hegemonic space of knowledge production which provides insight into cultural, social, economic and political matters. To analyze the songs, we created a methodology which intersects themes and categories, reflecting upon the complexity of Black women's experiences depicted in Lara's intellectual production. Adopting an intersectional approach, we concluded that the combined oppressions of gender, race, age and class in Brazil have an important influence in the melancholic aspect of banzo in her songs. The results also show that love, for Lara, is not a fixed or permanent feeling, but a cycle, renewed and reinvented in practice and in constant motion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feelings of defeat and entrapment are significant risk factors for various mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, and suicidality. However, limited studies have intentionally examined these constructs exclusively within a sample of Black women. The current study aims to investigate whether the endorsement of hope can serve as a protective factor against feelings of defeat and entrapment among Black women. About 266 (M age = 34) cisgender African American/Black women were surveyed, and results indicated that hope negatively moderated the relationship between defeat and entrapment, suggesting that hope served as a protective factor by weakening the relationship between defeat and entrapment. Future research and clinical implications are discussed. Plain language summary: Primary agenda This study aims to critically investigate the ways in which hope can protect against feelings of defeat and entrapment among Black women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper conducts a scoping review to identify studies which use the framework of intersectionality to understand the overrepresentation of Black women, children, and families within the child welfare system. A comprehensive review of electronic databases was conducted as of June 2021. Of the 4,663 records identified, ten peer-reviewed journal articles met criteria for inclusion within the study across the disciplines of social work, law, public health, and criminal justice. Additional empirical, peer-reviewed journal articles are needed to understand the overrepresentation of Black women, children, and families within the child welfare system using the framework of intersectionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Food security, and reliable access to nutritious food, is essential for maintaining health yet remains elusive for many, including U.S. patients with breast cancer (BC). Research specifically focusing on public health consequences of food insecurity in BC survivors is limited. We addressed this gap by exploring the relationship between food security and various sociodemographic, clinical, and cancer-related factors among Black BC survivors in Maryland. Methods: The parent study engaged Black female BC survivors in Maryland through digital campaigns and referrals, achieving 100 completed surveys. Food security was assessed through an online follow-up survey with the six-item short form from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), leading to a binary classification for analysis from raw scores. Statistical analysis involved descriptive analysis and Chi-square tests to explore the relationship between food security status, various BC risk factors, and follow-up survey response status. Results: Of the 31 participants who participated in the follow-up survey, 11 (35.5%) were categorized as having low food security. We observed significant associations between food security status and both income (< $40,000; chi-square p = 0.004) and education levels (high school/GED; chi-square p = 0.004). In comparing respondents to non-respondents, significant differences in employment (p = 0.031) and health insurance status (p = 0.006) were observed. Conclusion: Our descriptive findings demonstrate the importance of further studies evaluating food security screenings in Black BC survivors to enable targeted interventions aiming to improve overall health outcomes and equity in cancer survivorship care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite growing interest in the ways information and communication technologies shape labor, few studies have accounted for the racialized sexualization of erotic labor. This study examines how Black women exotic dancers deploy racialized sexual scripts in the content they generate on the mobile social networking application Instagram. As erotic influencers, these women engage in multifaceted and multimodal erotic self-presentations both within and beyond the strip club. This article presents data from a digital ethnography of 73 Black female exotic dancers located in the southeastern United States, as well as a content analysis of the digital media files they created on Instagram. The findings suggest four distinct sexual scripts that these Instagram users perform: virtual cover girl, erotic professional, boudoir baddie, and assets model. Findings demonstrate Black women use smartphone and social networking technological features to create presentations of femininity, desirability, and sensuality that simultaneously subvert and adhere to the controlling images that define Western ideologies on race and sexuality. Ultimately, this article argues for the need to account for the social and cultural contexts in which the affordances of networked communication technologies that permeate contemporary erotic labor operate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the