Urban Black Research Articles

Today’s Urban Black Male: The Importance of Finding the Right College to Realize Maximum Success

When it comes to higher education, finding the right school is only one obstacle in the lives of most African-American males. Studies show that even out of the number of enrolled African-American males in the nation, about one-third of them will actually complete an undergraduate degree. A lack of experience in higher education may affect the decision-making process when shopping for the right school. The decision selecting the right school may be predicated on circumstance rather than outright choice, and may depend on the prospective student’s physical location or residence, whether they are urban or rural, and whether they are a first, second or third generation college student in their family. One solution to overcoming these and other obstacles in the college decision-making process for African-American males is to enroll in an institution where they will be supported and nurtured.

Immigrant Retail Entrepreneurship and Urban Black Population Size in the Late Nineteenth-Century United States

ABSTRACTBuilding on the idea that immigrant merchants often operate in black consumer markets, this study tests the hypothesis that late nineteenth-century European immigrants’ highest odds of retail enterprise in the United States were in cities with the largest black populations. Regression analyses of census data show that the positive association between the odds of retail enterprise and percent black was strongest for men from European immigrant groups and especially strong for men of Polish and Russian ancestry, many of whom were Jewish immigrants. The analyses reveal that the association between the odds of retail enterprise and percent black was not significant for native white or black men. The findings accord with the proposition, derived from theories of middleman minorities and ethnic queuing, that immigrant retail entrepreneurship is most strongly associated with black population size for recently arrived immigrant groups that are often socially or spatially close to urban black communities.

The Influence of Maternal Dietary Patterns on Body Mass Index and Gestational Weight Gain in Urban Black South African Women

Maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and subsequent gestational weight gain (GWG) are strong predictors of maternal and infant outcomes; however the influence of dietary patterns on BMI-specific GWG is unclear. This study identifies patterns of habitual dietary intake in urban South African women and explores their associations with first trimester BMI and GWG. Habitual dietary intake of 538 pregnant women was assessed using a quantitative food-frequency questionnaire and dietary patterns were depicted via principle component analysis. Associations between dietary patterns and BMI-specific GWG were analyzed using linear and logistic regression. Three dietary patterns were identified: Western, Traditional and Mixed. Western and Mixed diet patterns were associated with 35 g/week (p = 0.021) and 24 g/week (p = 0.041) higher GWG in normal weight and obese women respectively. Additionally, high intakes of a Traditional diet pattern were associated with a reduced odds of excessive weight gain in the total sample (OR: 0.81; p = 0.006) and in normal weight women (OR: 0.68; p = 0.003). Increased intake of a traditional diet pattern—high in whole grains, legumes, vegetables and traditional meats—and decreased intake of refined, high sugar and fat driven diets may reduce GWG (including risk of excessive weight gain) in urban South African women.

Moving up matters: Socioeconomic mobility prospectively predicts better physical health.

Low socioeconomic status (SES) in childhood confers risk for poor physical health later in life. This study prospectively examines whether improvements in family SES protect youth from developing physical health problems by adulthood and whether such effects differ by race or age. Participants are a school-based sample of urban Black (53%) and White (47%) men (N = 311). Using latent growth curve modeling, we prospectively examined whether changes in family SES measured annually between Ages 7 and 16 predicted physical health diagnoses in adulthood (Age 32). Family SES was assessed as a weighted composite of parental education and occupational status. Physical health diagnoses were assessed as a count of self-reported medical conditions from a health history interview. Consistent with macroeconomic trends, on average, family SES increased until the early 1990s, then remained flat until rising again in the mid-1990s. During each of 3 independent developmental periods, boys raised in families who experienced more positive changes in SES reported fewer physical health diagnoses in adulthood. These effects did not vary significantly by race and remained after controlling for initial childhood SES, childhood health problems, concurrent adult SES, and weight (Body Mass Index or reported overweight). Initial childhood SES did not predict physical health, whereas relative improvements in SES over a 10-year period did. If the families of Black and White boys were upwardly mobile, it appeared to protect them from developing physical disease, and upward mobility was additively protective across developmental periods examined here. (PsycINFO Database Record

‘Central London under siege’: Diaspora, ‘race’ and the right to the (global) city

