African and European American Women's Volunteerism and Activism: Similarities in Volunteering and Differences in Activism

U.S. Volunteering in the Aftermath of the Great Recession: Were African Americans a Significant Factor?

“…The study was a secondary analysis using data from the 2000 Social Capital Benchmark Survey. The study found no significant differences between African and European American women in the extent to which they reported working on community projects and volunteering in their places of worship [15].…”

“We Were Loving Warriors!”: A Content Analysis of Black Women’s Resistance Within Psychological Science

“…Of the six articles using quantitative methodologies, only one directly assessed outcomes of resistance (i.e., Lee, 2004). The remaining quantitative articles examined predictors of resistance ( n = 2; e.g., sociopolitical beliefs and political self-efficacy on civic engagement; Leath & Chavous, 2017) or intragroup differences in engagement with resistance ( n = 3; e.g., differences in volunteerism and activism rates between Black and White women, Farmer & Piotrkowski, 2009). Regarding the 17 qualitative articles, researchers utilized grounded theory and phenomenological methodologies to capture outcomes of resistance as participants discussed them naturally; we did not deduce any direct inquiries into the participants’ outcomes of their sociopolitical engagement.…”

“…Critical consciousness, discussed in 11 of the identified articles, refers to the ways in which Black women facilitate critical awareness of their own and others' sociopolitical positions and the historical formation of these positions society. Regarding racism, gendered racism, sexism, Brooks, 2016;Farmer & Piotrkowski, 2009;Hall & Fine, 2005;Irons, 1998;Lee, 2004;Ramsey, 2012;Rodriguez & Ward, 2018;Taylor, 2004 Critical consciousness (n = 11) Brooks, 2016;Garrin & Marcketti, 2018;Gilkes, 1983;Iron, 1998;Loder-Jackson, 2012;Rodriguez & Ward, 2018;Spencer et al, 2015;Taylor, 2004 Community + coalition building (n = 8) Brooks, 2016;Gilkes, 1983;Hall & Fine, 2005 n Increased sense of political efficacy n Greater collective action engagement from others in the community because of organizing/unionizing homophobia, and transphobia, the participants in the identified articles challenged and educated both in-and out-group members to empower them with historical knowledge related to systems of oppression and the personal and collective impact of such oppression (e.g., Brooks, 2016). These women pushed their students, family members, colleagues, and strangers to become aware of oppressive systems and structures and, through modeling and active encouragement, guided them toward their own strategies of critical action and resistance.…”

Positive psychology in African Americans.

“…Contextual factors such as whether the setting is religious or secular, and the racial composition of the setting, have implications for African American volunteering and civic involvement (Musick, Wilson, & Bynum, 2000). African Americans are especially likely to volunteer at their place of worship (Farmer & Piotrkowski, 2009), and African Americans attending majority African American churches are more likely to be asked to volunteer and to volunteer more hours per month than those attending churches where African Americans are in the minority (Smith, Fabricatore, & Peyrot, 1999). The willingness of African American young adults to engage in volunteer work or political action is related to their level of optimism, perceptions of community functioning (e.g., perceived neighborhood disorder), perceptions of trust and cooperation among residents, and beliefs about whether political actions can yield positive community outcomes (e.g., keep neighborhood children safe; Chung & Probert, 2011).…”