Black Immigrants Research Articles

Comparing breast cancer characteristics and outcomes between black U.S.-born patients and black immigrant patients from individual Caribbean islands.

e13633 Background: Caribbean-born black immigrants (CBI) represent 57% of all black immigrants in the US; they come mainly from Haiti, Jamaica, Dominican Republic (DR), and Cuba. Breast cancer (BC) is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women living in the Caribbean, however, our previous retrospective cohort of 1131 black women with BC shows that CBI have a better overall survival compared with US-born black (USB). The Caribbean has a majority of African ancestry; nonetheless, different ancestral populations differ in genetic composition, making the Caribbean a distinct population with several health disparities within it. Therefore, we stratified our study by each Caribbean country compared to USB patients with the objective of further studying the difference in BC outcomes between USB patients and CBI. Methods: We identified BC patients through a Safety Net and Private Hospital Tumor Registries. We selected the most populace sites: Haiti, Jamaica, Bahamas, Cuba and DR; and used data from 1,082 patients to estimate hazard rations (HRs) using Cox proportional hazards regression and Kaplan Meier analysis for overall survival; Chi Squared and independent sample t-test to verify associations in categorical variables. Results: The study has 250 Haitian, 89 Jamaican, 43 Bahamian, 38 Dominican, 38 Cuban and 624 USB women. Haitians underwent less surgery (HB 61.2% vs USB 72.9%; P = 0.001) and had less triple negative BC (18% vs USB 27.8%; P = 0.006). Bahamians were the youngest at diagnosis (50.5 years vs. USB 57.6 P < 0.001) and presented at more advanced stages (stage 3/4, 54.3% vs USB 35.3%; P = 0.02). Jamaicans and DR underwent more radiation therapy (43.8%, P = 0.002 and 44.7%, P = 0.028 vs. USB 28%). Jamaican women had a better overall survival compared to USB patients (median of 154.93 months, 95% CI: 114.1-195.5 vs 98.63 months, 95% CI: 76.4-120.8; Log-Rank Mantel Cox P = 0.034). Favorable factors for survival were: radiation therapy in Haitian and USB (aHR = 0.45, 95% 0.27-0.77; P = 0.004); and surgery in USB (aHR = 0.26 (0.19-0.36), p < 0.001), Bahamians (aHR = 0.05 (0.01-0.47), p = 0.008) and Jamaicans (aHR = 0.08 (0.03-0.24), p < 0.001). Conclusions: This study underlines the vast heterogeneity in the Caribbean population and demonstrates that Jamaican immigrants with BC have a higher overall survival compared to USB patients, proposing that genetic and other cancer related factors inherent to country of origin impact survival within Caribbean immigrants and highlighting the need for further studies in this immigrant sub-group.

