Number Of African American Women Research Articles

Choosing to End African American Health Disparities in Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is three times more common and its manifestations are more severe in African American women compared to women of other races. It is not clear whether this is due to genetic differences or factors related to the physical or social environments, differences in health care, or a combination of these factors. Health disparities in patients with SLE between African American patients and persons of other races have been reported since the 1960s and are correlated with measures of lower socioeconomic status. Risk factors for these disparities have been demonstrated, but whether their mitigation improves outcomes for African American patients has not been tested except in self-efficacy. In 2002, the first true US population-based study of patients with SLE with death certificate records was conducted, which demonstrated a wide disparity between the number of African American women and White women dying from SLE. Five years ago, another study showed that SLE mortality rates in the United States had improved but that the African American patient mortality disparity persisted. Between 2014 and 2021, one study demonstrated racism's deleterious effects in patients with SLE. Racism may have been the unmeasured confounder, the proverbial "elephant in the room"-unnamed and unstudied. The etymology of "risk factor" has evolved from environmental risk factors to social determinants to now include structural injustice/structural racism. Racism in the United States has a centuries-long existence and is deeply ingrained in US society, making its detection and resolution difficult. However, racism being man made means Man can choose to change the it. Health disparities in patients with SLE should be addressed by viewing health care as a basic human right. We offer a conceptual framework and goals for both individual and national actions.

Determinants of Racial Disparities in Female Incarceration Rates, 2000–2018

In The Growth of Incarceration in the United States, the National Research Council documents the large and persistent racial disparities in imprisonment that accompanied the more than quadrupling of the U.S. incarceration rate since the 1980s. Largely unnoticed by policy makers and opinion leaders in recent years is an unprecedented decrease in the number of African American women incarcerated at the same time that the number of white women in prison has grown to new heights. The result of these recent changes is a near convergence in black-white female incarceration rates from 2000 to 2016. In some states, the changes occurred abruptly and almost instantaneously. In other states, the convergence has been gradual. We find that changes in the population composition—the fraction of the population that is black—was the major contributor to the decline in the disparity among women. We also find that race-specific differences in drug overdose deaths stemming from the recent increases in opioid use lowered the disparity by increasing the white female imprisonment rate and lowering it for black women.

A DEA evaluation of U.S. States’ healthcare systems in terms of their birth outcomes

States vary substantially in terms of infant mortality and preterm birth rates. Despite all the attention and effort at the national level in improving birth outcomes, many states’ healthcare systems are still suffering from high rates of unfavorable birth outcomes. Hence, the important question is what makes a healthcare system more successful when evaluating birth outcomes at the state level. To answer this question, we build a state–level database using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Kaiser Family Foundation, and Area Health Resources File. Then, we implement a mixed-methods approach that includes Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), robust principal component analysis, bootstrapping, and statistical characteristics methods such as truncated regression to systematically compare and contrast the performance of 50 state’s healthcare systems with respect to their birth outcomes (i.e., infant mortality, preterm birth, and low birthweight) and to provide benchmarks. Our findings reveal that socio-economic and demographic factors such as the poverty rate and the number of African-American women per 1000 population significantly explain the major variation in healthcare systems’ performance in terms of their birth outcomes. Therefore, disregarding these environmental factors leads to an overestimation of the system’s efficiency. Furthermore, our work contributes to the body of literature by introducing a unique application in the domain of efficiency performance measurement of states’ healthcare systems in the U.S., using a unique dataset that has not been analyzed before, identifying efficient and inefficient states, providing peers for each inefficient state and indicating how those inefficient states can make improvement in their performance, and providing unique policy insights.