Drawing upon an ethnography of recent Congolese diasporic protests in central London, this article pays attention to the traversal histories of ‘race’ and the postcolonial dynamics that precede the emergence of a contemporary diasporic ‘right to the city’ movement. The authors critically engage with Henri Lefebvre’s ‘right to the city’ as a way of explaining how the urban is not only the site but also, increasingly, a stake in urban protests. In doing so the authors relocate urban centrality – its meaning, symbolic power and heuristic status in protests – in a context where activists’ claims are not restricted to one city or, simply, the political present. Rather, protestors talk about making geopolitical connections between local and global scales and contemporary and historical injustices. Drawing upon Simone’s notion of ‘black urbanism’, the authors claim to enrich Lefebvre’s original formulation by unpacking the complex performative dimensions of protest as they intersect with race and, more specifically, blackness and postcolonialism. It is concluded that activists’ experience is fundamentally ambivalent; they are at once enchanted and disenchanted with protest in central London.

For Disadvantaged Urban Blacks, Condom Use May Vary with Relationship Type and Partner's Drug Use.

Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive HealthVolume 48, Issue 4 p. 238-239 DIGESTS For Disadvantaged Urban Blacks, Condom Use May Vary with Relationship Type and Partner's Drug Use First published: 19 December 2016 https://doi.org/10.1363/psrh.12009Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume48, Issue4Special Issue: AbortionDecember 2016Pages 238-239 RelatedInformation

Izikhothane youth phenomenon: the Janus face of contemporary culture in South Africa

Izikhothane, is an urban youth phenomenon that has taken some of South African Townships involving the preoccupation with extreme forms of materialism; fatalistic obsession with fashionable clothing brands and expensive alcohol. Local popular music provides the soundtrack. The paper aims to shed light and contribute to discussions about the evolving nature of South African culture concerning youth. It is informed by a constructivist paradigm according to which knowledge is self-constructed. The argument presented is that this youth phenomenon should be understood in the context of a state of flux in contemporary South African society and culture, spiritual malaise and anomie, and commodification, all of which have given rise to a sense of nihilism. The pervasive sense of superfluity belies the bleak economic background of the majority of the youth. The concept of black urbanism provides a different framework for theorizing this subculture as a black experience and phenomenon.

Burden of Diabetes and First Evidence for the Utility of HbA1c for Diagnosis and Detection of Diabetes in Urban Black South Africans: The Durban Diabetes Study.

ObjectiveGlycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) is recommended as an additional tool to glucose-based measures (fasting plasma glucose [FPG] and 2-hour plasma glucose [2PG] during oral glucose tolerance test [OGTT]) for the diagnosis of diabetes; however, its use in sub-Saharan African populations is not established. We assessed prevalence estimates and the diagnosis and detection of diabetes based on OGTT, FPG, and HbA1c in an urban black South African population.Research Design and MethodsWe conducted a population-based cross-sectional survey using multistage cluster sampling of adults aged ≥18 years in Durban (eThekwini municipality), KwaZulu-Natal. All participants had a 75-g OGTT and HbA1c measurements. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to assess the overall diagnostic accuracy of HbA1c, using OGTT as the reference, and to determine optimal HbA1c cut-offs.ResultsAmong 1190 participants (851 women, 92.6% response rate), the age-standardised prevalence of diabetes was 12.9% based on OGTT, 11.9% based on FPG, and 13.1% based on HbA1c. In participants without a previous history of diabetes (n = 1077), using OGTT as the reference, an HbA1c ≥48 mmol/mol (6.5%) detected diabetes with 70.3% sensitivity (95%CI 52.7–87.8) and 98.7% specificity (95%CI 97.9–99.4) (AUC 0.94 [95%CI 0.89–1.00]). Additional analyses suggested the optimal HbA1c cut-off for detection of diabetes in this population was 42 mmol/mol (6.0%) (sensitivity 89.2% [95%CI 78.6–99.8], specificity 92.0% [95%CI: 90.3–93.7]).ConclusionsIn an urban black South African population, we found a high prevalence of diabetes and provide the first evidence for the utility of HbA1c for the diagnosis and detection of diabetes in black Africans in sub-Saharan Africa.

Small-area Variation in Hypertension Prevalence among Black and White Medicaid Enrollees.