Silencing Invisibility: Toward a Framework for Black Immigrant Literacies

PurposeIn this conceptual essay used to introduce the special issue titled “Clarifying the Role of Race in the Literacies of Black Immigrant Youth,” I argue for centralizing race in research that examines Englishes and literacies of the largely invisible population of Black immigrant youth in the United States. My rationale for this argument is based largely on the increasingly divisive rhetoric surrounding Black immigrants and Black Americans, exacerbated by current racial tensions and further amplified amidst a politicized landscape and COVID-19. This rhetoric has erupted from often implicit and negative connotations associated with Black immigrants as a “new model minority” when compared with their “underperforming” Black American counterparts and evolved into the use of dichotomous intraracial ideologies that continue to pit one subgroup against the other. Beyond this, race continues to be present as a key part of conversations in the Englishes and literacies of Black American students. And the notion of race, as seen through constructs such as “critical race theory,” “racial literacy,” “linguistic racism,” and “a raciolinguistic perspective,” remains central to the conversations about how Black Americans’ language and literacy use is understood and evaluated in U.S. schools. Yet, we know little about how Black immigrant literacies and Englishes refect racial tensions that affect literacy instruction and assessment because data surrounding their academic performance across the U.S., more often than not, remains subsumed within the data of Black students overall. As they are immigrants of color who are subjected to similar forms of linguistic and racial discrimination often faced by Black American youth, and who also often undergo tremendous difficulty in adjusting to the cultural and linguistic differences faced in the U.S., why is race not central to the distinct, varied, and unique Englishes and literacies of Black immigrant youth?Theoretical PerspectivesTo address this gap in the field, I examine affordances from the lenses of diaspora literacy, transnational literacy, and racial literacy, which hold promise for understanding how to foreground race in the literacies of predominantly English-speaking Black immigrant youth. I demonstrate how each of these lenses, as applied to the literacies of the invisible population of Black youth, allows for partial understandings regarding these students> enactment of literacies based on their Englishes and semiotic resources. In turn, I illustrate how these lenses can work together to clarify the role of race in Black immigrant literacies.ImplicationsBased on these discussions, I present the framework of Black immigrant literacies to assist researchers, practitioners, and parents who wish to better understand and support Black immigrant youth. I invite researchers who work with populations that include Black immigrant youth to consider how race, when central to research and teaching surrounding the literacies and Englishes of these youth, can provide opportunities for them to thrive beyond the perceptions of them as “academic prodigies” while also facilitating relationships with their Black American peers. I invite teachers to consider ways of viewing Black immigrant literacies that foster a sense of community between these youth and their Black American peers as well as ways of engaging their literacies in classrooms that allow them to demonstrate how they function as language architects beyond performance on literacy assessments. I invite parents to provide spaces beyond school contexts where Black immigrant youth can use their literacies for social adjustment. Through this essay, it is expected that the dominant population can gain further insights into the nuances that exist within the Black population and be cognizant of these nuances when engaging with Black immigrant youth.

Humanizing the Black Immigrant Body: Envisioning Diaspora Literacies of Youth and Young Adults from West African Countries

Background/ContextThis conceptual essay contributes to recent education research on immigrant youth from West African countries that examines the interplay of popularized narratives of immigrant youth and young adults, and their Diasporic literacy practices. Specifically, we examine embodied Diaspora literacies as affirming and extending presences and absences of Black immigrant bodies across two contexts: an after-school African Club, and a qualitative inquiry of civic learning and action-taking of immigrant youth and young adults from West African countries.PurposeWe theorize in this conceptual essay the interplay of the humanity of Black immigrant youth and young adults and their embodied Diaspora literacy practices. We highlight possibilities for research, literacy teaching, and teacher education when intentionally naming, affirming, and building with the humanity of Black immigrant youth and young adults from West African countries—what we conceptualize as humanizing the Black immigrant body. We conceptualize humanizing the Black immigrant body as an enacting of embodied Diaspora literacies. In theorizing embodied Diaspora literacies, we build with African Indigenous lensings, and African, Black, and Chicana/Latina feminisms. We further contextualize humanizing the Black immigrant body as an enacting of embodied Diaspora literacies expressed in the creative and artistic practices and artifacts of artists, literary authors, playwrights, and youth and young adults who have long authored and told narratives that affirm, extend, and historicize the strengths of Black immigrant communities.Interpretive AnalysisWe highlight in this conceptual essay the urgency of humanizing the Black immigrant body across four moments, or tellings of embodied Diaspora literacies. Our use of Diasporic tellings, an intentional naming and humanizing research approach, draws on the words of Chinua Achebe, the Nigerian author who refected on the urgency of a global “balance of stories.” We examine four Diasporic tellings: (1) youth in an African Club in a high school in New York City attending an off-Broadway play authored by a daughter of Ghanaian immigrants, (2) participating in a group discussion following the play, and (3) engaging in Youth Participatory Action Research inquiries; and (4) youth and young adults from West African countries discussing their creative and artistic embodied Diaspora literacies, and civic learning and action-taking across contexts of peers, schooling, and families.Conclusion / RecommendationsWe theorize humanizing the Black immigrant body as a vibrant, necessary research and teaching stance to recognize the humanity of Black immigrant youth who daily negotiate and render visible their language and literacy practices. These practices comprise the coalescing of Black immigrant bodies, discursive perspectives, and material artifacts of teaching and learning, and their racialized, social, and educational experiences across contexts of schools and communities. These Diasporic tellings provide important insights for productive approaches in research, teaching, and teacher education with youth and young adults making sense of the lives of Black immigrants, across contexts of literacy learning and lived experiences that meaningfully recognize the humanity of Black immigrant youth from West African countries.