Uncovering stories of resilience among successful African American women in STEM

The need to increase the number of African American women who obtain STEM degrees has been well documented in the literature by researchers, scientists, and policymakers. Increasing the participation of this group of women and other underrepresented groups in STEM is both an issue of social justice and economic advancement on a national scale. Despite decades of efforts to address this need through research and funding, the participation of African American women in STEM is still low. In part, this may be due to the limited number of studies that include the voices of African American women. Drawing upon the theories of cultural border crossing and resiliency, this paper highlights the stories of eight successful African American women who earned a terminal degree in a STEM field. The purpose of the study was to identify and describe the key factors that these women said aided in their persistence and resilience during two key periods: before postsecondary education and during postsecondary education. We use a case study approach to interpret their stories about the obstacles they faced and the strategies they employed to overcome them. Our findings suggest that experiences outside of school are more important than experiences inside school. The paper concludes with a discussion of the finding’s implications and recommendations for African American women’s recruitment and retention in STEM.

Caregivers’ Beliefs and Stress Among Rural and Urban African American Chronically Ill Caregivers

Introduction: African American women bear a disproportionate burden of chronic disease and disability compared to non-Hispanic whites, particularly rural African American women. The number of African American women providing informal care is increasing, and constant stress among caregivers produces long-term effects among middle-aged and older individuals. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between stressors and attitudes of caregiving among chronically-ill African American rural and urban women. Methods: The sample included 519 rural and urban African American female caregivers (M = 53.8 years; SD = 15.05), with at least one chronic condition, participated in the Black Rural and Urban Caregivers Mental Health and Functioning Study. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and hierarchical linear regression analyses were performed among rural women with chronic conditions (N=265) and urban women with chronic conditions (N=254). Results: The number of chronic diseases was the most significant predictors, explaining 16% of stress, followed by caregiver beliefs, socio-demographic factors, and caregiving related factors (F = 21.50, p < 0.01). Discussion: The findings from this study can provide rural health care providers and rural health educators with a basis to assess potential support and disease management programs among chronically-ill caregivers.

Abstract C026: Energy-related risk factors and breast cancer subtypes in African American women

Abstract Purpose: To investigate the association between energy-related risk factors and breast cancer subtypes in African American women. We hypothesized that African American women with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), based on being negative for estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, would be less likely to have energy-related risk factors than women with other breast cancer subtypes (1) estrogen receptor positive (ER+), and (2) estrogen receptor negative (ER-). Methods: African American women ages 25-75 years diagnosed with primary invasive breast cancer in 2009-2014 in Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia were eligible for the study. A total of 697 women (premenopausal n=156; postmenopausal n=541) provided information on energy-related risk factors in a telephone interview and consented to review of tumor tissue. Energy-related risk factors were defined as: no physical activity (54%), high meat intake (upper quartile), obese class II/III (32%), and high weight gain since age 18 (upper quartile). Breast cancer subtype was obtained from pathology reports that accompanied tumor tissue. Results: Although not significantly different, premenopausal (odds ratio (OR) 1.34) and postmenopausal (OR 1.26) women with TNBC were more likely to have high meat intake relative to women with ER+ disease. Premenopausal, but not postmenopausal, women with TNBC were also more likely to have high weight gain since age 18. Women with ER- disease were more likely to have high meat intake, be obese class II/III, and have high weight gain than women with ER+ disease which was more pronounced among premenopausal than postmenopausal women. Conclusions: Histologic subtyping is currently being performed on collected tissue to confirm the reported breast cancer subtypes in the pathology reports. The large number of African American women participating in our study can further our understanding of the relationships between energy-related risk factors and breast cancer subtypes in this population. Citation Format: Mieke Fortune, Steffie-Ann Dujon, Mary K Fadden, Loren Lipworth, Maureen Sanderson. Energy-related risk factors and breast cancer subtypes in African American women [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2019 Sep 20-23; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl_2):Abstract nr C026.

