African American Parents\u27 Socialization Around Racism in the Education System

African American youth experience individual and institutional level discrimination (e.g., Berkel et al., 2009; Jones, 1997). These experiences negatively impact their overall well-being (e.g., Harris-Britt et al., 2007; Wang & Huguley, 2012). African American parents use racial socialization to teach their children strategies to cope with racial discrimination (e.g., McAdoo, 2002; Peters, 1997). Given the positive impact of racial socialization on the negative outcomes associated with discrimination (e.g., Bynum et al., 2007), more work is needed to understand how contextual factors influence this process. The current study used qualitative methods to examine racial socialization in response to two levels of school-based discrimination. Directed content analysis was used on transcripts from ten focus groups of African American parents (N= 73). Results indicated that parents provided similar cultural socialization messages in response to both levels of discrimination whereas preparation for bias messages differed. Implications for preparing youth for school-based discrimination are discussed

Campus Racial Climate and Academic Outcomes: Examining the Moderating Role of Racial Identity for African American College Students

Campus racial climate, including individual perceptions of interracial interactions between students and with faculty (Hurtado, Griffin, Arellano & Cuellar, 2008). African American students often report more discriminatory perceptions of campus racial climate than White, Latino and Asian American students (e.g., Reid & Radhakrishnan, 2003). Campus racial climate has implications for a range of academic outcomes during college (e.g., Fischer, 2010; Torregosa, Ynalvez, & Morin, 2015). Specifically, Black students report experiencing hostile racial climates on their college campuses from both peers and professors and this can influence academic outcomes such as student motivation (e.g., Byrd, 2015), GPA (Torregosa et al., 2015) and whether they graduate on time (Fischer, 2010). While much of the work on campus racial climate has examined racial differences, more work examining within group variation is needed to further explore the role of campus climate on academic outcomes for Black students. The current study seeks to examine whether individual perceptions of campus racial climate in college impacts academic self-concept and if racial identity moderates this relationship for Black college students. The current study seeks to add to a smaller body of work that has provided an exploration of multiple dimensions of individual perceptions of campus racial climate understanding of students’ perception of campus racial climate (e.g., Byrd & Chavous, 2011; Byrd & Chavous, 2012). The sample for the current study was collected as part of a larger longitudinal in the Eastern part of the United States. Inclusion criteria for the current study included 1) identifying as African American/Black (Black for at least one racial group), 2) being a college student 1 year after high school. The final sample for the current included 144 participants, 65% of who identified as female. While campus racial climate was not a significant predictor of academic self-concept, students who attended HBCUs reported higher academic self-concept than students who attended PWIs. Private regard also positively predicted academic self-concept in the current sample. These findings have implications for the positive impact racial identity has on academic outcomes for African American youth. Implications and future directions will be discussed

Black Lives Matter in Community Psychology

Members of the African diaspora have faced systemic anti-Black violence in multiple contexts.  The Black Lives Matter movement emerged from these various contexts.  Given community psychology’s roots in social change, we wanted to provoke discussion on this growing social movement and to push back against some of the false narratives surrounding the movement.  In this special issue, authors will discuss the connections between Black Lives Matter and community psychology: highlighting areas of similarities and new frameworks informed by this movement.  This introduction will provide a brief overview of Black Lives Matter, discuss the development of this special issues, and highlight the theoretical and methodological contributions of each article.</p

Black Lives Matter in Community Psychology

Members of the African diaspora have faced systemic anti-Black violence in multiple contexts.  The Black Lives Matter movement emerged from these various contexts.  Given community psychology’s roots in social change, we wanted to provoke discussion on this growing social movement and to push back against some of the false narratives surrounding the movement.  In this special issue, authors will discuss the connections between Black Lives Matter and community psychology: highlighting areas of similarities and new frameworks informed by this movement.  This introduction will provide a brief overview of Black Lives Matter, discuss the development of this special issues, and highlight the theoretical and methodological contributions of each article