Kara Walker: My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor PODCAST

Kara Walker: My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love is the first comprehensive presentation of this remarkable African American artist’s career, which originated at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and has traveled to the Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

It has been organized by Walker Art Center’s Deputy Director and Chief Curator, Philippe Vergne, and Yasmil Raymond, Assistant Curator, in close collaboration with the artist, and arrives at the Hammer Museum on March 2, where it will remain on view through June 8, 2008.

Over the past decade, Kara Walker has risen to international prominence for visually stunning works that challenge conventional narratives of American history and the antebellum South, and is among the most provocative and prominent American artists of her generation. With biting humor, the artist comments on race, slavery and liberation, sexual attraction and exploitation, discrimination, and modernity. The lush sensuality of her work haunts the viewer as it exposes the unofficial and subjugated histories of race and slavery in America.

This is a particularly meaningful exhibition for the Hammer Museum as Kara Walker was in 1999 the first artist to be featured in the Hammer Projects series. Her breakthrough came in 1994 at The Drawing Center in New York where Ann Philbin was previously Director, and Gary Garrels, the Hammer’s Chief Curator and Deputy Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs also organized Kara’s first museum show at SFMOMA in 1997.

He is overseeing the installation of this exhibition at the Hammer.

The exhibition features works ranging from the artist’s signature cut black-paper silhouettes and room-size tableaux, to intimate works on paper and her acclaimed recent film animations to narrate her tales of romance, sadism, oppression, and liberation. Walker’s sophisticated command of shading and line evoke the tradition of the cartoon as a preparatory study, while her silhouettes draw from the 19th century cyclorama, large cylindrical paintings without a beginning or an end. Her stunning drawings and silhouettes reflect a profound agility and attention to detail, as she combines forms in complex counterpoints of positive and negative space. Walker’s ability to fuse her technical and formal style with a corporeal aesthetic creates characters and narrative vignettes that are beautiful and tender, yet often grotesque and repugnant as well.

Walker’s scenarios put an end to conventional readings of a cohesive national American history and expose the collective, and ongoing, psychological injury caused by the tragic legacy of slavery. Her work leads viewers through an aesthetic experience that evokes a critical understanding of the past and proposes an examination of contemporary racial and gender stereotypes. Using the genteel 18th-century art of cut-paper silhouettes, Walker’s compositions play off stereotypes and portray, often grotesquely, life on the plantation, where masters and slaves engage in a profoundly unsettling historical struggle. She has said, “The black subject in the present tense is the container for specific pathologies from the past and it is continuously growing and feeding off those maladies.”

Organized deliberately as a narrative, the exhibition articulates the parallel shifts in Kara
Walker’s visual language and subject matter: from a critical analysis of the history of
slavery as a microcosm of American history through the structure of romantic literature and Hollywood film to a revised history of Western modernity and its relationship to the notion of “Primitivism.”

About the Artist - Born in 1969 in Stockton, California, Kara Walker received her BFA from the Atlanta College of Art in 1991 and her MFA from Rhode Island School of Design in 1994. Since that time, she has created more than 30 room-size installations and hundreds of drawings and watercolors, and has been the subject of more than 40 solo exhibitions. She is the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships, including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Achievement Award (1997) and, most recently, the Deutsche Bank Prize (2004) and the Larry Aldrich Award (2005). She was the United States representative for the 25th International São Paulo Biennial in Brazil (2002). She currently lives in New York, where she is associate professor of visual arts at Columbia University, New York.

Catalogue - To accompany the exhibition, the Walker Art Center has published a 418-page illustrated catalogue containing critical essays by scholars and cultural critics on the myriad social, racial, and gender issues present in Kara Walker’s work by exhibition curator Philippe Vergne; cultural and literary historian Sander L. Gilman; art historian and critic Thomas McEvilley; art historian Robert Storr; and poet and novelist Kevin Young. The publication features more than 150 four-color images of the artist’s work, a complete exhibition history and bibliography as well as an illustrated lexicon of the recurring themes and motifs in the artist’s most influential installations by Yasmil Raymond. Kara Walker has contributed a 36-page visual essay to the catalogue, which is distributed by D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers, Inc.

Kara Walker: My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love was organized by the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. It is made possible by generous support from the Henry Luce Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., the Lannan Foundation, the Peter Norton Family Foundation, Linda and Lawrence Perlman, and Marge and Irv Weiser.

Additional support is provided by Jean-Pierre and Rachel Lehmann.
Major support for the Hammer Museum’s presentation is provided by The Broad Art Foundation and The Joy and Jerry Monkarsh Family Foundation.

It is also made possible through the generosity of the Lannan Foundation, Susan and Larry Marx, Harvey S. Shipley Miller, George Freeman, and The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation. Public programs for the exhibition are supported by Catherine Benkaim and Barbara Timmer.

RELATED:

• The Whitney Museum of American Art: Kara Walker: - “Ms. Walker’s style is magnetic…Brilliant is the word for it, and the brilliance grows over the survey’s decade-plus span. And then there is the theme: race. It dominates everything, yet within it Ms. Walker finds a chaos of contradictory ideas and emotions.” The New York Times, review by Holland Cotter
• The Art of Kara Walker - This Web site is an educational resource developed in conjunction with the Walker Art Center exhibition Kara Walker: My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love,
• Hammer Museum: Kara Walker - Kara Walker: My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love is the first comprehensive presentation of this remarkable African American artist’s career.
• PODCAST Hammer Conversation: Kara Walker - Artist Kara Walker discusses her work in the exhibition My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love with Hammer Museum Chief Curator, Gary Garrels.

contact: sstifler@hammer.ucla.edu WEB: Hammer Museum

African American Votes are Up for Grabs

Fredrick C. Harris's research interests include American Politics with a focus on political participation, social movements, religion and politics, political development, and African-American politics. Publications include Something Within: Religion in African-American Political Activism (Oxford University Press, 1999), which was awarded the V.O. Key Award for the Best Book on Southern Politics by the Southern Political Science Association, the Distinguished Book Award by the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, and the Best Book Award by the National Conference of Black Political Scientists; Countervailing Forces in African-American Civic Activism, 1973-1994 with Valeria Sinclair-Chapman and Brian McKenzie (Cambridge University Press, 2006), which received the 2006 W.E.B. DuBois Book Award from the National Conference of Black Political Scientists; and Black Churches and Local Politics: Clergy Influence, Organizational Partnerships, and Civic Empowerment with R. Drew Smith (Rowman and Littlefield, 2005). Fredrick Harris

Survey Determines African American Votes are Up for Grabs; Political Scientist Also Finds Strong Support for Reforming the Nomination Process Slight majority of blacks feel they should stand together in politics, but a significant majority feel they should not always vote for a black candidate New York, January 29, 2008-An opinion survey on "Racial Attitudes and the Presidential Nomination," conducted by Fredrick Harris, Professor of Political Science at Columbia University and director of the Center on African American Politics and Society, has determined that African-American votes are up for grabs for both leading candidates of the Democratic Party and the skin color of the candidate will not automatically translate in African-American votes. One of the largest racial differences in attitudes was in response to whether the tradition of New Hampshire holding the first primary should continue. Nearly 60 percent of blacks, compared to 44 percent of whites think the tradition should be eliminated. "The study reveals the enormous value black voters place on diversity in evaluating the effectiveness of the presidential nomination process," said Fredrick Harris. "Like most voters, blacks value the process producing a candidate that can win the general election, but they place far greater emphasis on the process giving minorities a voice, and producing an ideologically and regionally diverse ticket. Clearly, black voters are both pragmatic and idealistic, balancing candidates' electability with candidates' commitment to racial, regional and ideological diversity." Electability is a value deemed as important by both blacks and whites, with blacks placing a greater emphasis on the system producing a candidate who can win the general election. About three quarters of blacks (76%) compared to 65 percent of whites think that producing a winning candidate is very important. However, the starkest difference in responses is the importance placed on giving minorities a voice in the nomination process-blacks and other minorities want their issues and interests addressed during the nomination process.