enactment of queer spectralities in Shola von Reinhold’s novel Lote (2020). Ever since Derrida’s Specters of Marx (1933), spectrality has evolved into an influential concept within the humanities and social sciences, yet despite their shared poststructural origins, the resonances between queerness and spectrality remain undertheorised. Building on the works of Carla Freccero, Elizabeth Freeman, and Lisa Blackman, I propose an understanding of spectrality informed by queer affects that, in Eve Sedgwick’s words, do not signify monolithically. This form of spectrality bears reparative affordances towards both the haunting and the haunted, without falling into the traps of heteronormative teleologies. Shola von Reinhold’s novel enacts these very spectralities in its various spectral bodies, spaces, and texts. In connecting two spectralised Black queer women across generations, Lote examines not only Black trans visibility but also the ambiguous effects of archival and canonical resuscitation for marginalised artists. Hauntological encounters with the past may lead to moments of queer joy and mutual recognition, but they cannot – and should not – undo the painful discriminations that facilitated past spectralisations in the first place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Evidence-based and evidence-informed interventions designed to address gaps in the HIV care continuum have the potential to improve HIV care and treatment. However, inadequate organizational readiness can derail intervention uptake, prevent the integration of interventions, and contribute to suboptimal HIV treatment outcomes. This study sought to understand organizational readiness to implement bundled interventions for Black women with HIV and inform facilitators and barriers to implementation. Methods: We conducted a mixed methods readiness assessment across 12 sites participating in the Black Women First (BWF) initiative to gauge preparedness to implement bundled interventions. Readiness was assessed using the organizational readiness for implementing change (ORIC) scale, and two open-ended questions examined facilitators and barriers. Associations between participant and organizational level factors were evaluated using linear models with clustering by site at baseline, 6- and 12-months. Pre-implementation interviews were conducted with staff virtually and transcripts were managed in NVivo. Directed content analysis was used to explore implementation barriers and facilitators. Findings: Sites demonstrated high levels of organizational readiness at baseline; overall organizational readiness for implementing change (ORIC) (mean 56.4, median 59, interquartile range [IQR] 5) and subscales of the ORIC change efficacy (mean 32.4, median 35, IQR 4), change commitment (mean 24, median 25, IQR 1), which is consistent with willingness and capability to implement bundled interventions for Black women with HIV. Organizational readiness remained high at 6- and 12-month follow-up periods. Staff role was significantly associated with organizational readiness (p = 0.007), change efficacy (p = 0.006), and change commitment (p = 0.020) at 6 months. Qualitative analysis indicated strategic planning and assessment (e.g., team coordination and the development of workflows to support implementation); organizational change through network weaving across silos within the organization, and communications systems that engage external partners, as well as resources available for hiring and training, supported readiness. Collaborative leadership and organizational buy-in, staff motivation, and partnerships facilitated implementation processes. Conclusions: Organizations in the BWF initiative have high levels of organizational readiness reflecting willingness and capability to implement bundled interventions for Black women with HIV. Future research should examine the relationship between readiness and clinical outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maternal diet is a key predictor of child diet, yet an in‐depth inquiry into the barriers and facilitators for the adoption of healthy eating behaviours during the post‐partum period is lacking, specifically for non‐Hispanic Black mothers. This study used qualitative research methods to investigate healthy eating practices among a sample of non‐Hispanic Black mothers participating in a family‐based obesity prevention intervention. In‐depth interviews were conducted with 22 mothers who participated in the Mothers and Others: Family‐based Obesity Prevention for Infants and Toddlers intervention trial. Interviews were audio‐recorded and transcribed verbatim. A deductive and inductive process was used to develop a consensus codebook; once the data were coded, matrices were developed to explore the data and identify similarities and differences between respondents. Relevant themes were identified, and salient quotes were used to illustrate each theme. Mothers believed that time and taste were significant barriers to eating healthy. Social influence and social support had both positive and negative influences on mothers' ability to adopt healthy eating behaviours. Despite their children often being a facilitator to healthy eating, many mothers struggled with finding the time, energy and desire to focus on themselves when it came to healthy eating. Many mothers were intent on preparing healthy meals and snacks for their children but did not prepare them for themselves. Future interventions should focus on the importance of role‐modelling healthy eating behaviours for their children and include