Navigating Black Racial Identities: Literacy Insights from an Immigrant Family

BackgroundThe increase in the number of Black immigrants and other immigrant populations has undoubtedly changed the landscape of educational spaces. In fact, in 2016, 8% of Blacks were second generation Americans. Although Black immigrants may share similar experiences to native born African Americans, there are markedly distinct cultural influences that shape their educational experiences. Both racialized and cultural experiences come to play a major role in how students experience schooling in the U.S. The relationship that Black immigrant families have with schools and teachers can impact immigrant children's well-being and inform teachers. Therefore, it is important that Black immigrant families and schools create lasting relationships grounded in a respect for language, culture, race, and county of origin.Purpose/Objective/Research QuestionI use the insights from discussions with one Black immigrant family from Senegal who participated in an after-school critical literacy workshop where relationships were built among parents, students, and educators. Although there is an extensive body of literature on Black immigrants in the U.S., this research will contribute to filling the gap concerning how Black immigrant parents can be supported in serving as agents of socialization as their children come to understand the way race functions in the United States and how other parents, teachers, and curricula can be informed through discussions with them. This study is guided by the following question: What can be learned about the role of an after-school critical literacy workshop in creating a space for a Senegalese immigrant family to engage in discussions with their children, other families, and teachers as they react to race and violence in the U.S.?Research Design/Data Collection and AnalysisThroughout the course of the project, students’ participation was documented through field notes, research memos, and audio and video recordings of family workshop meetings. Classroom data in the form of children's writing samples, written response journaling, and visual responses (sketch to stretch) were also collected. The study included in-depth interviews with student participants at the conclusion of the workshop. Parents completed a survey to share their experiences. Data were uploaded to Dedoose to identify codes.Findings/ResultsThree themes refected how the critical literacy workshop enhanced the family's ability to prepare their children for a racialized society and inform other children, families, and teachers: (a) transnational literacies were important in building racial and heritage knowledge for the children, (b) children's literature and film opened spaces for conversation that allowed the family to inform other parents about racial injustices and the importance of African heritage pride and also informed the classroom teacher about the need for discussing colorism in his classroom, and (c) transnational literacies and talk about anti-Blackness occurred within a supportive environment.Conclusions/ImplicationsWhen the after-school critical literacy workshop affirmed a Black immigrant family in their “Black thinking” and sociopolitical consciousness, they were able to articulate their feelings about racist acts and violence and the need for African heritage pride. Findings corroborate the studies that argue for the value of teaching about contemporary movements such as #BlackLivesMatter and the importance of honoring the voices of Black immigrant youth and families in curricular spaces.

Toward Caring Language and Literacy Classrooms for Black Immigrant Youth: Combating Raciolinguistic Ideologies and Moral Licensing

Background In recent years, there has been a shift in migration pattern to the U.S. such that most immigrants are now coming from regions outside of Europe. These new groups (particularly Black immigrant populations) face acts of discrimination and injustices when they display, for example, linguistic and cultural divergence. Purpose This article explored the effects of raciolinguistic ideologies and moral licensing on the linguistic, literate, and broader cultural identities of Black immigrant youth and the subsequent impact on their academic achievement. Method I proposed a theory that links raciolinguistic ideologies with the concept of moral licensing to flesh out how the interconnection between these two concepts may be applied to explain seemingly helpful actions that are in fact harmful. Findings This exploration yielded a number of insights, but the standout point is that there seems to be a White Eurocentric way of being (that seems even present in schools) that has adverse effects on Black immigrants. Conclusions Under the guidance of caring teachers, Black immigrant students can be encouraged to feel valued and respected, and this should help to foster and increase their participation in classroom activities.