This also means for blacks having influence in the outcome of the Democratic Party's nominee, since about 90 percent of blacks identify with the Democratic Party. About three quarters of blacks (76%) view this value of having a voice and influence in the nomination process as compared to 56 percent of whites, a difference of 20 percentage points.

In the survey, 61 percent of blacks identified as Democrats, only 6 percent as "Republicans" and 24 percent said they were independents.

Diversity is a value that blacks emphasized in different ways throughout the survey. Regarding regional diversity on the ticket, 61 percent of blacks compared to 42 percent of whites believe that the presidential and vice-presidential nominees representing different regions of the country is very important. Also, blacks distinguished themselves from whites by 63 percent recognizing a need for ideological diversity compared to 40 percent of whites.

For blacks, a strong majority favor having a presidential and vice-presidential ticket in which the nominees do not hold the same ideological views, but rather a mixture of liberal and conservative views are represented.

About the Survey

The survey presents the results of a rare survey exploring racial attitudes toward the presidential nomination process. The study examines racial differences in opinions on the current system of selecting presidential nominees and gauges attitudes on whether the current process should be reformed.

The study reports findings on how feelings of group solidarity among blacks influence their candidate preferences as well as citizen's perceptions on whether the 2008 election cycle will produce a fair and accurate count of the vote. In the context of African American politics, the 2008 presidential election cycle presents black voters with a unique opportunity to play a pivotal role in determining the outcome of the Democratic presidential primary, as well as the November general election.

Contact: Tanya Domi, 212-854-5579 or td207@columbia.edu Web: Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy

Thurgood Marshall wins against separate but equal with Brown v. Board of Education

Thurgood Marshall, attorney for the NAACP, 1957 Sep. 17.

The Case of the Century Marshall wins against separate but equal with Brown case By Michael Jay Friedman Thanks to Marshall and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's (NAACP) Legal Defense Fund, the federal courts had ruled that "separate but equal" schools really had to be equal. That was a real achievement, but not the best tool to effect broad change. Poor African Americans in each of the hundreds of school districts in the South could hardly be expected to litigate the comparative merits of segregated black and white schools.

Only a direct ruling against segregation itself could at one stroke eliminate disparities like those in Clarendon County, South Carolina, where per pupil expenditures in 1949-50 averaged $179 for white students and only $43 for blacks. Marshall and his team stepped in to get just such a ruling with the Brown case, and in the process changed the face of American society.

When it reached the Supreme Court, the litigation known as Brown v. Board of Education included five consolidated lawsuits from four states, including South Carolina (from Clarendon County, see photos of Paxville, Clarendon County, schools) and Kansas. The Topeka, Kansas, case involved grade-schooler Linda Brown, who had been obliged to attend a black school 21 blocks from her house. There was a white school only seven blocks away.

Significantly, the trial court had denied the Kansas plaintiff (technically, the plaintiff was Linda Brown's father, the Rev. Oliver Brown) relief by finding that the segregated black and white schools there were of comparable quality. This gave Marshall the chance to urge that the Supreme Court at last rule that segregated facilities were, by definition and as a matter of law, unequal and hence unconstitutional.

Marshall's legal strategy relied on social scientific evidence. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund assembled a team of experts spanning the fields of history, economics, political science, and psychology. Particularly significant was a study in which the psychologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark sought to determine how segregation affected the self-esteem and mental well-being of African Americans. Among their poignant findings: Black children aged three to seven preferred white rather than otherwise identical black dolls.

Photograph shows a young African American boy watching a group of people, some carrying American flags, march past to protest the admission of the "Little Rock Nine" to Central High School.

The Supreme Court heard arguments on Brown on two separate occasions. At the second, December 8, 1953, many people realized that history might be in the making. Lines for the 50 general public seats were long. The fortunate heard Assistant U.S. Attorney General J. Lee Rankin offer the federal government's endorsement of the plaintiffs' argument. He asserted that the justices possessed the "power and duty" to rule that segregation violated the Constitution. Those present also heard Thurgood Marshall's powerful summation: The question, Marshall told the Court, was "whether or not the wishes of these [segregationist] states shall prevail or whether our Constitution shall prevail."

On May 17, 1954, a unanimous Supreme Court vindicated Marshall's strategy. Citing the Clark paper and other studies identified by plaintiffs, the Supreme Court ruled decisively:

... in the field of public education the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated ... are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.

Education attorney Deryl W. Wynn, a member of the Oxford University Roundtable on Education Policy, has said of the significance of Brown,

Here was the highest court in the land essentially saying that something was wrong with how black Americans were being treated. ... I remember my father, who was a teenager at the time, saying the decision made him feel like he was somebody. ... On a personal level, Brown's real legacy is that it serves as a constant reminder that each child, each of us, is somebody.

The Court did not specify a timeframe for ending school segregation, but the following year, in a group of cases known collectively as "Brown II," Marshall and his colleagues secured a Supreme Court ruling that desegregation proceed "with all deliberate speed."

Even then, resistance continued in parts of the South. In September 1957, when black students were forcibly turned away from Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, Marshall flew to the city and filed suit in federal court. Marshall's victory in this case set the stage for President Dwight Eisenhower's declaration of September 24: "I have today issued an Executive Order directing the use of troops under Federal authority to aid in the execution of Federal law at Little Rock, Arkansas. ... Mob rule cannot be allowed to override the decisions of our courts."

Ultimately, Marshall would obtain another Supreme Court decision, this one ordering the immediate desegregation of the Little Rock public schools.

In 1956, Marshall – using Brown as the key decision – came to the legal rescue of Martin Luther King Jr. and his followers in the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott. The boycott began on December 1, 1955, sparked by Rosa Parks' brave refusal to relinquish her seat on a segregated municipal bus to a white man. It was Marshall and the NAACP's legal team who argued for Montgomery's blacks before the courts. A November 13, 1956, Supreme Court ruling held unconstitutional the policy of relegating blacks to the back of the bus. The city of Montgomery yielded and the boycott succeeded at last.

Although many dedicated professionals worked with him, no American contributed more than Thurgood Marshall to the dismantling of legal segregation. Few could boast of a greater record of achievement, but Marshall's career of public service had only begun. He would support the cause of civil rights for all at the highest federal level, as the first African American appointed to the Supreme Court.

[Michael Jay Friedman is a staff writer with the U.S. State Department's Bureau of International Information Programs. He holds a doctorate in U.S. political and diplomatic history.]

IMAGE RIGHTS INFORMATION: No known restrictions on publication. (PUBLIC DOMAIN)

NASA Engineers Lorna Graves Jackson, Marceia Clark-Ingram and Tawnya Plummer Laughinghouse Honored with National Women of Color Award

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Lorna Graves Jackson, an engineer at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and a native of Everett, Mass., has received a National Women of Color Technology Award for exceptional professional and community service.

Career Communication Group's Women of Color magazine and the IBM Corporation presented Jackson with its "Technology All-Stars" award, recognizing accomplished women of color who are advanced in their careers and have demonstrated excellence as leaders at work and in their communities.

Jackson leads several employees as branch chief of the Avionics Systems Integration Branch in the Systems Engineering and Integration Division of the Space Systems Department, part of the Marshall Center's Engineering Directorate mentoring other minorities in this role. The branch includes avionics lead systems engineers that integrate various launch vehicle avionics hardware and software systems that support the Constellation Program, a NASA initiative to create a new generation of spacecraft for human spaceflight, including the Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles.