Abstract C064: Hormone-related risk factors and breast cancer subtype in African American women

Abstract Purpose: To investigate the association between hormone-related risk factors and breast cancer subtype in African American women. We hypothesized that African American women with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) would have a lower prevalence of hormone-related risk factors than women with other breast cancer subtypes (1) hormone receptor [HR +/-] and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 [HER2-] or (2) HR +/- and HER2+. Methods: African American women ages 25-75 years diagnosed with primary invasive breast cancer in 2009-2013 in Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia were eligible for the study. A total of 629 women (premenopausal n=175; postmenopausal n=454) provided information on hormone-related risk factors in a telephone interview and consented to review of tumor tissue; breast cancer subtype was obtained from pathology reports. Results: Although not significantly different, pre- and postmenopausal women with TNBC were more likely to have early age at menarche than women with other subtypes. Obesity was higher among pre- and postmenopausal women with HR+/- HER2+ disease and intermediate among women with TNBC relative to women with HR+/- HER2- disease. Oral contraceptive use was less likely among women with TNBC, significantly so for postmenopausal women (odds ratio=0.70, 95% confidence interval=0.53-0.91) than women with other subtypes. Conclusions: Histologic subtyping is currently being performed on collected tissue to confirm the reported breast cancer subtypes in the pathology reports. The large number of African American women participating in our study can further our understanding of hormone-related risk factors and their relationship with breast cancer subtypes in this population. Citation Format: Jennifer Davis, Cecilia Jimenez, Chrystina Clinton, Mary Kay Fadden, Loren Lipworth, Maureen Sanderson. Hormone-related risk factors and breast cancer subtype in African American women [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2018 Nov 2-5; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl):Abstract nr C064.

Emancipation without Equality: Pan-African Activism and the Global Color Line by Thomas E. Smith

Reviewed by: Emancipation without Equality: Pan-African Activism and the Global Color Line by Thomas E. Smith Andrew J. Rosa (bio) Emancipation without Equality: Pan-African Activism and the Global Color Line. By Thomas E. Smith. (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2018. Pp. 194. $90.00 cloth; $27.95 paper) In seven well-written chapters, Thomas E. Smith considers how intellectuals of African descent navigated the global color line between the 1884–1885 Berlin Conference and the 1911 Universal Races Congress. Rather than representing a lull in the history of Pan-Africanism, as is suggested in much of the literature, Emancipation without Equality credits this period for producing a generation of intellectuals that challenged racial oppression in pursuit of equal treatment and rights in the colonies and metropoles of the Atlantic world. If Euro-American powers guided the course of imperialism, then African and African-descended people represented a formidable, anti-imperialist response. Smith begins with a discussion of Pan-African thought as represented by African American intellectuals who, despite their marginalization from the 1893 World's Colombian Exposition in Chicago and the 1895 Cotton States Exposition in Atlanta, formed a counter-public sphere wherein they interrogated the meaning of American citizenship, condemned white vigilante terrorism, and called for greater control over the Christianizing mission in Africa. Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells, Alexander Crummell, and Booker T. Washington are all discussed as significant in this regard, as are a number of African American women, who, like Frances Harper, Fannie Barrier Williams, and Anna Julia Cooper, pressed for Black inclusion in the 1893 World's Congress of Representative Women. Moving across the Atlantic in chapter two, Smith discusses the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris as a culminating moment in Pan-African protest. In addition to celebrating Euro-American imperial mastery, this venue featured the "American Negro Exhibit," which ceded space to Thomas Calloway and W. E. B. Du Bois to challenge the "Negro problem" school of thought by evidencing African American progress since slavery's abolition. This challenge carried over to the first Pan-African Conference in London, where diaspora intellectuals called [End Page 369] for the expansion of rights and equality across the Atlantic world. The ideas and platforms they put forward discredited the ideological underpinnings of the global color line and reflected the influence of positivist currents shaping anti-racist thought during this period. Smith expands his discussion on the Pan-African critique of Euro-American Christianity in chapter three by focusing on the ideas of religious intellectuals that corresponded with the African American journalist John E. Bruce. While supportive of the civilizationist project in Africa, men like George Washington Williams, Theophilus Scholes, Edward Wilmot Blyden, and Mojola Agbebi were generally critical of white-led Christianity, seeing it as the handmaiden of Euro-American imperialism. They instead insisted on a more forceful embrace of political reform and a commitment to vindicating Africa from "Dark Continent" stereotypes that justified the exploitation of Black bodies globally. Emphasis on the correspondence between Africa and the United States continues in chapter four with Smith's examination of the Spanish American War and the South African (Boer) War. Both events were imbued with masculinist meanings by Pan-African intellectuals and looked upon as opportunities to advance claims for rights that essentially remain unrealized. Smith returns to the World Congress of Representative Women and the Pan-African Conference in chapter five to remind readers that, despite the masculinist nature of Pan-African discourse, women, including several of whom founded the National Association of Colored Women, engaged in advocating for rights for people of African descent. From the trans-Atlantic protests of Ida. B. Wells and Catherine Impey, to the rhetorical responses of Cooper, Mary Church Terrell, and Pauline Hopkins, women spoke, wrote, theorized, and organized preambles to action against the global color line. Smith concludes his examination with an analysis of the 1911 Universal Race Congress. In addition to Boas, who is credited with shifting the discourse on race from the realm of biology to culture, the Congress is discussed as significant for announcing the arrival of the Sudanese–Egyptian Duse Mohammed Ali. As founder and editor of African [End Page 370] Times and Orient...