To examine within-state geographic heterogeneity in hypertension prevalence and evaluate associations between hypertension prevalence and small-area contextual characteristics for Black and White South Carolina Medicaid enrollees in urban vs rural areas. Ecological. South Carolina, United States. Hypertension prevalence. Data representing adult South Carolina Medicaid recipients enrolled in fiscal year 2013 (N=409,907) and ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA)-level contextual measures (racial segregation, rurality, poverty, educational attainment, unemployment and primary care physician adequacy) were linked in a spatially referenced database. Optimized Getis-Ord hotspot mapping was used to visualize geographic clustering of hypertension prevalence. Spatial regression was performed to examine the association between hypertension prevalence and small-area contextual indicators. Significant (alpha=.05) hotspot spatial clustering patterns were similar for Blacks and Whites. Black isolation was significantly associated with hypertension among Blacks and Whites in both urban (Black, b=1.34, P<.01; White, b=.66, P<.01) and rural settings (Black, b=.71, P=.02; White, b=.70, P<.01). Primary care physician adequacy was associated with hypertension among urban Blacks (b=-2.14, P<.01) and Whites (b=-1.74, P<.01). The significant geographic overlap of hypertension prevalence hotspots for Black and White Medicaid enrollees provides an opportunity for targeted health intervention. Provider adequacy findings suggest the value of ACA network adequacy standards for Medicaid managed care plans in ensuring health care accessibility for persons with hypertension and related chronic conditions.

Black Placemaking: Celebration, Play, and Poetry

Using Chicago as our case, this article puts forth a notion of black placemaking that privileges the creative, celebratory, playful, pleasurable, and poetic experiences of being black and being around other black people in the city. Black placemaking refers to the ways that urban black Americans create sites of endurance, belonging, and resistance through social interaction. Our framework offers a corrective to existing accounts that depict urban blacks as bounded, plagued by violence, victims and perpetrators, unproductive, and isolated from one another and the city writ large. While ignoring neither the external assaults on black spaces nor the internal dangers that can make everyday life difficult, we highlight how black people make places in spite of those realities. Our four cases – the black digital commons, black public housing reunions, black lesbian and gay nightlife, and black Little League baseball – elucidate the matter of black lives across genders, sexualities, ages, classes, and politics.

An Examination of Gendered Violence and School Push-Out Directed Against Urban Black Girls/Adolescents: Illustrative Data, Cases and a Call to Action

ABSTRACTThis article focuses on Black girls/adolescents, a frequently neglected group, given a dominant focus on Black males and their risk status within the school-to-prison pipeline. This article provides a framework for the analysis of the gendered violence to which Black girls/adolescents are subjected while urging a shift in focus from individual-level behavior to a focus on social contextual, structural, and social determinant factors; this means a shift from focusing on proximal factors to distal or upstream factors operating as underlying mechanisms. Both illustrative data and cases are presented and analyzed to highlight how racial disparities in suspension, expulsion, and discipline—which disproportionately negatively impact Black girls/adolescents compared to White girls/adolescents—necessitate a major call to action to close these disturbing gaps.

Seasonal patterns in space use of Black Sparrowhawks Accipiter melanoleucus in an urban environment

ABSTRACTCapsule: Urban Black Sparrowhawk males hunt mostly within 2.27 km of their nest during the breeding season (‘home range’ of 16.15 km2) and increased the distance slightly to 2.43 km outside of the breeding season (18.56 km2). We found high individual variation within and between six global positioning systems tagged breeding males, but no significant seasonal differences in the urban environment of Cape Town, South Africa.

Effectiveness of a Combined Tutoring and Mentoring Intervention With Ninth-Grade, Urban Black Adolescents

ABSTRACTThis quasi-experimental study examined the effectiveness of a combined tutoring and mentoring intervention for urban, low-income Black youth during the transition to high school. Participants were 118 ninth-grade students (experimental n = 69; comparison n = 49). After 7 months in the intervention program, students in the experimental group showed significant improvement in grade point average, perceived support for educational commitment and attainment, and perceived support from school. Results indicate that this approach was beneficial for these students through the transition to high school and may eventually increase high school graduation rates among these urban youth by helping with this pivotal adjustment to ninth grade.