Jackson came to Marshall in 1986 as a lead engineer for in-house electrical power systems test beds for the Hubble Space Telescope mission. She took on additional responsibilities in 1990 when she joined the technical support team at the Chandra X-ray Observatory as Electrical Power System lead engineer and Electrical Design Integration lead.

From 2001 to 2003, Jackson served in several roles with the Second Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle Space Launch Initiative Program, including avionics lead sub-system engineer for Space Launch Initiative Vehicle Integrated Performance Analysis activities and Integrated Vehicle Health Management requirements lead for Marshall's Systems Engineering and Integration Office. The Space Launch Initiative was designed to develop technologies and lead to the creation of a second generation reusable launch vehicle.

Jackson moved to Marshall's Orbital Space Plane Program Office in 2003, where she was co-lead of the Exploration System Mission Directorate Ground Infrastructure Integrated Discipline Team. She helped identify NASA facilities, facility systems and support equipment for manufacturing, testing and logistics activities to assess ground infrastructure capabilities, risk implications and development plans.

In 2005, she was named acting branch chief of the Design Integration Branch of the System Design and Analysis Division in the Spacecraft and Vehicle Systems Department. Jackson led more than 50 civil servants and contractors that supported systems engineering and integration for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate Constellation, Shuttle External Tank and Expendable Launch Vehicle Programs. She became deputy branch chief in 2006.

Jackson was named branch chief of the Systems Management Branch of the Systems Engineering Division in the Spacecraft and Vehicle Systems Department in June 2007, where she led a team of more than 60 employees in configuration, data and risk management, and engineering planning to support complex launch vehicle systems. She began her current role as Avionics Systems Integration Branch chief in November 2007.

Jackson earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta in 1982. She has earned numerous honors and awards during her career, including a NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal in 2000 for technical excellence and personal dedication on the Chandra X-ray Observatory Electrical Power System development.

Jackson received the "Technology All-Stars" award in November 2007 at the 12th annual National Women of Color Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Conference in Atlanta. The conference is for minority women in information technology, computer science, information science and digital arts.

Jackson and her husband, Kurt, have two children and live in Huntsville.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Marceia Clark-Ingram, an engineer at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and a native of Detroit, has received a National Women of Color Technology Award for exceptional professional service.

Career Communication Group's Women of Color magazine and the IBM Corporation presented Clark-Ingram with its “Technology All-Stars” award, recognizing accomplished women of color who are advanced in their careers and have demonstrated excellence as leaders at work and in their communities. She was nominated for her “professional dedication and enthusiasm” on projects for the Materials and Processes Laboratory at the Marshall Center.

Clark-Ingram is a senior material and processes engineer and advanced materials science specialist in the Laboratory Lead Engineers Office of the Materials and Processes Laboratory, part of the Marshall Center’s Engineering Directorate. She also is the primary Materials and Processes Laboratory's technical lead for interfacing with Marshall’s Propulsion Systems Engineering and Integration Office and the Shuttle Environmental Assurance initiative. This initiative supports mission execution through the life cycle of the Space Shuttle Program by identifying materials that may become obsolete as result of environment, health and safety regulations and mitigating these risks through teamwork.

Clark-Ingram began her career at NASA in 1987 when she participated in NASA's Professional Internship Program, working in the Corrosion Branch of the Materials and Processes Laboratory as a chemical engineer. From 1988 to 1992, she served as an analytical chemist in the Analytical and Physical Chemistry Branch of the lab. In 1991, she performed project management duties for the NASA Operational Environment Team as an experimental manufacturing techniques engineer in the Process Engineering Division of the Materials and Processes Laboratory.

She joined the Materials Compatibility and Environmental Engineering Branch of the Materials and Processes Laboratory in 1992 as an aerospace materials engineer, where she supported the development of a NASA-wide program plan for responding to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Clean Air Act regulations and routinely presented NASA’s materials usage data to the EPA.

In 1995, she served as a structural materials engineer for the Materials and Processes Chemistry Group in the Materials and Processes Laboratory. She was a technical lead for the NASA, Environmental Protection Agency and Air Force Interagency Depainting Project, which tested technologies to be used as paint-stripping processes that did not adversely affect the environment.

Clark-Ingram was promoted to team lead in the chemistry group for the Materials Replacement Technology team in 2000. Her duties included technical oversight and program planning for the NASA Principal Center for the Review of Clean Air Act Regulations effort. This effort provided a proactive approach for the evaluation of potential impacts and risks to NASA’s programs due to usage restrictions of targeted materials. Additional responsibilities encompassed technical oversight for the testing operations at Marshall's Materials Combustion Research Facility and Materials Environment Test Complex.

During 2004, she was a test engineer for the Structural Strength Test Branch of the Engineering Directorate. She provided technical support for testing conducted on thermal protection systems at the Materials Environment Test Complex in support of the Space Shuttle Return to Flight effort.

Clark-Ingram earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Ala., in 1985, and a master's degree in 1995 in management sciences from the Florida Institute of Technology at Redstone Arsenal’s satellite facility.

She has earned numerous honors and awards during her career, including a NASA Blue Marble Award in 2005 for excellence in environmental and energy management demonstrated in support of NASA’s mission and an exceptional service medal for outstanding technical contributions to NASA programs in 2000.

Clark-Ingram received the "Technology All-Stars" award in November 2007 at the 12th annual National Women of Color Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Conference in Atlanta. The conference is for minority women in information technology, computer science, information science and digital arts.

Clark-Ingram and her husband, Neal, have two children and live in Madison, Ala.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Tawnya Plummer Laughinghouse, an engineer at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and a native of Huntsville, has received a National Women of Color Technology Award for exceptional professional and community service.

Career Communication Group’s Women of Color magazine and the IBM Corporation presented Laughinghouse with its “Rising Star” award, recognizing young minority women who have excelled quickly in technology-driven professions.

Laughinghouse is a materials engineer in the Nonmetals Engineering Branch and provides ceramic and ablative material expertise in support of NASA projects, such as the small solid propellant motors associated with the Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster, the Ares First and Upper Stages and the Orion Launch Abort System.

She began her career at NASA in 1990 when she participated in NASA’s Summer High School Apprenticeship Research Program. From 1991 to 1996, she served as a NASA Women in Science and Engineering scholar, which provided her a full-tuition college scholarship and summer internships at the Marshall Center.

After graduating college in 1996, Laughinghouse was a process chemist at Daubert VCI Inc. in Cullman, Ala., and in 1999, she joined Aerovox Inc. of Huntsville as a product engineer. She returned to the Marshall Center in 2004 as a materials engineer.

Laughinghouse earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Spelman College and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, both located in Atlanta, in 1996. In 2006, she received a master’s degree in management, with a concentration in management of technology, from the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

She has earned numerous honors and awards during her career, including selection into the 2008 NASA Foundations of Influence, Relationships, Success and Teamwork, or NASA FIRST, leadership development team. The program helps participants develop foundational leadership skills.

Laughinghouse received the Rising Star award in November 2007 at the 12th annual National Women of Color Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Conference in Atlanta. The conference supports and recognizes the accomplishments of minority women in information technology, computer science, information science and digital arts. Laughinghouse and her husband, Scott, have one daughter, and live in Huntsville.

Betty Humphery Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. 256-544-0034 betty.b.humphery@nasa.gov Web: Marshall Diversity News Releases

Let Your Motto Be Resistance: African American Portraits

Martin Luther King Jr. stands with his wife, Coretta, and daughter Yolanda in 1956. (© Sandra Weiner/National Portrait Gallery)

African Americans’ Struggles, Triumphs Shown in Photo Exhibition, Museum’s inaugural exhibition shows U.S. history from unique perspective By Lauren Monsen Staff Writer Washington -- An exhibition of 100 striking black-and-white photographs evokes the personal stories and hard-won victories of influential African Americans who helped shape the life of their nation over the past 150 years.