The relationship of public and private religiosity to African American women caregivers’ use of alcohol for coping with caregiving burden

The number of African American women providing unpaid care to an older person is increasing. Multiple stresses are associated with the caregiving experience. This article examines the relationship of both public and private religiosity to the use of alcohol to cope with these stresses. Data were from the Black Rural and Urban Caregivers Mental Health and Functioning Study. This cross-sectional study included 521 midwestern urban (n = 256) and rural (n = 265) African American women who were caregivers of dependent African Americans age 65 years and older. Results of heiarchical multinomial logistic regression revealed that those who are younger, those living in an urban area, and those with lower levels of religious attendance were more likely to use alcohol to cope with the stresses of caregiving. Helping professionals can use a strengths perspective, which highlights the importance of emphasizing strengths to increase caregivers’ personal power, the development of strong coping skills, and the improvement of social support systems to create a positive approach to self-care with a focus on community building.

Abstract C81: A systematic review of breast cancer screening strategies for African American women

Abstract BACKGROUND: Breast cancer mortality is higher among African American women (AAW) in comparison to any other racial/ethnic group. This disparity is reflective of multiple factors including health care access, biological factors and participation in screening mammography. Currently there is a scarcity of literature on evidence-based interventional strategies to increase AAW's participation in screening mammography. Our study aims to: 1) Identify the literature from 2009-2015 on interventional strategies to increase the participation of AAW ≥40 years old in screening mammography and 2) Summarize the evidence from this literature including any impact of these interventions on breast cancer outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of published and grey literature on breast cancer screening interventions from 2009-2015. The literature search was conducted in PubMed, Embase (Elsevier), CINAHL (Ebsco), PsycINFO (Ebsco) and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Wiley). Grey literature was searched for using ClinicalTrials.gov, National Cancer Institute's clinical trials database and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. Queries utilized a combination of keywords and database-specific terminology derived from pre-determined eligibility criteria. The four reviewers were divided into two teams to balance expertise in public health, primary care, cancer disparities, breast oncology and breast cancer basic science research. The review protocol was developed with guidance from PRISMA standards. Methodological quality of the studies will be determined by examination of study design, theoretical framework and quality of data reporting. RESULTS: Our literature search yielded a total of 1,83O studies. After removal of duplicates, 1,274 studies were screened for inclusion. Twenty studies met all criteria and were designated for abstraction and data analysis. Nineteen studies presented original data from a US based intervention and had a population which included AAW ≥ 40 years old. Study designs included: randomized control trials, quasi-experimental, pre/post study, non-randomized with controls, cohort and case-control studies. The common interventional strategies employed were reminder systems; trained volunteers; media campaigns; telephone and DVD coaching; and patient navigation/case management. Reported outcome measures included: demographics, pre- and post-intervention mammography participation, and intervention retention rates. Study limitations stemmed from limited sample size, lack of generalizability, absence of theoretical framework, attrition rate and utilization of self-reported data. CONCLUSION: Despite knowledge of disparities in breast cancer mortality for AAW and the impact of screening mammography on breast cancer mortality, there is a paucity of evidence on interventional strategies to increase the participation of AAW in screening mammography. The limited evidence available suggests that interventional strategies that incorporate mass media communication, family and social support networks, and nurse navigation increased the number of AAW who participate in screening mammography. Citation Format: Shana O. Ntiri, Laundette P. Jones, Gonca Kocoglu, Emilie Ludeman, Paula Y. Rosenblatt. A systematic review of breast cancer screening strategies for African American women. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Ninth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2016 Sep 25-28; Fort Lauderdale, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2017;26(2 Suppl):Abstract nr C81.