behaviour change strategies that incorporate skill‐building activities emphasizing time‐saving methods for planning and preparing healthy meals and snacks for the whole family to eat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the gendered linguistic patterns of tweets discussing state-sanctioned and vigilante violence against African American women. The paper considers representations of Black women and Black death as engaged on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. We utilize the theoretical frameworks of Patricia Hill Collins’ (2022. Black Feminist Thought, 30th Anniversary Edition: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. London: Taylor & Francis) conceptualization of Black feminist epistemology and controlling images and Kimberle Crenshaw’s (2018. “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics [1989].” Feminist Legal Theory 1: 57–80) intersectionality to understand the ways that Black women are discussed, remembered and advocated for on social media platforms in relation to their Black men counterparts. The analysis of over seven million tweets utilizes both qualitative content analysis and computational tools. The paper’s findings concluded that there were differences related to passive and active language based on the gender of the victim of state-sanctioned or vigilante-race-based violence, as well as homophily, specifically name events most frequently used within the context of the state-sanctioned killing of Black women versus Black men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) disproportionately affects Black women, yet the current IPV justice response, relying on the criminal legal system, often fails them due to racialized, sexist stereotypes that disrupt Black women's claims to survivorship. Transformative justice, a community-based approach designed to repair harm between the survivor and person who caused harm and transform the social conditions that perpetuate violence, may be a promising alternative approach to facilitate justice and accountability for IPV. However, little is known about the justice preferences of Black women IPV survivors. This qualitative study sought to understand Black women IPV survivors' experiences interacting with police and their justice preferences following IPV. Methods: Semi-structured interviews with 15 Black women IPV survivors were conducted between April 2020 and April 2022. Inductive analytic techniques derived from grounded theory were used to contextualize Black women IPV survivors' experiences. Results: One theme was identified that aligned with Black women IPV survivors' experiences interacting with the police: 1) fear and distrust. Four themes were identified that aligned with justice preferences: (1) resolution through dialogue, (2) therapy and counseling services, (3) resource support, and (4) protection and prevention for children. Fear and distrust of the police was mainly driven by anticipated discrimination. Survivors' justice preferences encompassed solution-based dialogue between the survivor and person who caused harm mediated by family and trusted individuals in the community, therapy services, housing support, and attention to preventing the intergenerational cycle of IPV for children as part of a community-based, holistic justice response. Conclusions: Police interactions as part of the current justice response were counterproductive for Black women IPV survivors. Black women IPV survivors deserve alternative forms of justice and accountability for IPV. As an alternative justice response to IPV, transformative justice can encompass their justice preferences and promote equity and center Black women IPV survivors and their communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the historically elitist and predominantly White world of ballet, dance companies have attempted to increase diversity, with limited success. One contributing factor may involve differing levels of engagement with White and Black Dance Companies in social media environments. This study explores ‘macro conversations’ on Instagram across White vs. Black Dance Companies. A total of 445 ‘comments’ and 48,491 ‘likes’ across 28 dance-related Instagram posts were analyzed to compare rates of engagement and the types of comments (e.g. female stereotypes, physical attributes). Results indicated that White Dance Companies received significantly more engagement (defined as ‘likes’ and ‘comments’; M = 3,229) compared to Black Dance Companies (M = 274). Further, Males, compared to Females, used more female stereotypes on White Dance Company posts, whereas Females used more female stereotypes on Black Dance Company posts compared to Males. Despite efforts to enhance diversity, results show White and Black Dance Companies receive different levels and types of engagement on social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) project identified 73 strategies for supporting the implementation of a novel intervention and evidence-informed practices. In this paper, we explore convenings, which engage stakeholders in proactive dialogues, as a mechanism to deliver multiple strategies that support sites adapting and implementing evidence-informed bundled interventions for Black women with HIV. Methods: We use an instrumental case study design to explore strategies embedded in biannual convenings hosted by the Black Women First Initiative (BWF) Evaluation and Technical Assistance Provider (ETAP). Data sources including planning documents, direct observation of the convenings and analysis of convening attendee feedback