Let Your Motto Be Resistance: African American Portraits -- the inaugural exhibition of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) -- traces the history of the United States from the vantage point of people who have suffered discrimination, oppression and injustice. Even now, after decades of social progress, the images from Resistance still challenge America to live up to its own highest ideals, according to Deborah Willis, curator of the exhibition.

The portraits of abolitionists, artists, writers, scientists, statesmen, entertainers and athletes illustrate the theme of “resistance” to negative stereotypes of African Americans, Willis says. “Resistance is not just physical combat, but also takes the form of visual images” that promote recognition and equality, she told America.gov. The exhibition is housed at the National Portrait Gallery, because the NMAAHC (authorized by Congress in 2003) has not yet been built. While the new museum is awaiting its eventual site on Washington’s National Mall, its first curated show provides a glimpse of how museum officials hope to illuminate the African-American experience.

Abolitionist Frederick Douglass posed for this portrait, by an unknown photographer, in 1856. (National Portrait Gallery)

The response to the exhibition has been “overwhelmingly positive,” said Willis. “I’ve received so many wonderful e-mail messages [from museumgoers] thanking me for introducing them to images of people they didn’t know of. Some young people said they felt there was a gap in their education.”

Much of the feedback has been surprising, Willis added. “Paul Robeson Jr. [son of the renowned entertainer and activist] told me he had never seen that image of his father.”

“I’ve been contacted by people from abroad who’ve seen the show,” she said. For example, “Polish viewers related to the civil rights images” because African-American activism affected their own pro-democracy movement.

The appeal of the portraits transcends race, culture or nationality, said Willis. “These images resonate with people everywhere,” she said.

The photographs date from 1856 to 2004; the oldest is an ambrotype portrait of the 19th-century abolitionist Frederick Douglass, whose penetrating gaze attests to his forceful personality and confirms the aptness of his nickname, The Lion of Anacostia. That nickname is a reference not only to a neighborhood in Washington, but to Douglass’ stature as orator, author and champion of universal human rights.

Nearby is a photograph of Sojourner Truth, a female contemporary of Douglass who campaigned fearlessly against slavery and for women’s rights. Truth favored a plain Quaker style of dress intended to convey respectability and seriousness of purpose to a 19th-century audience that granted women far less latitude than men, said Willis.

Author, educator and activist W.E.B. Du Bois, captured in a sepia-toned image, is shown in profile, looking thoughtful and introspective. In contrast, actor/singer/activist Paul Robeson is turned directly to the viewer.

The exhibition features a mix of formal studio portraits and seemingly unposed photographs, such as a dynamic image of operatic soprano Jessye Norman singing with eyes closed and gesturing expansively with one hand. Jazz musician Louis Armstrong, flashing his trademark grin, lifts his trumpet in mid-performance, surrounded by members of his band. Dancer and choreographer Gregory Hines is a study in fluid grace as he pivots barefoot against a seamless backdrop. Pioneering figures in the civil rights movement also make their appearance, including Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and Malcolm X.

In all of these photographs, African Americans are consciously presenting themselves as they wish to be seen, instead of accepting the identity imposed on them by the larger society, said Willis. The images created “a communal portrait of prestige and power that resisted the stereotypes of the time.”

Glamorous studio shots of film actresses Dorothy Dandridge and Lena Horne, for example, make it clear that African-American women were every bit as alluring as their white counterparts. These photographs employ “beauty as a political statement,” said Willis.

She cited a few images that are her personal favorites, including a photograph of politician Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael conversing in the hallway of a congressional building. The two men are relaxed and jovial, with Powell -- a congressman -- and the much younger Carmichael personifying two generations of the civil rights struggle.

Another favorite photograph, of singer Nat “King” Cole, shows the entertainer performing at a fashionable nightclub, entirely at ease and clearly in command of the room.

Let Your Motto Be Resistance: African American Portraits opened October 19, 2007, and will be on display until March 2, 2009. More information about NMAAHC and its activities is available on the museum’s Web site. National Museum of African American History and Culture

Gee’s Bend Quilters Create Art from Scraps of Fabric

Mary Lee Bendolph quilt, 2005, features blocks, strips, strings and half squares. (The Walters Art Museum)

Women descended from slaves gain fame from boldly patterned quilts By Louise Fenner USINFO Staff Writer. Washington -- Generations of black women in the tiny, isolated town of Gee's Bend, Alabama, have created quilts with stunningly beautiful geometric designs and colors, but until the late 1990s, the quilts were little known beyond the community.

Most of the 750 residents of Gee’s Bend are descendants of slaves who worked on a local cotton plantation and became sharecroppers and planters after slavery was abolished in 1863. Throughout the decades, the women of the community made quilts from whatever was available to them, using their imagination and fabric cut from worn-out dresses and work clothes, remnants from a corduroy factory, flour and fertilizer sacks, and even scraps of cloth they found by the road. They used leftover lint from a cotton gin as filler. Many worked in the cotton fields during the day and quilted at night.

“Whatever we had, we made the best of it,” says Creola B. Pettway in the documentary “The Quilts of Gee’s Bend.”

Loretta Pettway says she used to come home from the fields, do chores and then quilt until two or three in the morning. “I would get tired but I had to do it. I had a family and I had to keep them warm.” “When we gathered our crop,” says Arlonzia Pettway, “that’s the only pleasure we had was to sit around the quilt and talk and sing.” Now, the art world has taken notice, and prices for the quilts range from a few hundred dollars to more than $20,000. The quilts have been exhibited in more than a dozen American museums as well as U.S. embassies in Armenia, Georgia and Kazakhstan. Their images are printed on U.S. postage stamps.

Photograph of quilter Arlonzia Pettway from Linda Day Clark's Gee's Bend Series (The Walters Art Museum)

“This is art that deserves to be recognized,” said Bernard Herman, chair of art history at the University of Delaware. “It speaks to something that we lose sight of, which is the presence of art in everyday life.”

In 2007, Herman, who spoke at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, where 45 Gee’s Bend quilts were on exhibition, described how some quiltmakers, such as Mary Lee Bendolph, make the entire quilt at home, while others take pieced-together fabric squares to the Gee’s Bend Quilters Collective for finishing. Most now purchase their fabrics. The quiltmakers pass on their techniques and the tradition of quiltmaking to their daughters, granddaughters and other girls in the community.

“Quiltmaking is as much about the construction of community and kin networks as it is about learning to make bed coverings,” Herman told USINFO.

“So many things now are mechanized; this is handmade,” said Tosha Grantham, co-curator of the Walters exhibition. “Even if you use a machine to piece the little [fabric] squares together, a lot of people still do all the topstitching by hand.” The women come together as a community to quilt, sing and tell stories, Grantham said, “and that’s also a part of this.”

In The Quilts of Gee’s Bend, Essie Bendolph Pettway, Mary Lee’s daughter, says her brother went to college on earnings from their mother’s quilting. For Essie, quilting is a pastime. Sitting at her sewing machine, she says “I love my quilts when I make them. They be beautiful to me.”

And it is gratifying, she adds, “to think that I did some work that somebody thought was good enough to put on a wall.”

In 2003, about 50 quilters, with the assistance of Tinwood Alliance, a nonprofit foundation supporting African-American vernacular art, formed the Gee’s Bend Quilters Collective to market their quilts. Proceeds are shared by members of the collective, although some quilters also sell their work independently. Many quiltmakers have made repairs to their homes, bought appliances and donated money to their church with their earnings.

Nonetheless, Gee’s Bend (officially called Boykin, Alabama) remains economically depressed, said Herman. “They don’t just lack money, they lack the basic services.”

One reason has been its isolation. Forty-five miles from Selma, it is bounded on three sides by a bend in the Alabama River. It is an hour’s drive to Camden, the county seat and nearest place for supplies, schools and medical services. In 1962, white local authorities shut down the ferry to Camden to prevent blacks from registering to vote. Most didn’t have cars at the time. For economic reasons, the ferry service was not restored until November 2006.