Racialized Tensions in the Multimodal Literacies of Black Immigrant Youth

Background The chapter explores the intersection of multimodal and digital literacies and racial identities of Black Caribbean immigrant youth in the United States (U.S.). Drawing on ethnographic research on the ways in which adolescent students embody their identities online, the chapter details some of the tensions that arise when these adolescents attempt to navigate a new home country that racializes their cultural and national identities and literacy practices. Context The chapter offers a meta-analysis of case studies five Black Caribbean immigrant adolescents’ multimodal and digital literacy practices in response to the racialized category “Black.” Looking across four ethnographic case studies, and through the thematic meta-analysis of data, the chapter presents data snapshots of pivotal events that refect issues of race. These events highlight the dialogic ways that these youth make use of literacy practices to understand what it means to be Black and immigrant, and to challenge these dominant, racialized representations that negate their cultural identities. Purpose The purpose of the chapter is to explore the tensions that arise when these adolescents attempt to navigate a new home country that racializes their cultural and national identities and literacy practices. In the case of Black Caribbean immigrant youth, part of this newcomer experience involves negotiating what “race” and “blackness” mean in terms of their academic, social, and personal lives. Thus, the chapter illustrates how young people use their modally and digitally mediated practices to negotiate racialized positionings across physical and virtual spaces, affinity groups, and the school and social contexts of their adopted U.S. homes. Findings As Black Caribbean immigrants, these young persons engage in emotional identity work in their talk about and/or experiences of race. The adolescents’ emotional response to racialized categories was defined by contesting feelings of pride, shame, and resilience. Two salient themes that characterized these tensions are the conflicting sense of 1) national pride versus the racial prejudice, and 2) deficit versus worthy. Their feelings of self-worth were intrinsically connected to racialized identity labels “Black” and “immigrant.” However, the modal tools and spaces they used and created serve as sites of resilience and identity (re)framing. Conclusions Adolescents developed their own personal and/or public voice that allowed them to reevaluate their self-worth, importance of social status, opportunities for advocacy, and their redefinitions of identity labels. Modal spaces and tools offered these adolescents alternative frames of reference within which they could evaluate and reposition Self. The intentional responses of these Black immigrant youth offered positive ways to see and present themselves while challenging deficit narratives of persons of color. Recommendation Explore immigrant adolescents’ use of modal and digital tools and literacies as spaces for socially reconstructing notions of race and identity. Consider modal and virtual digital spaces and tools (e.g., social networks, blogs, photographs/images, talk/stories) as a way to create opportunities for youth to air and share their experiences and ideas, as well as have their stories and positionalities become a part of the broader educational and societal narrative.

Teaching Black Immigrant Students in Urban Schools: Teacher and Peer Relationships and Academic Performances

This study examines teachers’ cultural awareness of Black immigrants and the pedagogical strategies they implemented that aided in the academic success of Black immigrant youth attending public urban schools. A related goal was to examine Black immigrant youths’ relationships with teachers and peers, the challenges they faced in navigating a new educational system, and how it influenced their academic performance. Drawing on culturally responsive teaching, we examined teachers’ cultural knowledge and understanding of the life experiences of Black immigrant students. Participants were 25 teachers and 20 Black immigrant youth. Qualitative research, including semi-structured and focus group interviews were used to collect data. Three major themes emerged from the study. These include (a) Black immigrant youth perspectives and experiences attending United States public urban schools comprising the following subthemes: (1) challenges attending urban schools, (2) students’ resilience to achieve success in school, (3) supportive parents and high expectations; and (4) navigating through school with bi-cultural identity. The second theme is (b) the multiple cultures Black immigrant youth bring to the urban classroom, and the third theme, (c) strategies of teaching Black immigrant youth in public urban schools. Findings demonstrate the need for teachers to understand the rich cultural diversity that Black immigrant students bring to the classroom to be able to connect with their life experiences inside and outside of school.