surveys were analyzed. Results: Using instrumental case study design, we found that convenings were a helpful tool that allowed for cross-site communication and collaboration. Communal re-examination of implementation strategies, coupled with training and network-weaving, created a rich learning environment to identify potential intervention adaptations and changes, unify on data collection, and prepare to test these adaptations at each respective site. Conclusions: We discuss lessons learned when using convenings to help health care and community-based settings collectively explore and address adaptation and implementation barriers as they implement evidence-informed interventions to improve health outcomes for populations affected by chronic conditions, such as HIV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Prior in‐person behavioural intervention studies have documented differential weight loss between men and women and by race, with Black women receiving the least benefit. Remotely delivered interventions are now commonplace, but few studies have compared outcomes by race‐gender groups and delivery modality. We conducted a secondary analysis of POWER, a randomized trial (NCT00783315) designed to determine the effectiveness of 2 active, lifestyle‐based, weight loss interventions (remote vs. in‐person) compared to a control group. Participants with obesity and at least one cardiovascular disease risk factor (N = 415) were recruited in the Baltimore, MD area. Data from 233 white and 170 Black individuals were used for this analysis. Following an intention‐to‐treat approach, we compared the mean percent weight loss at 24 months by race‐gender subgroups using repeated‐measures, mixed‐effects models. Everyone lost weight in the active interventions however, weight loss differed by race and gender. white and Black men had similar results for both interventions (white: in‐person (−7.6%) remote (−7.4%); Black: in‐person (−4.7%) remote (−4.4%)). In contrast, white women lost more weight with the in‐person intervention (in‐person (−7.2%) compared to the remote (−4.4%)), whereas Black women lost less weight in the in‐person group compared to the remote intervention at 24 months (−2.0% vs. −3.0%, respectively; p for interaction <.001). We found differences between the effectiveness of the 2 weight loss interventions—in‐person or remote—in white and Black women at 24 months. Future studies should consider intervention modality when designing weight loss interventions for women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) is a home visiting program designed to improve pregnancy outcomes, child health and development, and life course outcomes for families facing socioeconomic inequalities through support and education provided by nurses to first-time mothers during pregnancy and up to 2 years postpartum. Studies show that home visiting programs like NFP have positive outcomes, but attrition remains a concern which may impact the desired health equity goals. Black mothers are more likely to withdraw from the NFP program, and research is lacking regarding their experiences in home visiting programs despite facing maternal health inequities rooted in racism. The present study aimed to understand factors that influenced program continuation and provide insights for program improvement. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 21 Black NFP clients from multiple sites. Key findings include the importance of the nurse-client relationship, access to reliable health information, and racial concordance in the nurse-client pairing. Clients valued supportive, nonjudgmental nurses who provided dependable support and education. Racially concordant partnerships were perceived as more comfortable and understanding, fostering trust and open communication. Clients also suggested that invasion of privacy during home visits and a lack of connection with their nurse could contribute to program discontinuation. Efforts to increase program retention of Black clients should focus on fostering a strong nurse-client alliance. Recommendations include increasing racial diversity in the nurse workforce, implementing a nurse-client matching system, and allowing clients to request a new nurse if needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives: Nephrolithiasis (kidney stones) is a frequently occurring urologic condition resulting in significant patient morbidity and healthcare costs. Despite the higher prevalence of metabolic risk factors for nephrolithiasis among Black women, there have been few epidemiologic studies of kidney stones focusing on this group. Methods: We describe demographic and health characteristics, diagnostics, and metabolic profiles of US Black women with self-reported kidney stones. The women were participants in the Black Women's Health Study (BWHS), a large prospective cohort of US Black women (median age 38 years) begun in 1995. Results: Among the 2750 BWHS participants who completed an online supplemental questionnaire assessing urologic health, 201 women reported nephrolithiasis. Of this number, 62% had completed ≥ 16 years of education, and 82% reported access to health care. Overall, 39% reported experiencing ≥ 2 stones in their lifetime, and 29% required surgery to treat the condition. Thirty-two percent reported having completed a metabolic evaluation, while 70% had undergone a CT scan to diagnose nephrolithiasis. The frequency of metabolic evaluation increased with the number of metabolic components reported: 3% (0 components) to 43% (3–4 components). Conclusions: Our