Despite these circumstances, or perhaps inspired by them, Gee’s Bend quilts are “one of the most remarkable artistic practices in the United States today,” said Herman. “I’ve looked at between 800 and 900 quilts. I’ve never seen two the same.”

“What a great thing it is for [the quiltmakers] to receive this type of critical success and attention at this point in their careers,” after lacking “the material resources many Americans benefit from,” Grantham told USINFO.

“Out of necessity, the women of Gee’s Bend made these really beautiful objects that weren’t necessarily art for them, but were ways to keep warm,” said Grantham. “I think it’s a very triumphant story of perseverance and faith and creativity.”

The exhibition concluded it's run in the summer of 2007, but you may read more about the exhibition of Gee’s Bend quilts, which traveled to seven U.S. cities, on the Web sites of The Walters Art Museum and the Tinwood Alliance. The exhibition was sponsored by the Houston Museum of Fine Arts and the Tinwood Alliance. The Walters exhibition (June 15-August 26, 2007) included a gallery of 25 photos by Baltimore resident Lynda Day Clark taken in Gee’s Bend.

See U.S. Postal Service press release with photos of Gee’s Bend stamps.

(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov

NOVA documentary about Percy Julian wins AAAS Science Journalism Award

Caption: The young Percy Julian in a laboratory. Credit: From the collection of The Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest. Usage Restrictions: None

African-American chemist was one of the 20th century's most influential scientists "Forgotten Genius," a two-hour documentary about the life of chemist Percy Julian, funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF) has received a prestigious award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The AAAS Science Journalism Award (SJA) recognizes outstanding reporting for a general audience and honors individuals for their coverage of the sciences, engineering and mathematics.

Among this year's winners are the producers of "Forgotten Genius," part of the NOVA series produced by WGBH-TV and broadcast nationally on PBS.

The grandson of Alabama slaves, Julian received a doctorate in chemistry in 1931 and went on to successfully synthesize an alkaloid called physostigmine, which was used to treat glaucoma -- a disease responsible at the time for 15 percent of all cases of blindness in the United States. Hired by Glidden, a manufacturer of paints and other products, he became the first black chemist to direct a chemical research laboratory. In that role he filed more than 100 patents, working with the soybean plant to develop dozens of products, from water-based paints to paper coating to protein-rich foods.

Among Julian's most significant scientific accomplishments is his work with steroids. Using stigmasterol, a plant steroid produced by soybeans, Julian was able to produce the pregnancy hormone progesterone affordably and in bulk, an achievement that helped launch the steroid industry, whose products would eventually include cortisone and the birth control pill.

By 1953, Julian had decided to leave Glidden and form Julian Laboratories, where he continued in his scientific work while establishing his lab as a haven for other black chemists, hiring more of them than any other company in America. He later sold his business for $2.3 million, becoming one of the wealthiest black entrepreneurs in the nation.

He continued to work on behalf of both science and civil rights, surviving death threats and an arsonist's attempt to burn down his house. Meanwhile, he mentored young African-American scientists and worked with the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund to bring about change in the lot of the black man in America. By 1973, he had reached a new milestone - being elected to the National Academy of Sciences - only the second African-American to become a member.

One of the challenges in developing this project was that no biography existed of Julian's life. Producer Stephen Lyons and Director Llewellyn Smith - both winners of the SJA -- were initially daunted by the fact that little written information about Julian existed, beyond a couple of articles and some scattered press clippings.

"This was hardly enough to base a two-hour program on," says Lyons. "And it meant that before we could even think about making a film, we'd have to do the kind of original research that normally goes into writing a book."

Although Julian had died in 1975, many of the people who worked with and for him were still living. So began a comprehensive effort to document the life and accomplishments of this man.

The program Web site at pbs.org/wgbh/nova/julian/ has information on Julian's scientific and career milestones as well as audio excerpts from a speech he gave in 1965, and audio interviews with people who knew him and worked with him. Visitors to the site can also follow the chemical steps involved in building a steroid and see examples of the life-saving drugs developed from ingredients in nature.

"Forgotten Genius" is one of a series of programs on the lives of scientists funded by NSF.

"'Forgotten Genius' not only gives the public a greater understanding of the scientific concepts behind Julian's significant discoveries," says NSF program director Valentine Kass. "It also tells the compelling story of a man of great intellect, personal courage and tenacity. We are proud of its contributions to the Lives in Science series." ###

Since their inception in 1945, the AAAS Science Journalism Awards have honored more than 300 individuals for their achievements. The winning journalists have helped to foster the public's understanding and appreciation of science.

Contact: Maria C. Zacharias mzachari@nsf.gov 703-292-8070 National Science Foundation

More attention should be given to African American hair care needs

Jeffrey J. Miller M.D. Associate Professor of Dermatology

Hershey, Pa. -- Hair straightening, long-term braids and frequent washing may be damaging to African American hair, and dermatologists need to be more aware and understand these differences according to a researcher at Penn State's College of Medicine. "African Americans have different hair care regimens and scalp problems compared to White-Americans," says Jeffrey J. Miller, M.D., assistant professor of medicine and a dermatologist at the Hershey Medical Center. "The purpose of this clinical research is to ultimately better serve patients.

By understanding and appreciating these differences, we can better understand the patient's hair and scalp problem and then provide appropriate treatment."

Miller's presentation titled, "Clinical Relevance of Hair Care in African Americans," was given today (March 12) at the American Academy of Dermatology annual meeting in San Francisco.

There is very little published or talked about concerning the differences in dermatology literature, he notes. "African Americans hair, in general, tends to be curly and dry. If curly hair is relaxed improperly, hair shaft damage can occur. The dermatologist needs to have a background in this type of hair care practice," Miller says.

Products like relaxers are fine when used correctly. Miller reports that products that relax or straighten the hair do so by opening up the cuticle of the hair, and then rearrange the bonds that go into the hair. This process can be damaging and weaken the hair shaft.

In addition to hairshaft fragility from improper relaxing, Miller also reports that another common problem is traction alopecia. "When people braid their hair too tightly, the constant tension on the hair can cause hair loss which can be permanent. Braids often need to be loosened, and hair should be rested by removing and redirecting the tension on the braids every two months," says the Penn State researcher

African Americans generally shampoo their hair less frequently than other ethnic groups, usually once or twice per week, Miller notes. If a dermatologist recommends that a patient shampoo daily, their credibility is undermined because they did not understand the needs of the patient. Because the hair is drier, shampooing more often would damage the hair, he says.

"I do know since I have been doing this research the past few years, I have a better understanding of their hair and scalp needs," says Miller.

His presentation covers hair care regimens of African Americans, treatment regimen for cosmetic alopecia or other clinical problems and a reference guide to certain hair styling terms. ###

Contact: Leilyn Perri lperri@psghs.edu 717-531-8604 Penn State

African-American Issues in Presidential Election

Professor Shaw received his B.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles.

National Science Foundation Awards Political Scientists $490,000 Grant to Research African-American Issues in Presidential Election AUSTIN, Texas — The National Science Foundation has awarded two political scientists at The University of Texas at Austin a $490,000 grant to study African-American political opinions and behavior in the 2008 presidential election.

Tasha Philpot, assistant professor of government, and Daron Shaw, associate professor of government, will recruit, interview and collect data from a national sample of African Americans in collaboration with the University of Michigan's 2008 American National Election Study

Professor Shaw received his B.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles.

The researchers will analyze voting, public opinion and political participation of African Americans. Philpot and Shaw also will examine political conservatism in the African-American community and black attitudes toward African-American political candidates. "This study will significantly enhance our ability to gauge the range and diversity of African-American voters' attitudes and behaviors in conjunction with this historic presidential election," Philpot said. "It also will help inform comparisons of African-American voter behavior with that of whites and Latinos."