The Trial of Ruby McCollum the Consequences of Trauma: Segregation Stress Syndrome

In this chapter, I use trial transcripts, books, documentaries, and newspaper articles to examine the case of Ruby McCollum (a wealthy African American woman who spent two years in prison and 20 years in a mental institution for killing her rapist-Doctor Adams). Ruby McCollum is one of an incalculable number of African American women who were systematically raped during the totalitarian era of Jim Crow. Ruby McCollum’s story reveals vivid details about her experience with rape, physical and mental abuse, being drugged, and conceiving two children from her rapist. The Jim Crow south-similar to slavery was based on systemic racism that includes a broad range of attitudes, emotions, habits, actions, and racist ideologies supported by white-dominated social institutions and which Feagin calls the white racial frame. The white racial frame includes the attitudes and actions, stereotypes, prejudices, images, emotions, and narratives that contribute to a persisting system of systemic racism. This includes white men acting upon racist ideologies and stereotypes about the bodies and behaviors of Black women (i.e. promiscuous, hypersexual, jezebels, and morally deficit) as their justification for rape. Then, protected by the laws, practices, and policies of the state, these white men didn’t fear prosecution for the collective rapes. These men, working from the white racial frame, felt justified in their action knowing that their ‘morality’ wouldn’t be questioned. The white men were rarely prosecuted; African American women, their husbands, and their families had no recourse but to accept the benign neglect of the state to not prosecute. In this article, I will discuss systemic racism, the white racial frame, collective rape, and segregation stress syndrome, which is a collective form of PTSD.

The Insulin-like Growth Factor Axis, Adipokines, Physical Activity, and Obesity in Relation to Breast Cancer Incidence and Recurrence.

BackgroundObesity, a risk factor for the development of postmenopausal breast cancer and certain other cancer types, has also been associated with poorer response to cancer therapy and cancer recurrence. The insulin-like growth factor (IGF) axis also influences cancer risk.MethodsIn this commentary, we consider the literature on IGF and its binding proteins and the risk of breast cancer, along with effects of obesity, adipokines, and insulin resistance on breast cancer, and the potential for lifestyle interventions to address weight gain and physical inactivity among at-risk women.ResultsGreater body fatness is associated with a higher risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. The association may be explained, in part, by hyperinsulinemia and alterations in adipokines and estrogens. Nutrition, energy balance, and levels of physical activity are determinants of IGF bioactivity. Alterations in the IGF axis can increase cancer risk and progression. Results from epidemiologic studies indicate that higher circulating levels of IGF-I are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer.ConclusionsIntervention studies are needed to determine how to sustain the positive effects of exercise over time and to identify the optimal mode, intensity, frequency, duration, and timing of exercise for breast cancer survivors, including important subgroups of survivors such as African American and Hispanic women. Future epidemiologic studies of the relationships between the IGF axis and breast cancer should include adequate numbers of African American women, Hispanic women, and other minority women who have been underrepresented in studies completed to date.