Abstract P473: Social Determinants of Cardiovascular Health Among Afro-Caribbean Immigrants in New York City

Introduction: Research on cardiovascular health (CVH) and risk factors among immigrants has been well-documented. Less is known about social influences on CVH, among black immigrants. Despite having the largest population of black immigrants in the U.S., Afro-Caribbean (AC) immigrants have been underrepresented in health research. We examined the social determinants of CVH among AC immigrants (Guyanese, Haitian and Jamaican) in New York City (NYC). Hypothesis: We hypothesized that social determinants of CVH will vary among the three ethnic sub-groups of AC immigrants. Methods: We included 1691 AC immigrants who reported their race as non-Hispanic Black and country of birth (COB) as Guyana (n= 369), Haiti (n= 291) or Jamaica (n= 1031) in the 2010-2014 administrations of the New York City Community Health Survey. Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the association between social determinants and CVH (ideal vs intermediate/poor) using AHA’s CVH metrics. Results: The majority of the sample was female (59.2%) and reported high school education or less (53.9%). Most AC immigrants reported to have ideal CVH (71.3%). Education was significantly associated with CVH only among Jamaican immigrants. Jamaican immigrants with ≤ high school education were more likely to have intermediate/poor CVH compared to those with ≥ some college education. Conclusions: These findings suggest that social determinants influencing CVH differ among AC immigrant sub-groups in NYC. These findings suggest that social determinants influencing CVH differ among AC immigrant sub-groups in NYC. National surveillance efforts should obtain more complete data on country of origin and oversample racial/ethnic minority groups in order to better understand their CVH outcomes. Future research should examine other social factors that may influence CVH among black immigrants.

Tod G.HamiltonImmigration and the Remaking of Black AmericaNew York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation, 2019. 314 p. $35.00 (paper).

Since 1965, when the Hart-Cellar Act eliminated the national origins quota system, Blacks from the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa have experienced an easier time migrating to the United States. The last three decades of the twentieth century saw significant immigrant flows from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and other English-speaking Caribbean nations. Since 2000, more than half of black immigrants have come from African countries. By 2014, the number of black immigrants reached 4 million, 9.2 percent of the black population; more change is likely since 16 percent of black children now have immigrant parents. But Tod Hamilton, assistant professor of sociology at Princeton, does more than simply depict this compositional change. He directly addresses a controversial question surrounding this influx: why do black immigrants have better occupational, educational, and health outcomes than black Americans? Some have offered a “cultural” explanation for this differential: black Americans have a weaker work ethic than black immigrants. Others point to differential discrimination, and to the selectivity that comes with migration. Hamilton sets out to provide a methodologically and theoretically sophisticated answer to this question. First, he does note that migrants, whether international or internal, are a self-selected group. An extreme example can be found in Nigerian immigrants, 63 percent of whom had at least a bachelor's degree in 2014. And when Hamilton compares black immigrants to black American movers (those who live in a state different than that of their birth), he finds that socioeconomic differentials are significantly reduced, although not totally eliminated. He then looks at the possible impact of the time period when most black immigrants arrived in the United States: post-1965, after major civil-rights legislation had begun reducing the effects of institutionalized racism in schools, housing, and the workplace. When looking at 1910–1940 data for New York City, which had numerous black immigrants from the Caribbean at the time, Hamilton found little evidence that immigrants differed from the city's black population in measures of social well-being. These differentials come to the surface during the post-1965 period. Recent black immigrants never experienced the harsh racist system that many black Americans experienced: inferior education, segregated living arrangements, predatory policing, the consequences of which still affect black Americans’ life-chances. Also, recent black immigrants picked certain areas of the country in which to settle—they are 30 percent of the black population in the Northeast—and their economic and educational opportunities differ from black Americans accordingly. Through his systematic study of how race, migration, and nativity interact in black Americans lives, Hamilton has produced a more nuanced understanding of the achievement gaps existing between black immigrants and black Americans. His framework, based on careful choice of comparison groups, also provides a blueprint for research that might better understand the general achievement gap between black and white Americans.