Philpot is the author of "Race, Republicans, and the Return of the Party of Lincoln," which explores how political parties use racial symbols to reshape their image among the electorate. She is an affiliate of the Center for African and African American Studies and the Center for Women's and Gender Studies at the university.

Shaw is the author of "Unconventional Wisdom: Facts and Myths About American Voters," forthcoming from Oxford University Press. He worked as a strategist in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections and serves on the national decision team for Fox News.

Learn more about the 2008 American National Election Study.

For more information, contact: Jennifer McAndrew, College of Liberal Arts, 512-232-4730; Tasha Philpot, Center for African and African American Studies, College of Liberal Arts, 512-232-3681. University of Texas at Austin

Dr. Charles Richard Drew, M.D., C.M., MED. D.Sc.

Dr. Charles Richard Drew, M.D., C.M., MED. D.Sc. - Professor Of Surgery, Howard University, Chief Surgeon, Freedmen's Hospital, Washington, D.C., 1943

ARC Identifier: 535693, Local Identifier: 208-COM-230

Creator: Office for Emergency Management. Office of War Information. Domestic Operations Branch. News Bureau. (06/13/1942 - 09/15/1945) ( Most Recent) Type of Archival Materials: Photographs and other Graphic Materials.

Level of Description: Item from Record Group 208: Records of the Office of War Information, 1926 - 1951. Location: Still Picture Records Section, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-S), National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001 PHONE: 301-837-3530, FAX: 301-837-3621, EMAIL: stillpix@nara.gov

Production Date: 1943. Part of: Series: Artworks and Mockups for Cartoons Promoting the War Effort and Original Sketches by Charles Alston, ca. 1942 - ca. 1945. Scope & Content Note: Dr. Charles Drew - with biographical paragraphs.

Scope & Content Note: Dr. Charles Drew - with biographical paragraphs. Access Restrictions: Unrestricted, Use Restrictions: Unrestricted. Variant Control Number(s): NAIL Control Number: NWDNS-208-COM-230. Copy 1 Copy Status: Preservation. Storage Facility: National Archives at College Park - Archives II (College Park, MD) Media Media Type: Artwork Index Terms, Subjects Represented in the Archival Material African Americans Arts, World War, 1939-1945. Contributors to Authorship and/or Production of the Archival Materials Alston, Charles Henry, 1907-1977, Artist.

Charles Richard Drew was born on June 3, 1904 in Washington D.C. to Nora and Richard Drew. Drew attended Meads Mill Elementary School,and began working as a paperboy selling copies of the Washington Times and Herald while attending school. Instead, he found work at construction sites. In 1918, he enrolled in Dunbar High School.

Dunbar was a segregated high school that had a reputation for being one of the strongest Black public schools in the country. He also was an athlete. Drew’s athleticism won him a partial scholarship to Amherst College in Massachusetts. Drew’s sister, Elsie who was ailing with tuberculosis, died of pandemic influenza in 1920. This loss is said to have influenced him to study medicine.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article, Charles R. Drew SEE FULL License, Credit and Disclaimer

Closing the achievement gap in math and science

Latest results from Math and Science Partnership program show gains for Hispanic and African-American students.

The latest results from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Math and Science Partnership (MSP) program show not only improved proficiency among all elementary and middle school students, but also a closing of the achievement gaps between both African-American and Hispanic students and white students in elementary school math, and between African-American and white students in elementary and middle-school science.

Since 2002, the MSP program has supported institutions of higher education and K-12 school systems in partnering higher education faculty from science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines with K-12 teachers. Through the program, STEM faculty provide professional development and mentoring to math and science teachers to deepen their content knowledge in their field of expertise--all with the goal of better preparing students in these subjects.

Caption: A middle-school student describes a mathematical image at the MSP Summer Institute for middle school math teachers in Broward County, Fla. Credit: Richard Voss, Heinz-Otto Peitgen. Usage Restrictions: None.

The MSP program currently supports 52 such partnerships around the country that unite some 150 institutions of higher education with more than 700 school districts, including more than 5,200 schools in 30 states and Puerto Rico. More than 70 businesses, numerous state departments of education, science museums and community organizations are also partners. The current results are drawn from schools whose MSP projects target specific improvements in their math and/or science programs. The data used are student scores on state proficiency tests in math and science collected over three different school years. The figure at right shows how student subgroups within MSP projects focused on math improvements performed on math tests in the 2003-2004 and 2005-2006 school years, respectively. Among approximately 39,000 students at 160 schools, the scores of white students performing at or above the proficient level rose 4.6 percentage points between the 2003-2004 and the 2005-2006 school years.

Caption: These results are from Math and Science Partnership projects that target specific improvements in their math and/or science programs. Source: MSP-Management Information System, K-12 District Survey and Partnership Projects Survey. Credit: Zina Deretsky. Usage Restrictions: None.

Meanwhile, the results for Hispanic and African-American students went a long way towards closing an identified achievement gap. The percentage of Hispanic students performing at or above proficient rose by 18.3 percentage points--from 35.9 to 54.2 percent--and those of African-American students rose by 17.9 points--from 27.6 to 45.5 percent. Although small in number, Asian-American students, special education students, and students with limited English proficiency also showed gains. The rise in science scores among elementary students within MSP projects focused on science improvements was not quite as pronounced, as shown in the figure at right, with the percentage of Hispanic students scoring at or above proficient rising by 6.5 percentage points, those of African-American students by 15.8, and those of white students by 12.2.

Science testing is not mandated in all states, and there was a smaller universe of schools--96 schools, with assessments for only 7,500 students--reporting science proficiency results. However, science testing promises to be an area of increasing focus in the states, because the No Child Left Behind act requires that all states implement science testing by 2009.

Similar analyses were conducted for MSP middle schools. Math scores were drawn from 151 schools within MSP projects focused on math improvements and representing about 95,000 students while science scores were drawn from 51 schools within MSP projects focused on science improvements and representing about 9,500 students. While both math and science scores went up in all subgroups, results were the most pronounced among African-American science students; the percentage of students performing at or above proficient rose from 15.9 percent to 23.5 percent over the period, and this closed the achievement gap with white students.

"I'm happy to see that schools' involvement in MSP projects is continuing to have a positive impact on student proficiency results," says NSF program director Dan Maki. "We're particularly excited about the progress being made among Hispanic and African-American students, as closing achievement gaps--while improving achievement for all students--has been a goal of the MSP program since its inception. We continue to monitor data for participating high schools, but we aren't seeing trends yet."

Currently, MSP projects are actively engaged in determining which strategies most strongly correlate to improved student performance. For example, the Milwaukee Mathematics Partnership, led by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, has a major objective of developing district- and school-based teacher leaders and distributing their expertise across Milwaukee's schools. The project has studied how often the teacher leaders effectively spend time with other teachers and strongly connect with networks of teachers, and found that schools in which teacher leaders play important roles demonstrate stronger student achievement results in mathematics. ###

Contact: Maria C. Zacharias mzachari@nsf.gov 703-292-8070 National Science Foundation

Penn State acquires important Blockson Collection

Penn State's University Libraries have recently acquired the Charles L. Blockson Collection of African-Americana and the African Diaspora, an important assemblage of some 10,000 volumes relating to African-American, African, Latin American and Caribbean history and culture. The collection is housed in the new Charles L. Blockson Room, on the third floor of Pattee Library, west, and opened April 18. 2008.

The ceremony was open to the public, and was followed by a reception in the Mann Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library. The reception also celebrated Penn State's Black Alumni Reunion, and offered an opportunity for alumni to reconnect, enjoy programs and discover the African-American legacy at Penn State.