Abstract P5-12-07: Triple-negative breast cancer in African American women - How women in New Orleans compare to the rest of Louisiana and the Nation

Abstract Background: For years clinicians have made the empirical observation that there is an unusually high number of African American women (AAW) with triple-negative (Tneg) breast cancer (BC) in New Orleans (NO). Knowing the rate of Tneg BC in AAW is higher than white women (WW), we explored the hypothesis that AAW in NO have a higher rate of Tneg BC when compared to AAW in the rest of Louisiana (LA) and the US. Methods: We analyzed data from the Louisiana Tumor Registry, one of the NCI funded SEER registries, for the tumor characteristics of invasive female BC diagnosed in 2010, focusing on racial disparities; HER2 status was not available prior to 2010. We explored the association of HER2 status with age, race, ER, PR, T, N and M status to determine crude and adjusted odds ratios and rate distribution of subtypes using SEER*Stat and SAS programs. With the recent release of SEER 18 data including HER2 status in cases diagnosed in 2010 we also looked at national rates of Tneg BC in WW compared to AAW and compared these findings to NO and LA. Results: Overall age-adjusted incidence rate of Tneg BC in AAW was 34.0 per 100,000 in NO, 27.2 per 100,000 in AAW in the rest of LA and 20.4 per 100,000 in SEER 18. This translates into a statistically significant increase in incidence rates of Tneg BC in AAW in NO by 67% (p = &amp;lt; 0.05) compared to SEER 18. The rates in WW were 11.3 per 100,000 in all 3 locations. AAW with Tneg BC in NO were more likely to have more aggressive BC. Young age, black race, large tumor size, higher grade and TNM stage were significantly associated with the high risk of Tneg BC. After adjusting for age, geographic area, and other tumor characteristics, the higher risk of Tneg BC in AAW remained in NO compared with the rest of LA and locations of the SEER 18 registries. Table 1: 2010 Tneg rates per 100,000 in NO, LA and SEER 18 RateCountRate RatioRate Lower CIRate Upper CIWhiteSEER 1811.33884154 LA11.30512000.99700.85731.1543 NO11.2441320.99160.66501.4340BlackSEER 1820.39961094 LA27.18622041.33271.13841.5534 NO34.0092611.66721.25822.1711 Conclusions: The incidence rates of Tneg BC in AAW in NO and LA are significantly higher than in SEER 18, with rates in NO being the highest. Rates of Tneg BC in WW in all data sets were similar. SEER 18 analysis also confirms a higher incidence of Tneg BC in AAW compared with WW as previously reported in smaller case series. AAW in NO are more likely to have poorly differentiated and Tneg BC compared to AAW in the rest of LA. This newly identified disparity in the AAW population in NO has clinical implications and translational research potential as it enables us to broaden the understanding and treatment of this aggressive disease. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2013;73(24 Suppl): Abstract nr P5-12-07.

The Girlfriends Project: Results of a Pilot Study Assessing Feasibility of an HIV Testing and Risk Reduction Intervention Developed, Implemented, and Evaluated in Community Settings

African American women in the United States experience significant HIV health disparities. The majority of evidence-based risk reduction interventions do not incorporate HIV testing, and most are targeted only to narrow segments of the population such as women who are pregnant or seen in STI clinics. This pilot study assessed the feasibility and efficacy of The Girlfriends Project (TGP), a community developed and community evaluated HIV risk reduction and testing intervention. A group randomized wait-list design was used to recruit 149 women and to compare findings for intervention group versus control group participants. Women in the intervention group demonstrated statistically-significant increases in HIV knowledge scores and in condom use during vaginal sex. Eighty-seven percent of participants accessed HIV testing with a 100% return rate for results. Study findings suggest that TGP has the potential to be an effective intervention and to increase number of African American women who access HIV testing.

Overweight and Obesity Among African American Women

There is substantial research evidence on the disproportionate number of African American women who are overweight, obese, and morbidly obese. African American women are at significant risk for weight-related chronic diseases including stroke, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, endometrial cancer, breast cancer, and other types of cancer. This article reviews the behavioral, biological, cultural, demographic, environmental, and psychological factors that might explain and maintain obesity among African American women. Also included is a review of the effectiveness of obesity prevention and treatment programs among African American women.