“We Learn through Our Struggles”: Nuancing Notions of Urban Black Male Academic Preparation for Postsecondary Success

Background/ContextScholars agree that students’ academic preparation for college begins as early as middle school. This preparation includes both instructional and social supports. The present study draws much-needed attention to how Black males articulate the role and function of their Chicago high school for helping them negotiate the challenges of urban living to both earn admittance to, and graduate from, a four-year college or university.Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of StudyNot enough is known about the specific supports most useful for improving urban Black males’ academic preparation to earn a baccalaureate degree from a four-year college or university. A single-sex public high school in Chicago (Nabur) rose to national prominence in 2010 for helping each of its 100% Black male graduates earn admission to college. This study investigates how members of this school's inaugural graduating class on track to graduate from college within 6 years of initial enrollment describe their high school academic experiences, and the impact of these experiences for shaping their college persistence. Exploring the contours of academic preparation through Black male students’ perspectives can be instructive for improving urban school reform efforts aimed at better preparing them for multiple postsecondary options.Population/Participants/SubjectsEighteen Black males—members of Nabur's inaugural graduating class who began at Nabur High School in 2006 and graduated in 2010—were participants in the study. Each of the young men, with the exception of one, attended Nabur all four years of their high school career. The young men self selected participation in the study. Each participant was on track to graduate from college within six years of their initial enrollment at the time of data collection.Research DesignThe young men participated in one in-depth one-on-one interview. Instructional and social supports—dimensions of academic preparation explored in this study—help to frame analysis and presentation of the findings.Findings/ResultsStudents described teacher availability and academic expectations (instructional supports), as well as community building, social networking, and personal affirmation (social supports) as important aspects of their academic preparation for postsecondary success. Practitioners’ beliefs about Black males’ resilience as a framework for design and implementation of instructional and social supports emerges as most significant to their academic preparation for college.Conclusions/RecommendationsImplications and recommendations for repurposing “struggle” as a site of resilience in efforts to better meet the unique needs of urban Black males in preparation for college are discussed.

“I Was Just Trying to Make It”: Examining Urban Black Males’ Sense of Belonging, Schooling Experiences, and Academic Success

This qualitative study investigated the schooling experiences of 20 young Black men who graduated from Douglass Academy, an all-boys public charter secondary school in a large urban city. Specifically, I explore how these students construct meaning from their school experiences and their efforts for academic success. The students articulated two critical components of their school experience that positively shaped their achievement and success: (a) school culture and (b) relationships. The student narratives provide a frame for promoting positive school culture that increases the sense of belonging, educational experiences, and academic aspirations of African American male students.

Dietary Intake of the Urban Black Population of Cape Town: The Cardiovascular Risk in Black South Africans (CRIBSA) Study.

Introduction: To determine dietary intake of 19 to 64 years old urban Africans in Cape Town in 2009 and examine the changes between 1990 and 2009. Methods: A representative cross-sectional sample (n = 544), stratified by gender and age was randomly selected in 2009 from the same areas sampled in 1990. Socio-demographic data and a 24-h dietary recall were obtained by trained field workers. The associations of dietary data with an asset index and degree of urbanization were assessed. Results: Fat intakes were higher in 19–44-year-old men (32% energy (E)) and women (33.4%E) in 2009 compared with 1990 (men: 25.9%E, women: 27.0%E) while carbohydrate intakes were lower in 2009 (men 53.2%E, women: 55.5%E) than in 1990 (men: 61.3%E; women: 62%E) while sugar intake increased significantly (p < 0.01) in women. There were significant positive correlations between urbanization and total fat (p = 0.016), saturated fat (p = 0.001), monounsaturated fat (p = 0.002) and fat as a %E intake (p = 0.046). Urbanization was inversely associated with intake of carbohydrate %E (p < 0.001). Overall micronutrient intakes improved significantly compared with 1990. It should also be noted that energy and macronutrient intakes were all significant in a linear regression model using mean adequacy ratio (MAR) as a measure of dietary quality in 2009, as was duration of urbanization. Discussion: The higher fat and lower carbohydrate %E intakes in this population demonstrate a transition to a more urbanized diet over last two decades. These dietary changes reflect the nutrition transitions that typically occur as a longer time is spent in urban centers.

The Role of Body Fat and Fat Distribution in Hypertension Risk in Urban Black South African Women.