Charles Blockson, a 2007 Penn State Distinguished Alumnus, began collecting historical items related to African-Americans as a fourth-grader, at first searching through Salvation Army and Goodwill shelves before graduating to more serious collecting venues like antiquarian bookstores. Blockson has devoted his life to research, scholarship and collecting and preserving significant materials related to African-American history, following in the footsteps of some great African-American collectors, including David Ruggles, James W. C. Pennington, his ancestor William Still, Dorothy Porter Wesley and Arthur A. Schomburg.

Over the decades, Blockson has traveled extensively to acquire rare African, African-American and African Caribbean publications -- some dating back to the 16th century -- forming not one but two great collections in the process.

In 1984, he donated to Temple University the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American History Collection. More recently, but no less actively, Blockson has formed a second collection on black history, which now forms part of Penn State’s Special Collections Library. The Penn State collection focuses not only on African-Americana, but more broadly documents the African Diaspora, the pattern of human migration that reaches back hundreds of years and traces the movement of blacks from their African homelands to areas around the world, most notably in South America (Brazil and Guyana, for example), the Caribbean and the United States. Both the Temple and Penn State collections are considered among the best African-American historical collections in the country.

Cataloging of the Blockson Collection began in the fall of 2007. The Charles L. Blockson Room is open from 2 to 4 p.m. Thursdays or by appointment. In the fall, the University Libraries will initiate more active service in support of this valuable resource. Inquiries and requests for materials may be directed to the Special Collections Library, 104 Paterno Library, at (814) 865-1793 or at libraries.psu.edu/speccolls/ online. Researchers may search the growing holdings of the collection by choosing the Advanced Search in the CAT, selecting Special Collections in the "In Library" box and then choosing "Rare Books & Mss," "Blockson Collection" and "Blockson Collection Vault" in the location box

Also running is a display in the Social Sciences Library, second floor, Paterno Library, "Charles L. Blockson's Quest to Document Black History." The exhibit will highlight selected items from the collection and provide information to patrons who may be interested to visit the Blockson Room. For reference help, to make an appointment or more information, contact Sylvia Nyana at (814) 865-8864 or san17@psu.edu.

Contact: Catherine Grigor cqg3@psu.edu WEB: libraries.psu.edu 814-863-4240

Pitt Study Finds Inequality in Tobacco Advertising

African-Americans more likely targets for pro-tobacco media messages PITTSBURGH, August 20, 2007 — Compared with Caucasians, African-Americans are exposed to more pro-tobacco advertising, according to a University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine study published in this month’s Public Health Reports.

Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States, causing more than 440,000 deaths annually and costing more than $150 billion in direct and indirect costs each year; African-Americans currently bear the greatest burden of this morbidity and mortality. Although exposure to pro-tobacco media messages is now known to be a potent risk factor for tobacco use, whether African-Americans are in fact exposed to more pro-tobacco advertising has been unclear until now.

“This review and meta-analysis demonstrates that African-Americans are indeed disproportionately exposed to pro-tobacco mass media messages in terms of both concentration and density,” said Brian A. Primack, M.D., Ed.M., senior author of the study and assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. “These findings will help us develop interventions and further research aimed at reducing tobacco-related health disparities.”

In the study, Dr. Primack and colleagues evaluated data from both predominantly African-American and Caucasian markets using studies from peer-reviewed journals. By extracting the number of total media messages the number of tobacco-related messages, and the number of residents living in each market area, they were able to calculate the concentration and density of tobacco advertising in each market.

Concentration of tobacco advertising can be defined as the number of tobacco advertisements divided by the total number of advertisements. “According to our data, the concentration of pro-smoking signage is approximately 70 percent higher for African-Americans ,” said Dr. Primack. “Our results also showed that there are about 2.6 times as many advertisements per person in African-American areas as compared to Caucasian areas.”

The findings, Dr. Primack notes, suggest that African-Americans may be special targets of the tobacco industry.

“This population may require specific public health interventions to counter the effect of unbalanced pro-tobacco promotion. Knowing that they may be targeted could motivate African-Americans to refuse to fall prey to industry tactics and help them avoid smoking,” he said.

The study authors point out important limitations worth noting. In particular, the studies that met criteria for inclusion in this review focused on older forms of advertising and promotion such as billboards and magazines. This suggests that additional research is needed on current media portrayals of smoking, such as tobacco promotions and smoking in films.

Co-authors of the study include James E. Bost, Ph.D., and Michael J. Fine, M.D., M.Sc., both from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and Stephanie R. Land, Ph.D., from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.

Dr. Primack was supported by a Physician Faculty Scholars Award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a career development grant from the National Cancer Institute and a grant from the Maurice Falk Foundation. Dr. Fine was supported in part by a career development award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine is considered among the nation’s leading medical schools, renowned for its curriculum that emphasizes both the science and humanity of medicine and its remarkable growth in National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant support, which has more than doubled since 1998. For fiscal year 2005, the University ranked seventh out of more than 3,000 entities receiving NIH support, with respect to the research grants awarded to its faculty.

The majority of these grants were awarded to the faculty of the medical school. As one of the university’s six Schools of the Health Sciences, the School of Medicine is the academic partner to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Their combined mission is to train tomorrow’s health care specialists and biomedical scientists, engage in groundbreaking research that will advance understanding of the causes and treatments of disease and participate in the delivery of outstanding patient care.

Contact: Gloria Kreps KrepsGA@upmc.edu 412-647-3555 University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences

Shades of black Skin tone outweighs education for African Americans seeking jobs

Matthew Harrison (above), a doctoral student at UGA, undertook the first significant study of “colorism” in the American workplace, finding that light-skinned blacks are preferred by employers over dark-skinned blacks with more education. (Photo by Peter Frey)

Everyone knows about the insidious effects of racism in American society. But when it comes to the workplace, African-Americans may face a more complex situation--the effects of their own skin tone. For the first time, a study indicates that dark-skinned African-Americans face a distinct disadvantage when applying for jobs, even if they have resumes superior to lighter-skinned black applicants. Matthew Harrison, a doctoral student at the University of Georgia, presented his research today at the 66th annual meeting of the Academy of Management in Atlanta.

Along with his faculty supervisor, Kecia Thomas, a professor of applied psychology and acting director of UGA's Institute for African American Studies, Harrison undertook the first significant study of "colorism" in the American workplace.

"The findings in this study are, tragically, not too surprising," said Harrison. "We found that a light-skinned black male can have only a bachelor's degree and typical work experience and still be preferred over a dark-skinned black male with an MBA and past managerial positions, simply because expectations of the light-skinned black male are much higher, and he doesn't appear as 'menacing' as the darker-skinned male applicant."

While there have been other studies of effects of colorism socially, this is the first study designed specifically to examine how it operates in hiring and in the workplace.

In America especially, Harrison says, when people think of race or race relations they commonly think of black and white. In fact, skin tone differences are responsible for increasing differences in perceptions within standard racially defined groups such as "blacks." This diversity within races based on skin complexion has a long history but only recently have researchers begun to understand what these differences can mean.

Participants in the study that Harrison, himself an African American, directed for his master's thesis included 240 undergraduate students at the University of Georgia, some of whom participated in the study voluntarily, while others got class credit for their involvement. While there were a disproportionate number of females in the study (72 percent), this was due to the high percentage of women majoring in psychology at UGA and was adjusted for in reporting the research.

Each student was asked to rate one of two resumes that came with one of three photographs of a theoretical job applicant (one man, one woman) whose skin color was either dark, medium or light. Harrison manipulated the skin tones of the applicants with Adobe Photoshop so facial characteristics could not be included in how the students rated the job applicants.

"Our results indicate that there appears to be a skin tone preference in regards to job selection," said Harrison. "This finding is possibly due to the common belief that fair-skinned blacks probably have more similarities with whites than do dark-skinned blacks, which in turn makes whites feel more comfortable around them."