Rights, Gifts, Repair

Rights, Gifts, Repair

Toward a new understanding of immigrant information behavior

PurposeImmigration dominates much of the current US sociopolitical discourse. The research on US-based immigrant information behavior, however, remains scant. To understand the role of information in immigration, this study explores information overload among Black immigrants in the US.Design/methodology/approachThe researcher developed a literature-derived information overload scale to investigate participants' information access along with experiences and response to information overload.FindingsResults suggest that participants experience information overload due to behavioral (e.g. the demands of needing, seeking, or using information), quantitative (i.e. volume or length), and qualitative (e.g. authority, diversity, or urgency) indicators. Most participants mitigate information overload by turning to intermediaries and filtering resources.Research limitations/implicationsThe information overload scale can advance knowledge of the role of information in immigrant acculturative stress.Social implicationsLIS researchers and practitioners can utilize findings to foster social inclusion and well-being among immigrants.Originality/valueScholarship on immigrant information behavior must reflect the centrality of information in migration and how it shapes integration and acculturation.

Encountering the Metropole: Stuart Hall, Race, (Un)Belonging, and Identity in Canada: Exploring the African Caribbean Immigration Experience

ABSTRACT The period between 1965 and 2001 witnessed a dramatic population movement of Black people into lands currently called Canada. Over 500,000 Caribbean people arrived as “landed immigrants” during this period, bringing the total Black population to over one million by 2016. Motivated by economic and political upheavals, thousands of African Caribbean immigrants left their homes in search of a better life. This large inflow of Black immigrants altered the Canadian political and cultural landscapes and ultimately changed the face of Southwestern Ontario. Using data collected from our research project on African Caribbean people in Canada, we examine the lived experiences of this Black immigrant population. This paper utilizes Stuart Hall’s framing of race, representation, (un)belonging, and identity to explore the particularities of African Caribbean immigration experiences in Canada; we show that Blackness, Black identity, and belonging in Canada are not fixed in their meaning, but rather represent a contested terrain.

Home Sweet Home: Understanding the Geographies of Return Migration Intentions among Black Continental African Immigrants in Canada

Until the 1990s, scholars of international migration generally assumed that most immigrants from the global South make a permanent move to settle in rich countries and thereby sever ties with their homelands. More recently, however, a burgeoning literature has emerged on the transnational and return migration experience of immigrants, with several analysts touting the benefits of these trends to the socioeconomic development of countries of origin, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Still, only a few studies have examined the factors that influence immigrants’ return migration intentions, and fewer still (if any at all) have analyzed how these factors play out in the context of Black continental Africans in Canada. Moreover, only a handful of studies have examined the utility of geographic factors in the decisions of Black continental African immigrants to return, or not to return, to their homelands. This theoretical paper explores the interconnections between return migration intentions, immigrant integration and transnationalism, focusing primarily on Black continental Africans in Canada.