findings are consistent with reports of lower rates of metabolic evaluation among Black patients despite their having multiple risk factors for nephrolithiasis. Further study is needed to identify the barriers and facilitators of metabolic and diagnostic workup of nephrolithiasis in Black women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Objective Method Results Discussion Black individuals remain underrepresented in disordered eating research, despite evidence that both Black men and women present with disordered eating behaviors. Culturally‐informed theoretical frameworks suggest that these behaviors may be linked to race‐related sociocultural experiences, such as aspects of racial identity. While studies have focused on racial identity commitment, the association between attitudes toward one's racial identity and disordered eating remains underexplored. The present study examines whether positive attitudes toward one's Blackness and Black culture are associated with disordered eating.In a cross‐sectional online sample of Black men and women (N = 458), we measured self‐reported attitudes toward Blackness (i.e., centrality and private regard) and disordered eating behaviors (i.e., purging, binge eating, excessive exercise, and drive for thinness).In pre‐registered linear regression models, private regard was negatively associated with purging and binge eating. Across all models, centrality was not associated with disordered eating. On average, Black women reported greater drive for thinness whereas Black men reported higher excessive exercise scores.This is the first study to demonstrate associations between racial attitudes and disordered eating among Black men and women. Our findings affirm unique correlates of disordered eating among Black people and suggest that positive attitudes toward one's Blackness and Black culture may be a protective factor against the development of disordered eating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, the academic field of special education has resisted critical perspectives. Despite their advanced skills, epistemological approaches, and ways of knowing, special education scholars enacting qualitative inquiry have often described inadequate support from their academic community. In a parallel manner, Black mothering in historical and contemporary spaces, especially in mothering disabled children, has often been dismissed for its valued expertise. This essay is a methodological, theoretical, spiritual, epistemological, and deeply philosophical intervention on the roles of Black mothers in all spaces who grapple with the tensions in the field of special education. The authors build upon Black Feminist epistemology and use Disability Critical Theory as a framework, documenting the journeys of two Black women mother and scholars through duoethnographic storytelling. Realizing that people who are mothering have their own agency and choose what they want to build with the nurturing Black mothers offer, we center multidisciplinary dialogues that lead to deeper understandings of qualitative research methods. Through these exemplars, we highlight how mothering and othermothering, whether through birth, ancestral, or academic kinships, are used to advance ways of knowing about how to best support disabled youth whose futures are pervasively threatened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a subset of a larger mixed‐methods study of Black counselor wellness, a sequential explanatory research design was used to explore the relationship between the Strong Black Woman (SBW) schema and wellness in Black women counselors. Regression results indicated the SBW schema was a statistically significant predictor of wellness. Grounded in critical Black feminist theory, an interpretative phenomenological analysis of focus group data identified five themes of wellness and coping for Black women counselors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To assess Black women's exposure to and appraisal of racism-related stress during the postpartum period and to distinguish its impact on three indicators of postpartum mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) symptoms. Methods: Data from the Black Mothers' Mental Wellness Study (N = 231) and linear regression models estimated the associations between racism-related stress and the PMAD indicators: 3-item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS-3), 8-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8), and PHQ-15. Results: The majority of participants (80.5%, N = 186) experienced racism a few times a year or more, of which 37.1% (N = 69) were bothered somewhat and 19.3% (N = 36) a lot. Racism-related stress, income, level of education, and history of mental health diagnosis explained greater variance in PMAD symptoms as measured by the PHQ-8 score (R2 = 0.58, p = < 0.001) compared to the EPDS-3 (R2 = 0.46, p = < 0.001) or the PHQ-15 (R2 = 0.14, p = 0.035). Conclusions: Racism is a stressor for Black women living in Los Angeles County, California. Racism-related stress and emotional expression of PMAD symptoms were salient to the postpartum mental health of the Black women in this study. Findings from this study suggest that the PHQ-8 should be used to assess how racism impacts Black women's postpartum mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The violent nature of Hip-Hop culture in tandem with racial injustice and sexism leaves Black women victims of Black male perpetrators feeling unheard, unprotected and conflicted. It is known that Black women are experiencing more