Harrison refers in his paper to numerous studies that show that light skin is almost universally valued among all racial groups. Hierarchies based on light skin are prevalent in Hindu cultures in India, for example, and in Asian and Hispanic cultures as well.

"While the respondents in this study were University of Georgia students, we think we would find the same response no matter where such a study was done in the country," said Thomas. "When you consider that probably no more than 1 percent of industrial and organizational psychologists are black, you can see why a study like this just hasn't been done before regarding colorism in the workplace. There are real-world consequences to these issues."

Harrison said he was surprised that skin hue was even more important than education in evaluating job applicants.

"Given the increasing number of biracial and multiracial Americans, more research similar to this study should be performed so that Americans can become more aware of the prevalence of color bias in our society," he said. "The only way we are going to begin to combat some of the inequities that result due to the beliefs and ideologies that are associated with colorism is by becoming more aware of the prejudices we have regarding skin tone due to the images we are exposed to on a regular basis."

Society, he said, equates lighter skin with attractiveness, intelligence, competency and likeability, while we are often given a "much more dismal and bleak picture" of those who have darker skin.

"The more we challenge these images and our own belief systems," said Harrison, "the greater the likelihood we will judge an individual by his or her actual merit rather than skin tone." ###

The Academy of Management is a leading professional organization for scholars dedicated to creating and disseminating knowledge about management and organizations. Founded in 1936 by two professors, the AOM is the oldest and largest scholarly management association in the world. Today, the group has more than 16,000 members from 97 nations.

Contact: Kim Carlyle kcarlyle@uga.edu 706-542-8083 University of Georgia by Philip Lee Williams phil@franklin.uga.edu

'Living While Black' index measures variety of stress factors for African Americans VIDEO

Penn State researchers have developed a Living While Black index, which combines the impact of economic, social and health factors affecting African Americans.

Dr. Shaun Gabbidon, associate professor of criminal justice, and Dr. Steven Peterson, professor of politics and public policy, both at Penn State's Harrisburg campus, recently published their findings in the September issue of the Journal of Black Studies.

"There are many previous studies on the impact of health, economic, sociological and criminological factors separately," said Gabbidon. "But this study tries to determine whether being Black in America exacts a 'social cost' by being exposed to several stressors that can severely affect the quality of life among Black Americans."

The Penn State researchers constructed a Living While Black index that includes state-level comparisons of Black poverty rates, the number of Black prisoners, the lack of access to health care, homicide rate, infant mortality rate, business earnings of African American-owned firms, and the percentage of non-elderly who are uninsured.

A Quality-of-Life index was also developed: including chronic drinking problem data by state, mental health problems, suicide rate, and shorter life spans.

Using the two indexes, the researchers found that the Blacks' quality of life was negatively affected by the economic factors (Black-owned businesses' sales and the poverty rate) and by death factors (the infant death rate and the homicide rate). But their research also reported that religiosity served as a buffer and reduced the impact of the stressors.

For African American businesses, we may need to study further the relationship between difficulty in business ownership and life stresses such as drinking and mental health problems. It could be that these outcomes are the products of the difficulties of obtaining funds to run their businesses effectively. Such relationships, which are the products of data from state-level measures, warrant additional investigation, Gabbidon noted. "In the interim, though, states might investigate the level of discrimination claims involving bank loans to Black businesses, and whether state commerce agencies are making appropriate levels of support available to new Black businesses," he added.

The number of Black prisoners and the uninsured Black residents who are not elderly were not linked to a negative quality of life, according to the researchers. They said it is likely that African Americans have "normalized" not having health insurance, therefore, it brings on little stress. Moreover, since Blacks, in the short term, are likely more concerned about being arrested than going to jail, they are likely not as stressed as one would anticipate.

The linkage between poverty and economic disadvantage and serious crimes is not new, but the Penn State study strongly illustrates the relationship.

Gabbidon noted, "States may need to invest in community-level programs aimed at keeping at-risk youth away from criminal activities. In addition, adequate levels of alcoholism and mental health counseling services will be necessary. Our research makes it clear that the comprehensive 'Living While Black' stress factors pose a substantial public health issue for all states. Coordinated public health strategies at the economic, health and social levels will pay for themselves over the long run."
###

Contact: Steve Hevner sdh4@psu.edu 717-948-6029 Penn State

African-Americans have 5 times higher amputation rate

CHICAGO – The overall amputation rate in northern Illinois is declining due to improved care for diabetes and peripheral vascular disease, new research shows. But not everyone is reaping the benefits.

A new study from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine has found people in African American communities on Chicago’s South and West Side have a five times higher rate of lower limb amputations than people in the predominantly white suburbs and exurbs.

“Amputations are the canary in the coal mine for quality of care," said Joe Feinglass, lead author and research professor of medicine at the Feinberg School. “Many amputations are preventable. This means the primary care for minority people may not be very good. "

Joe Feinglass, Ph.D. is a Research Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine and the Institute for Healthcare Studies. Dr. Feinglass is a health services researcher with a degree in Public Policy Analysis. He has over 20 years of experience in health policy, quality improvement, health disparities, medical informatics, patient safety, and social epidemiology research with over 100 peer reviewed publications. Dr. Feinglass has taught in the Northwestern Masters of Public Health Degree Program since 1996. He formerly taught History and Political Science at Harper and Oakton Community Colleges in the Chicago suburbs. He is on the Board of the Health and Medicine Policy Research Group and a Sounding Board Member of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded Leading Change Disparities Solutions Initiative.

Feinglass said the high rate of amputations means people are not being closely monitored. "They come in with gangrene or a skin ulcer that comes to the attention of a doctor really late and nothing can be done," he said. "They have to take their leg off.” This is the first longitudinal study -- nationally or locally -- to examine amputation trends over nearly 20 years. Most studies of amputation rates look at one point in time. The study will be published in the May issue of the Journal of Vascular Surgery. The high amputation rate for minorities in Chicago likely reflects other racial disparities in healthcare, Feinglass said. "Diabetes is a condition that is highly susceptible to quality of care. Amputation rates give you a basic idea of how the system is performing." It was known in the late 1990’s that African Americans were more likely to have an amputation than whites. But as the national trend of amputations declined in the early 2000's, Feinglass wanted to see if the gap closed or at least narrowed. The study examined hospital discharge data from the Illinois Department of Public Health for nine counties in northern Illinois encompassing more than eight million people. Feinglass then broke the statistics into three rings of the metropolitan area based on their zip codes. He found that amputations in the suburban and exurban areas with a primarily white population dropped to 12 per 100,000 in 2004 from 14 in 1987. The largely African American area on the South and West Side actually increased to 63 amputations from 60. The inner suburbs and other areas of Chicago, with between 10 and 50 percent African American population and a large Hispanic population, held fairly steady at 20 amputations per 100,000. About half of the people who have amputations are diabetic patients with decreased circulation to the feet. Almost all who have amputations are smokers, a habit that can cause hardening of the arteries and clots in the legs.

"These people get sores on their feet that don't heal," Feinglass said. "They develop an ulcer that can often turn into something worse if it's not treated right away."

The high amputation rate is linked to lack of access to primary care and specialty care for diabetic patients and patients with vascular disease. In addition, patients without diabetes may not get a screening for peripheral arterial disease, an inexpensive test to indicate risk factors for circulation problems.

To address these problems, Feinglass said communities need diabetes management programs with nurses to help people control their blood sugar.

"Those are the kinds of programs we know would pay off in the inner city. When blood sugar is lower, there is a lower amputation rate," Feinglass said. Vascular surgeons and podiatrists are also needed in these areas.

"An amputation is a horrible thing to have anybody go through," Feinglass said. "We have to do better at preventing these." ###

Contact: Marla Paul Marla-Paul@northwestern.edu 312-503-8928 Northwestern University