Triple negative breast cancer in African American women: Disparity between women in New Orleans versus Louisiana.

e12501 Background: For years clinicians have made the empirical observation that there is an unusually high number of African American women (AAW) with triple-negative (Tneg) breast cancer (BC) in New Orleans (NO). Knowing the rate of Tneg BC in AAW is higher than white women (WW), we explored the hypothesis that AAW in NO have a higher rate of Tneg BC when compared to AAW in the rest of Louisiana (LA). Methods: We analyzed data from the Louisiana Tumor Registry, one of the NCI funded SEER registries, for the tumor characteristics of invasive female BC diagnosed in 2010, focusing on racial disparities; HER2 status was not available for prior to 2010 diagnosis. We explored the association of HER2 status with age, race, ER, PR, HER2, T, N, M to determine crude and adjusted odds ratios and rate distribution of subtypes using SEER*Stat and SAS programs. Results: Overall age-adjusted incidence rate of Tneg BC in AAW was 30 per 100,000 in NO, which was 24% higher than that in AAW in the rest of LA and two-fold the rate in WW of both NO and LA. The highest rate of Tneg BC was seen in AAW aged 65-69 in NO (184.97 per 100,000) compared with 81.5 per 100,000 in AAW aged 55-59 in LA. AAW with Tneg BC in NO were more likely to have more aggressive BC. Young age, black race, large tumor size, higher grade and TNM stage were significantly associated with the high risk of Tneg BC. After adjusting for age, geographic area, and other tumor characteristics, the higher risk of Tneg BC in AAW remained in NO compared with the rest of LA (OR=1.4; 95% CI: 1.01-1.87). Conclusions: AAW in NO are more likely to have poorly differentiated and Tneg BC compared to AAW in the rest of LA. This disparity remains when comparing our data to previously published literature in other parts of the US. We plan to continue our data analysis and compare NO data to the national average as the HER2 data become available in the SEER Program to better characterize the disparity. This newly identified disparity in the AAW population in NO has clinical implications and translational research potential as it enables us to broaden the understanding and treatment of this aggressive disease.

&lt;em&gt;A Balancing Act: Impacting and Initiating the Success of African American Female Community College Transfer Students in STEM into the HBCU Environment&lt;/em&gt;

IntroductionHistorically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) play a critical role in the educational experiences of African Americans. Of the top 20 leading producers of African American bachelor's degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, all but three are HBCUs (Borden & Brown 2004). In 2010, HBCUs were the source of 17.6% of all bachelor's degrees to African Americans but 19.2% of the bachelor's degrees to African Americans in STEM fields. HBCUs are also a relatively more important source of STEM degrees for African American women than African American men. According to the National Science Foundation (NSF, 2013), 15.8% of all science and engineering bachelor's degrees awarded to African American women in 2010 were from HBCUs, compared to only 14.5% of bachelor degrees in STEM fields awarded to African American men. Coupled with these findings is the large number of African American women enrolled in our nation's community colleges. According to NSF (2013), there has been almost a 50% increase of African American females at community colleges. This insinuates that a large portion of African American female STEM talent will be entering the HBCU environment through the community college environment. For the purpose of this study Black and African American will be used interchangeably throughout.Given the aforementioned statistics on the underrepresentation of African American females in math- and science-related areas, and the role of community colleges and HBCUs in the success of African American females, it is surprising that the literature is bleak regarding the representation of African American female community college transfer students who are enrolled at HBCUs and their overall experiences as a transfer student in STEM. In fact, Hawkins (2013) asserted that according to the Association of American Community Colleges and the Center for the Study of Community Colleges data on the number of community college students who transfer to HBCUs aren't tracked (para. 13). With a large representation of African American students entering four-year HBCUs through the community college environment, examining and exploring the experiences of this population will assist in highlighting factors that positively impact their successful transfer from the community college into the four-year HBCU environment. This study draws attention to a very unique population-African American female community college transfer students in STEM disciplines at a four-year HBCU.The literature is explicit regarding the need to increase the representation of students of color in STEM in the United States. This urgency emerges from the current shortage of competent individuals in math- and science-related fields. The projection that minorities will represent about half of the resident United States population by 2050 (Ortman & Guameri, 2009) makes this population a viable option for fulfilling many of the jobs in the STEM workforce. Even with this urgency, completion rates for African-American, Hispanic, Native American and low-income students are lower than the overall numbers in STEM-related areas (Bailey & Alfonso, 2005, p. 5). This indicates that we are losing a very talented population of students of color at every educational level and in many STEM content areas. Additionally, the National Science Foundation revealed that female and minority students are behind compared to their male and race majority counterparts in achieving degrees in the STEM areas (NSF, 2013). More specifically, female participation in engineering and computer science remains below 30% and since 2000, the representation of underrepresented minorities has remained flat in the physical sciences and has dropped in mathematics (NSF, 2013).Using the Triple Quandary Theory (Boykin & Toms,1985) and its interplay among three tenets: (a) mainstream experience, (b) Black cultural socialization and (c) the minority socialization experience; the purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of seven African American community college female transfer students who are currently enrolled at an HBCU in a STEM bachelor's degree program. …