domestic violence than their white counterparts yet reporting it less out of fear of prejudices and stereotyping. In this study, I engage in an intersectional textual analysis of rapper Megan Thee Stallion's telling of violence enacted upon her by rapper Tory Lanez in 2020. Hip-hop concepts of violence and snitching, expectations about black womanhood, and issues of police brutality were all prominent themes of her storytelling. The analysis indicates that Black women who are domestic violence victims grapple with protecting the men of their community, protecting themselves from police, and endure doubt and criticism for speaking their truth. Plain Language Summary: Study using rapper Megan Thee Stallions' telling of her experience with intimate partner violence to understand unique struggles Black women have with speaking publicly about being victims of violence at the hands of Black menMany factors, such as racism and sexism, can impact the experiences of Black women victims of intimate partner violence. In addition to those larger systems of discrimination and oppression, sub-cultures such as hip-hop, glamorize and perpetuate violence. All these issues can impact how a victim speaks out about their violent encounter, or whether they speak out at all. In this study, I review how rapper Megan Thee Stallion recounts the violent experience she had at the hands of rapper Tory Lanez in 2020. As Megan shares her story on her Instagram Live, she accounts for how police brutality, stereotypes about Black women, and the culture of hip-hop all influenced her behavior during and after her traumatizing experience. This study highlights how Menga's story stresses a unique struggle Black women victims endure as they balance protecting themselves and protecting their community, a community that often times includes their perpetrator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black women living with HIV (BWLWH) face barriers that impact health outcomes. However, positive psychosocial indicators may influence HIV care outcomes. Among this cross-sectional study of 119 BWLWH, a network analysis was utilized to examine relationships between positive psychosocial factors and HIV-related health outcomes. A preliminary polychoric analysis was conducted to examine correlations between the variables, and the network analyzed connections between resilience, self-efficacy, self-esteem, perceived social support, religious coping, post-traumatic growth, and an indicator variable for suboptimal HIV care outcomes (low medication adherence, detectable viral load, and missed HIV-related health visits) and determined the centrality measures within the network. Seven significant associations were found among the factors: self-efficacy and self-esteem, post-traumatic growth and resilience, post-traumatic growth and self-efficacy, post-traumatic growth and religious coping, perceived social support and resilience, self-esteem and resilience, self-esteem and perceived social support (bootstrapped 95% CI did not contain zero). Self-efficacy was the strongest indicator associated with the other factors. Although not statistically significant, the indicator for suboptimal HIV care outcomes was negatively associated with perceived social support and religious coping. Future interventions incorporating self-efficacy may be beneficial to the overall well-being of Black women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black women are sorely underrepresented in studies of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) despite higher rates of ADRD diagnoses than in non‐Hispanic White women. There are many reasons for underrepresentation, including medical mistrust, limited access to clinical studies, and restrictive study inclusion criteria. These pervasive barriers to research participation are often not considered during study development and, if eventually thought of tend to be after the fact. Community‐engaged research (CER) approaches are an effective method for reducing participation barriers. This article describes how CER approaches were used to develop the Black Women Inflammation and Tau Study (BWITS), a prospective study to identify biopsychosocial risk factors for ADRD in Black women. Guidelines discussed here for future ADRD research in diverse populations are informed by Community‐Based Participatory Research (CBPR), the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), and the Patient‐Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). Highlights: Understand the historical tragedies related to medical practices and research designs that may contribute to the underrepresentation of Black Americans in research studies today.Highlight community‐engaged research approaches that effectively reduce participation barriers in minoritized groups.Review Community‐Based Participatory Research, National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities, and the Patient‐Centered Outcomes Research Institute guidelines for conducting research with minoritized communities.Describe using the three frameworks to inform the study development protocol for the Black Women Inflammation and Tau Study.Conclude by offering study design considerations that we hope can be a helpful starting point for others conducting research with minoritized communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of a social worker is inherently challenging, especially during times of crisis, and it becomes particularly triggering for Black female social workers when the crisis is intertwined with racial issues. Amidst the COVID-19 