ANOTAÇÕES SOBRE O IMPACTO DA COVID-19 NA SAÚDE DA POPULAÇÃO NEGRA

There is a lot of damage that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused and it is too early to know its real cost, especially when governments have difficulties to coordinate effective policies to combat the disease, which avoid the negative impact on the general population and, particularly, groups in situations of greater vulnerability. This work reflects on the impact of COVID-19 on the black Brazilian population, starting with the debates made by specialists in Health of the Black Population and other social agents in the period from April to May 2020. It is a documentary and bibliographic research that focuses on thematic interpretation of content, divided into three parts: first, the delimitation of what is understood in this work by the black population; later, the discussion between the health of the black population and public policies in Brazil; and finally, the systematization of the debate on the impact on the black population of COVID-19, highlighting the issues of inclusion by color / race, gender and housing, lethality, impact on the periphery, social isolation and the problem of precarious black lives. Considerations about necropolitics and black bodies, Indians and African immigrants are addressed; and the proposals for tackling the pandemic made by the Brazilian Association of Public Health (ABRASCO).

Strategizing to Strengthen Social Inclusion: The Agency of Black African Immigrant Youth in Alberta, Canada

Strategizing to Strengthen Social Inclusion: The Agency of Black African Immigrant Youth in Alberta, Canada

ATTITUDINAL AND MOTIVATIONAL VARIATIONS BETWEEN MALAWIAN AND NIGERIAN IMMIGRANTS WITH REGARD TO THE ACQUISITION OF ISIZULU AND TOWARDS ITS SPEAKERS IN JOHANNESBURG

Ponte Academic JournalOct 2020, Volume 76, Issue 10 ATTITUDINAL AND MOTIVATIONAL VARIATIONS BETWEEN MALAWIAN AND NIGERIAN IMMIGRANTS WITH REGARD TO THE ACQUISITION OF ISIZULU AND TOWARDS ITS SPEAKERS IN JOHANNESBURGAuthor(s): Zilibele Mtumane ,Shoaib MzomaJ. Ponte - Oct 2020 - Volume 76 - Issue 10 doi: 10.21506/j.ponte.2020.10.10 Abstract:This paper aims to explore, compare and analyse Malawian and Nigerian immigrants’ attitudes and motivation regarding the acquisition of isiZulu and towards its speakers in Johannesburg. The two central objectives of the article were, first; to determine the types of attitudes and motivations held by each of the two groupings towards isiZulu and its speakers. Second; to establish the underlying reasons for the differences between the two. \r\nBeing investigative and exploratory in nature, the study adopted a phenomenological qualitative research approach, in order to get to the bottom of the problem. The data collected from one-on-one interview method were thematically analysed. Participants’ attitudes were inferred from their responses and reactions to various language learning situations, such as the tendency of the Zulus and black South Africans in general, of insisting to speak isiZulu to black immigrants, regardless of whether the foreign nationals know the language or not. The key finding to emerge from the study was that Malawian nationals harbour more positive attitudes towards isiZulu and its speakers than their Nigerian counterparts. Furthermore, they, Malawian immigrants, were found to be highly motivated to the acquisition of the language than the Nigerians. This was due to differences in the educational levels of the groupings, as well as their differences in the economic activities in the host country. The subheadings of this paper include the introduction, literature review, Methodology, findings and discussion and conclusion. \r\n Download full text:Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution Username Password

Health Disparities and the Heterogeneity of Blacks/African Americans in the United States: Why Should We Care?

Each year, millions of dollars are spent on research and public health interventions targeted toward reducing health disparities primarily among the "Black/African Americans" community, yet the progress made lags far behind the amount of money and effort spent. We hypothesize that part of the problem is that sociocultural factors play a significant role in disease prevention. Most studies and programs aggregate "Black immigrants" (BIs) and "African Americans" (AAs) as "Black/African American." This categorization assumes that the sociocultural determinants that influence BIs are the same as for AAs. BIs have health and mortality profiles that vary from AAs. This commentary aims to (1) introduce this idea in more depth and provide a brief scope of the problem, (2) provide scientific evidence of noteworthy differences between AAs and BIs in areas of sociodemographics, health behaviors, and health outcomes, (3) discuss implications of considering the Black/AA group as homogeneous and provide recommendations for disaggregation.