Hair relaxing (lanthionization) and African American hair

1. William D. Yates, MD 2. William D. Yates Jr., BA (yates7579{at}yahoo.com) 1. Oak Brook, Illinois USA In hair transplant practice, we are seeing an increasing number of African American women with thinning hair. Several causes have been cited ranging from genetics to styling preferences to

Preparing Women for Baptist Church Leadership: Mentoring Impact on Beliefs and Practices of Female Ministers

Effective leadership is important in all organizations, and the Baptist church is no exception. Strong spiritual leaders can make a difference in the life of the institution and its members. Today, a growing number of African American women are answering the call to the Baptist church ministry; but the preparation, training, and mentoring are often insufficient. Ten African American women were interviewed to learn about their backgrounds, education, support, and roles as Baptist ministers in the church to discover perceptions of themselves as teachers, preachers, counselors, and leaders in the church and how they were trained and prepared to assume their leadership roles. Feminist and “servant leadership” theory provided the underpinning of this study. Research questions for study were: (1) In what ways did being mentored, or not, affect African American women ministers' perceptions of their effectiveness in ministry? (2) What relationship/role, if any, do mentors have in preparing these ministers to advance to a senior position of leadership within the Baptist Church? Major findings were that few ministers were willing to serve as mentors, although mentoring is vital for the growth in the position. Instead, women ministers were found to be self-motivated and personally inspired. Results also included role analysis of women ministers as teachers, preachers, counselors, and as mentors themselves. Sadly, the study found that in some cases women were not supporting other women in the Baptist church. Thus, being a woman in ministry is extremely challenging and this process is complicated even more when the minister is an African American woman.

In the company of my sisters: Sister circles as an anxiety intervention for professional African American women

Background Sister circles have been used within African American communities to raise awareness about physical health. The possibility exists that sister circles could be used to educate and teach women strategies about managing anxiety and panic. In this paper we examine professional Black women's conceptualization of panic attacks and other related anxiety issues. Then, we explore the feasibility of sister circles as a psycho-educational anxiety intervention for African American professional women. Methods Four focus groups ( n = 37) were conducted. Focus group interviews were transcribed and were coded into three categories: (a) a major theme; (b) a minor theme; or (c) an off-topic comment. Specifically, we generate information regarding the key content and research components of a sister circle for African American female professionals. Results Focus group members saw a distinct difference between anxiety and panic. The number of African American women who experienced was seen as low. Women felt sister circles were a nice vehicle for helping African American women manage their anxiety and panic. Confidentially was a key component. Sister circles for anxiety and panic were seen as a natural outgrowth of African American women's professional networks. Limitations Limited data were collected on participant's anxiety levels. Conclusions Overall, sister circles were seen as feasible interventions for African American professional women. The data from the focus groups were used to enhance the development of a sister circle intervention for anxious professional African American women.