global pandemic's peak, a viral video depicting the police murder of George Floyd exposed America's deep-seated racism. This period saw both Black and white Americans grappling with the dual crises of health and race, leading many to seek support from Black therapists. Utilizing an autobiographical feminist standpoint epistemology (Harding, 2001), four Black female social workers' stories are examined. Our narratives reveal the complexities of navigating multiple pandemics--racial turmoil, COVID-19, global lockdowns, economic uncertainty, political divisiveness, and the aftermath of former president Trump's election refusal, marked by the Capitol insurrection. Our accounts also explore the countertransference experienced in cross-racial and intra-racial therapeutic dynamics, emphasizing the unique significance of self-care for Black practitioners during tumultuous times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This book review uses autoethnography to review the autoethnographic reflections of Boylorn's Sweetwater: Black Women and Narratives of Resilience through folk epistemologies. In this book review, I recapture the essence of Black folk traditions and employ these expressions to theorize the retelling of smaller narratives. Essentially, I conjure up Black folk epistemologies to describe the intellectual sagacity and resistance of Sweetwater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black women living with HIV (BWLWH) face adversities associated with lower HIV medication adherence, viral non-suppression, and mental health symptoms (e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder) such as trauma/violence, racism, HIV-related discrimination/stigma, and gender-related stressors. We developed the first intervention based in cognitive behavioral therapy and culturally congruent coping for BWLWH to increase medication adherence and decrease PTSD symptoms by enhancing resilience, self-care, engagement in care, and coping for trauma, racism, HIV-related discrimination/stigma, and gender-related stressors. A pilot randomized control trial was conducted with BWLWH and histories of trauma who were at risk for their HIV viral load remaining or becoming detectable (i.e., below 80% medication adherence, detectable viral load in the past year, and/or missed HIV-related appointments). 119 BWLWH were assessed at baseline and 70 met inclusion criteria, completed one session of Life-Steps adherence counseling, and were randomized to either nine sessions of STEP-AD (Striving Towards EmPowerment and Medication Adherence) or ETAU (enhanced treatment as usual consisting of biweekly check-ins). Women completed a post intervention follow up assessment (3 months post baseline) and 3-month post intervention follow-up (6 months post baseline). Via STATA the difference-in-difference methodology with mixed models compared STEP-AD to ETAU on changes in outcomes over time. BWLWH in STEP-AD compared to E-TAU had significantly higher ART adherence (estimate = 9.36 p = 0.045) and lower likelihood of being clinically diagnosed with PTSD (OR =.07, estimate = − 2.66, p = 0.03) as well as borderline significance on higher CD4 count (estimate = 161.26, p = 0.05). Our findings suggest preliminary efficacy of STEP-AD in improving ART adherence, mental health, and immune function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The “racialized social control infrastructure” of schools refers to the over-emphasis on controlling the behaviors and bodies of Black, and other, students of color. Politicized caring, or the strategic prioritization of the needs and desires of those traditionally marginalized, may be disruptive to it. The objective of this analysis is (1) to describe how one Black female educator enacts a pedagogy of politicized caring on a day-to-day basis and (2) to investigate how it intersects with one school’s social control infrastructure. Arising from a longitudinal, collaborative research partnership with a predominantly Black high school, the analysis features two years of data with over 80 observations and 13 interviews. The findings identify five discrete forms of enactment of politicized caring and shows how the educator uses them to buffer her students from the harsher elements of social control. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between feminist movements and racialised migrant women in Europe remains marred by the continued marginalisation of migrant women's political claims in feminist struggles, despite the circulation of intersectional discourses within academic and activist circles. This article documents important spaces of experimentation which Black activists are creating within the Italian feminist movement to give voice to racialised migrant women without the mediating intervention of white feminists. Rooted in an understanding of the margins as a site of resistance, such efforts engage in practices of refusal and talking back to reclaim a Black epistemic identity which powerfully interpellates Italian institutions and feminist activists. Black migrant women demand the recognition not only of their inherent capacity to speak, act, decide, but also of their ability to articulate a political analysis and a political project to challenge the intersectional discrimination and violence they face. Their struggle centres work as a site of compounding gendered and racialised exploitation, thus carrying the potential to expand feminist thinking and action on reproductive labour, labour participation and equal pay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]