Developing countries are disproportionately affected by hypertension, with Black women being at greater risk, possibly due to differences in body fat distribution. The objectives of this study were: (1) To examine how different measures of body composition are associated with blood pressure (BP) and incident hypertension; (2) to determine the association between baseline or change in body composition, and hypertension; and (3) to determine which body composition measure best predicts hypertension in Black South African women. The sample comprised 478 non-hypertensive women, aged 29–53 years. Body fat and BP were assessed at baseline and 8.3 years later. Body composition was assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) (n = 273) and anthropometry. Hypertension was diagnosed based on a systolic/diastolic BP ≥140/90 mmHg, or medication use at follow-up. All body composition measures increased (p<0.0001) between baseline and follow-up. SBP and DBP increased by ≥20%, resulting in a 57.1% cumulative incidence of hypertension. Both DXA- and anthropometric-derived measures of body composition were significantly associated with BP, explaining 3–5% of the variance. Baseline BP was the most important predictor of hypertension (adjusted OR: 98–123%). Measures of central adiposity were associated with greater odds (50–65%) of hypertension than total adiposity (44–45%). Only change in anthropometric-derived central fat mass predicted hypertension (adjusted OR: 32–40%). This study highlights that body composition is not a major determinant of hypertension in the sample of black African women. DXA measures of body composition do not add to hypertension prediction beyond anthropometry, which is especially relevant for African populations globally, taking into account the severely resource limited setting found in these communities.

Reinforcing Housing Assets in the Wrong Location? The Case of Botshabelo, South Africa

Apartheid policies were instrumental in displacing black urbanisation away from key urban areas. Botshabelo, 55 km east of Bloemfontein, is an example of this. This paper uses asset-building theory to argue that post-apartheid policy for Botshabelo has largely reinforced apartheid spatial planning patterns and locked in a significant percentage of the Botshabelo population. Population growth is slow, with evidence of the working age population leaving Botshabelo. At the same time, substantial investment in infrastructure services has increased investment in housing in the past 20 years.

Emerging Critical Meta-Awareness Among Black and Latina/o Youth During Corrective Feedback Practices in Urban English Language Arts Classrooms

This article addresses teachers’ uptake of Black and Latina/o youth linguistic repertoires within the official space of an English Language Arts (ELA) classroom and how youth respond to corrective feedback that is focused on the form of their messages, rather than their function. Corrective feedback offered by one Latina teacher indexed larger standard language ideologies that circulate within urban Black and Latina/o schools. I argue that youth’s responses to corrective feedback point to their emerging critical meta-awareness, given their alignment against narrow conceptions of what counts as language for schooling and learning.

Abstract NS2: Factors That Affect Health Promotion Behaviors in Urban Black Women

Problem: Black women have been shown to experience higher rates of morbidity and mortality as a result of stroke, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes and overweight and obesity than women of other races/ethnicities. Creating an understanding of the various factors that impact individual health promotion behaviors to reduce risk, such as health literacy, self-efficacy and readiness to change will support effective interventions to reduce health care disparities in this vulnerable population. Method: 132 urban Black women in Midtown Manhattan in the service region of an academic medical center with a diverse population was chosen for this descriptive correlative study. Participants completed a questionnaire containing a demographic profile and survey instruments measuring health literacy, self-efficacy and readiness for change, and a detailed report of current health promotion behaviors. Results: Black urban women between 30 - 64 y (M = 45, SD = 9.72) participated. 72.6% completed high school, 25% had achieved a college degree. Pearson correlation showed positive correlation at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) between health literacy (r2 = .25), self-efficacy (r2 = .31) and readiness for change (r2 = .44) to health promotion behaviors. Self-efficacy was positively related to participation church organizations (r2 = .31) and a high body mass index (BMI) (F=25, p&lt;.001). Participation in church organization was inversely related to high health literacy (r2 = .41). Among women scoring high in self-efficacy and low in health literacy, BMI scores averaged higher (BMI=35.2) than those with high health literacy scores (BMI=30.2). Conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, respiratory disorders and stroke were more prevalent if health literacy scores were low and self-efficacy was high. Women with low health literacy were less likely to seek medical care with a health care provider, take prescribed medications or receive routine preventative health care. Conclusion: Future research interventions geared to reduce health care disparities in Black women may be more effective in reducing modifiable conditions if performed in collaboration with community church organizations rather than from a health care provider alone.