271 p., Uses W.E.B. Du Bois' reference to the worlds 'within and without the veil' as the narrative setting for presenting the case of an African-Bahamian urban cemetery in use from the early 18th century to the early 20th century. The author argues that people of African descent lived what Du Bois termed a 'double consciousness.' Thus, the ways in which they shaped and changed this cemetery landscape reflect the complexities of their lives. Since the material expressions of this cemetery landscape represent the cultural perspectives of the affiliated communities so changes in its maintenance constitute archaeologically visible evidence of this process. Evidence in this study includes analysis of human remains; the cultural preference for cemetery space near water; certain trees planted as a living grave site memorial; butchered animal remains as evidence of food offerings; and placement of personal dishes on top of graves.
321 p., Locates contemporary articulations of afrofeminismo in manifold modes of cultural production including literature, music, visual displays of the body, and digital media. Examines the development of afrofeminismo in relation to colonial sexual violence in sugar-based economies to explain how colonial dynamics inflect ideologies of blanqueamiento/embranquecimento (racial whitening) and pseudo-scientific racial determinism. In this context, the author addresses representations of the mujer negra (black woman) and the mulata (mulatto woman) in Caribbean and Brazilian cultural discourse.
295 p., In the Bahamas, racism disguises itself under nationalism, education,language, and immigrant status. This study describes the racial dynamics (within African- Diasporic populations) rooted in European colonialism. The Bay Street elite represented European colonialism in the Bahamas as late as the 1970s and transformed the Bahamas into a liberalized economy that relies primarily on tourism. The tourist industry began in the late 1950s, when the Bay Street elite recruited Haitian workers as Cuba denounced tourism at the beginning of the Castro regime. As the profits from the tourist industry declined during the 1970s, Bahamians accused Haitian migrants of being a threat to national security rather than a necessary source of cheap labor. Bahamian print media is the main vehicle for the practices of discrimination against Haitians. This study examines editorials, articles, letters to the editors, and cartoon images from 1959 to 2012 to understand how Bahamians marginalize Haitians and their descendants.
234 p., This dissertation examines the various discursive expressions of black agency that formed the stereotypical representations of African descendants found in Victorian racial discourse. It is, therefore, an analysis of the discursive practices of peoples of African descent and not of the actual stereotypes frequently associated with Victorian racial discourse. A close reading and analysis of the discursive practices of peoples of African descent subject to British rule will generate more focused critical narratives about the fantasies that plagued the British imagination well into the 20sth century. This study also suggest that contemporary scholars should look at Victorian racial discourse as an active dialogue and conversation with the Other, rather than a description of the psychology of power.
257 p., Shows how Protestant missionaries in the early modern Atlantic World developed a new vision for slavery that integrated Christianity with human bondage. Quaker, Anglican, and Moravian missionaries arrived in the Caribbean intending to "convert" enslaved Africans to Christianity, but their actions formed only one part of a dialogue that engaged ideas about family, kinship, sex, and language. Enslaved people perceived these newcomers alternately as advocates, enemies, interlopers, and powerful spiritual practitioners, and they sought to utilize their presence for pragmatic, political, and religious reasons.
196 p., While some scholars contend that Caribbean Black Americans' socioeconomic successes suggest the declining significance of racism, ethnographic studies have found that Black Caribbean Americans are often shocked, disheartened, and angered by the racism they encounter in the U.S. Findings suggest that racism is an enduring problem in the U.S. for both foreign and native-born Black Americans and that it cannot simply be dismissed as a worldview that serves to protect one's sense of self-worth. Itappears to be an obstacle for Caribbean Black Americans pursuing the American dream and may be associated with decreasing perceptions among Caribbean Black professionals that hard work and perseverance are all one needs to succeed in the U.S.
398 p., U.S. American literary and creative artists perform the work of developing a discursive response to two critical moments in Haitian history: the Revolution (1791-1804) and the U.S. Marine Occupation (1915 to 1934), inspiring imaginations and imaginary concepts. Revolutionary images of Toussaint Louverture proliferated beyond the boundaries of Haiti illuminating the complicity of colonial powers in maintaining notions of a particularized racial discourse. These productive literatures and art forms actively engage in creating the transnational ideal of diaspora as we understand it today.
279 p., Offers a comparative analysis of foreign students at Tuskegee Institute between 1892 and 1935. During this time, aspiring young people from the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia coalesced on the rural Alabama campus, creating a unique cultural space. As people of African descent disproportionately found themselves under oppressive social, economic, and political conditions, Tuskegee Institute emerged as a cultural and intellectual safe haven for both American born and foreign students. Foreign scholars and activists such as Jose Marti, Juan Gomez, J. A. Aggrey, Pambini Mzimba, and Marcus Garvey used Tuskegee as a symbol of Black Nationalism, political solidarity, borrowing their methods to uplift darker peoples of the world.
500 p., Explains the rise of a culture of racial silence in a time of heightening racial exclusion in Cuba at the turn of the twentieth century. Employing a case study of Cienfuegos, a port city on the south-central coast of the island, the author examines gendered articulations of inequality among Cuban separatists between the outbreak of the war of independence in 1895 and the inauguration of the Cuban republic in 1902. It is argued that Cuban struggles for political power in the wake of the American military intervention (1898) and military occupation (1899-1902) fundamentally transformed separatist visions of citizenship, increasingly restricting its boundaries along racial lines.
162 p., The Dominican Republic (DR) and Haiti are two Caribbean countries that share the same island, Hispaniola , and a tumultuous history. Both countries' historical relationship is ridden with geopolitical conflict stemming from the DR creating an unwelcoming environment for Haitian immigrants. This dissertation investigates how Dominican thinkers play a significant role in creating the intellectual impetus that encourages anti-Haitian sentiment throughout Dominican society in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake. Examines how Dominican anti-Haitian ideals, as delineated by Dominican nationalist intellectuals, continue to resonate amongst "everyday" Dominicans and within the recently amended 2010 Dominican constitution that denies citizenship to Dominicans of Haitian descent in the aftermath of the earthquake.