Central African Immigrants, Imperial Citizenship and the Politics of Free Movement in Interwar South Africa

Between the 1910s and 1930s, male migrants from colonial Nyasaland (present-day Malawi) contested South Africa’s internal and external barriers to free movement by asserting their rights as British subjects. On the principle that ‘fair play’ and ‘justice’ extended throughout the British empire, these men claimed an entitlement to migrate, work and live ‘unmolested’ across South Africa. This article foregrounds the early political agendas of these men, demanding a ‘liberal’ empire that sanctioned the intra-imperial migration of its black subjects. By examining a number of crises, it demonstrates how ‘loyalty’ to ‘Britishness’ was differentiated and particularist, being publicly deployed when the ostensibly ‘British’ principle of ‘free labour’ was undermined by the process of South African state formation. While radical Nyasa internationalists used British-informed lexicons of freedom to demand a more universal approach to free movement, early Nyasa nationalists invoked British colonial borders to justify a particular, restricted vision of intra-imperial migration that excluded non-British black immigrants. By exploring these differences, the article questions what we mean by ‘free movement’ and shows that ideas of imperial citizenship were not only reclaimed ‘from the bottom up’ by Nyasas but also deconstructed and instrumentalised.

The pain of migrants in a strange land

This article analyses the different assumptions about migrants in South Africa, coupled with levels of abuses and marginalisation of black African immigrants, which seem to be a source of depression and emotional pain for them in their strange land. Previous studies did reveal that African migrants face rejection, xenophobic attacks, abuses, marginalisation and socio-economic exclusion through rowdy practices of public officials and perceived institutionalised prejudice in South Africa. However, White Western and Indian-origin migrants are perceived to be better treated with dignity and respect in the same host country. This article investigates the argument that emotional pain suffered by the abused and traumatised Nigerian and other African immigrants could be responsible for the deviant behaviour of some of them in South Africa. Moreover, this article also scrutinises the notion people have that xenophobia in South Africa is Afrophobia. Most South African citizens are of the perception that all African immigrants are criminals, harbingers of disease and drug dealers, whose presence in their country is responsible for all their woes. On the other hand, Nigerian migrants are of the notion that they are the most hated at community and individual levels in South Africa. However, if appropriate social coalition policies are formulated and adopted by the government and all stakeholders, it can be of assistance in tackling the issues concerning citizens’ suspicions, migrant abuses, marginalisation and social exclusion, which seem to be hampering the co-existence of citizens and African migrants in South Africa. We should bear in mind that almost all of us in South Africa are from somewhere or the other, as clearly explained in sahistory.org.za. The whites and Indian migrants, whom I call ‘earlier alien settlers’, are from Europe and Asia, respectively. I call black Bantus from Great lakes in Central Africa, ‘earlier alien settlers’, whereas the Khoikhoi who originated in the northern area of Botswana as the ‘earlier dwellers’, while Nigerians and Ghanaians from West Africa, Zimbabweans, Malawians, etc., are called the ‘new alien settlers’. Do the ‘earlier alien settlers’ have the right to deprive the ‘earlier dwellers’ and the other ‘new alien settlers’ the right to have their space and settle in a democratic South Africa? Finally, an instructive pastoral care methodology is proposed in this article for traumatised migrants to be appropriately cared for and provided with wholesome wellness.

Black Names, Immigrant Names: Navigating Race and Ethnicity Through Personal Names

This article explores the naming patterns of a new African immigrant group in the United States to discuss the creative ways that Black immigrants navigate their racialized immigrant identities and their positioning vis-à-vis their ethnoracial compatriots, African Americans. I argue that the significant contention around Black names and immigrant names demonstrates that personal names are a subject worthy of in-depth investigation. Through the case study of the naming practices of first generations of Ethiopian-Americans, I examine the relevance Black immigrant parents attach to first names, their various connotations, and modes of immigrant incorporation into the dominant host society. I highlight the importance of race, ethnicity, and immigration status in naming.