Communication ecologies and contemporary African American families: A study of Black family death rituals.

African American families are shown to include an extended group as family during the death ritual process, with a primary relationship among the family, church and funeral directors.This study takes an ecological approach to the study of family interaction utilizing Kramer's theory of dimensional accrual/dissociation to describe and explain family communication patterns in the death ritual process. The study also compares the ritual process of African American and white families and how death rituals helps shape African American family identity.The study finds great similarity among black and white families in the death ritual process, differing in the freedom of emotional expression expressed more by black families. The study also finds that dissociation is evidenced in the death ritual process which is identity-seeking, expressed in myth and entangled in the capitalist process of commodification and commercialization.Research in family communication has three current limitations: (a) The lack of a general theory explaining contemporary family interaction; (b) The focus on the family unit as the primary object of study; and (c) A lack of consideration of cultural/ethnic variations in family communication patterns. This study seeks to fill this void by studying the death rituals of African American families

Targeted Ads and/as Racial Discrimination: Exploring Trends in New York City Ads for College Scholarships

This paper uses and recycles data from a third-party digital marketing firm, to explore how targeted ads contribute to larger systems of racial discrimination. Focusing on a case study of targeted ads for educational searches in New York City, it discusses data visualizations and mappings of trends in the advertisements’ targeted populations alongside U.S census data corresponding to these target zipcodes. We summarize and reflect on the results to consider how internet platforms systemically and differentially target advertising messages to users based on race; the tangible harms and risks that result from an internet traffic system designed to discriminate; and finally, novel approaches and frameworks for further auditing systems amid opaque, black-boxed processes forestalling transparency and accountability

Beyond the hashtags: #Ferguson, #Blacklivesmatter, and the online struggle for offline justice

In 2014, a dedicated activist movement--Black Lives Matter (BLM)--ignited an urgent national conversation about police killings of unarmed Black citizens. Online tools have been anecdotally credited as critical in this effort, but researchers are only beginning to evaluate this claim. This research report examines the movement's uses of online media in 2014 and 2015. To do so, we analyze three types of data: 40.8 million tweets, over 100,000 web links, and 40 interviews of BLM activists and allies

Bone mineral density measurement and osteoporosis treatment after a fragility fracture in older adults: regional variation and determinants of use in Quebec

BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis (OP) is a skeletal disorder characterized by reduced bone strength and predisposition to increased risk of fracture, with consequent increased risk of morbidity and mortality. It is therefore an important public health problem. International and Canadian associations have issued clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of OP. In this study, we identified potential predictors of bone mineral density (BMD) testing and OP treatment, which include place of residence. METHODS: Our study was a retrospective population-based cohort study using data from the Quebec Health Insurance Board. The studied population consisted of all individuals 65 years and older for whom a physician claimed a consultation for a low velocity vertebral, hip, wrist, or humerus fracture in 1999 and 2000. Individuals were considered to have undergone BMD testing if there was a claim for such a procedure within two years following a fracture. They were considered to have received an OP treatment if there was at least one claim to Quebec's health insurance plan (RAMQ) for OP treatment within one year following a fracture. We performed descriptive analyses and logistic regressions by gender. Predictors included age, site of fracture, social status, comorbidity index, prior BMD testing, prior OP treatment, long-term glucocorticoid use, and physical distance to BMD device. RESULTS: The cohort, 77% of which was female, consisted of 25,852 individuals with fragility fractures. BMD testing and OP treatment rates were low and gender dependent (BMD: men 4.6%; women 13.1%; OP treatment: men 9.9%; women 29.7%). There was an obvious regional variation, particularly in BMD testing, ranging from 0 to 16%. Logistic regressions demonstrate that individuals living in long term care facilities received less BMD testing. Patients who had suffered from vertebral fractures, or who had received prior OP treatment or BMD testing, regardless of gender, subsequently received more BMD testing and OP treatments. Furthermore, increasing the distance between a patient's residence and BMD facility precluded likelihood of BMD testing. CONCLUSION: BMD testing rate was extremely low but not completely explained by reduced physical access; gender, age, social status, prior BMD testing and OP treatment were all important predictors for future BMD testing and OP treatment

Frames of Authenticity News Coverage of Black Candidates and Their Campaigns

The infusion of racial minorities into elected offices has had important ramifications for democracy and representation. Operating within a racist historical context, minority candidates have to overcome prejudicial notions that are deeply rooted in the conscious or subconscious minds of voters. Whether voters are able or willing to overlook racial cues imbedded in certain advertising spots has not yet been determined. Nevertheless, the extent to which these issues arise and become a part of the campaign discourse has serious implications for the type of representation that results. Our broader project, The Project on Race in Political Advertising, seeks to explore and explain the various ways in which race is used (and has been used) in televised political advertisements. This paper examines local print coverage of congressional contests form 2002 in which at least one candidate is a racial minority. Grounded in the framing media effects literature, this study reveals the way the media address racial components in these campaigns. We offer a descriptive qualitative analysis of media coverage in these contests in order to flesh out our theory of African American authentic appeals

Origins of the Internet (with Charlton McIlwain & Fred Turner)

Two leading scholars of internet history, Charlton McIlwain and Fred Turner, delve into the stories you might not have heard about where the technology came from. Yes, DARPA and IBM played formative roles, but what about back-to-the-land hippies in the 1960s, or a sprawling network of African American engineers, inventors, entrepreneurs, and enthusiasts who helped develop and popularize the web? McIlwain and Turner explain how major decisions about the early internet’s design and usage lead to some of its problems today