The life of Howard Johnson, nicknamed "Stretch" because of his height (6'5"), epitomizes the cultural and political odyssey of a generation of African Americans who transformed the United States from ...a closed society to a multiracial democracy. Johnson's long-awaited memoir traces his path from firstborn of a multiclass/multiethnic" family in New Jersey to dancer in Harlem's Cotton Club to communist youth leader and, later, professor of Black studies. A Dancer in the Revolution is a powerful statement about Black resilience and triumph amid subtle and explicit racism in the United States. Johnson's engaging, beautifully written memoir provides a window into everyday life in Harlem--neighborhood life, arts and culture, and politics--from the 1930s to the 1970s, when the contemporary Black community was being formed. A Dancer in the Revolution explores Johnson's twenty-plus years in the Communist Party and illuminates in compelling detail how the Harlem branch functioned and flourished in the 1930s and '40s. Johnson thrived as a charismatic leader, using the connections he built up as an athlete and dancer to create alliances between communist organizations and a cross-section of the Black community. In his memoir, Johnson also exposes the homoerotic tourism that was a feature of Harlem's nightlife in the 1930s. Some of America's leading white literary, musical, and artistic figures were attracted to Harlem not only for the community's artistic creativity but to engage in illicit sex--gay and straight--with their Black counterparts. A Dancer in the Revolution is an invaluable contribution to the literature on Black political thought and pragmatism. It reveals the unique place that Black dancers and artists hold in civil rights pursuits and anti-racism campaigns in the United States and beyond. Moreover, the life of "Stretch" Johnson illustrates how political activism engenders not only social change but also personal fulfillment, a realization of dreams not deferred but rather pursued and achieved. Johnson's journey bears witness to critical periods and events that shaped the Black condition and American society in the process.
Incarceration and Health Massoglia, Michael; Pridemore, William Alex
Annual review of sociology,
01/2015, Volume:
41, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The expansion of the penal system has been one of the most dramatic trends in contemporary American society. A wealth of research has examined the impact of incarceration on a range of later life ...outcomes and has considered how the penal system has emerged as a mechanism of stratification and inequality in the United States. In this article, we review the literature from a comparatively new vein of this research: the impact of incarceration on health outcomes. We first consider the impact of incarceration on a range of individual outcomes, from chronic health conditions to mortality. We then consider outcomes beyond the individual, including the health of family members and community health outcomes. Next, we discuss mechanisms linking incarceration and health outcomes before closing with a consideration of limitations in the field and directions for future research.
Seasonal influenza vaccination rates are below the recommended targets, contributing to significant preventable harms. Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), a widely applied model of motivation to ...respond to threats, may provide some insights into strategies to increase the rate of vaccine uptake. Yet, previous research has omitted some of the proposed predictors of intention when applying this model to vaccination.
The aim of the study is to assess the utility of the PMT in predicting intention to obtain the seasonal influenza vaccine. This study will be the first to examine the role of all six PMT constructs in predicting intention to receive the seasonal influenza vaccine.
A cross-sectional study of 547 US residents was conducted using Amazon MTurk.
All constructs show significant bivariate correlations in the direction expected from the prior literature. Further examination of the theory within a linear regression model, however, found that perceived costs of vaccinating (i.e., response costs) did not uniquely account for variance in intention. All other components, perceived severity of and susceptibility to influenza, the perceived benefits of not vaccinating (i.e., maladaptive response rewards), the self-efficacy to vaccinate, and the perceived efficacy of vaccinating in preventing influenza (i.e., response efficacy) were unique predictors of intention. Overall, the PMT accounted for 62% of the variance in intention to vaccinate.
The study is the first to investigate influenza vaccination using all six theorised predictors of intention from the PMT. The findings highlight the importance of the simultaneous inclusion of all components of the model in assessing their potential utility as targets for intervention. Importantly, the results identify under-utilised constructs in the promotion of vaccine uptake, such as maladaptive response rewards, which should be considered targets for future intervention.
•We examine intention to receive a seasonal flu vaccination among US adults.•Protection motivation theory constructs accounted for 62% of variance in intention.•Response efficacy is the strongest predictor of intention to vaccinate.•Response costs are not a predictor of intention to receive an influenza vaccination.•Studies should consider maladaptive response rewards involved with not vaccinating.
Drawing on dozens of interviews with inmates, former prisoners, and prison officials, Joan Petersilia convincingly shows us how the current system is failing to help the enornmous numbers of jailed ...Americans reenter society. Unwilling merely to sound the alarm, Petersilia explores the harsh realities of prisoner reentry and offers specific solutions to prepare inmates for release, reduce recidivism, and restore them to full citizenship, while never losing sight of the demands of public safety.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) live at the intersection of marginalized identities, resulting in unique ...experiences of exclusion within their various communities. Despite experiences of community exclusion, LGBTQIA+–BIPOC find ways to resist such structures to thrive in the face of adversity and strive for transformative change. The present study uses an intersectional framework to explore LGBTQIA+–BIPOC's experiences with community exclusion and acts of resistance. Fourteen LGBTQIA+–BIPOC participated in semistructured interviews to explore their experiences of exclusion and acts of resistance. Findings supported two broad categories with subthemes: (a) “on the fringes” (i.e., invalidation of LGBTQIA+–BIPOC experiences; White supremacy, colonization, and Western imperialism; “out and proud” dynamics) and (b) resistance: “we’re here, and I’m gonna let you know” (i.e., resisting intersectional oppression; intersectional identity cohesion; coalition building). Utilizing an intersectional framework, we critique larger oppressive structures that disenfranchise LGBTQIA+–BIPOC while offering implications for social justice interventions and transformational change to best serve LGBTQIA+–BIPOC.
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to understand the business relationships among the tourism industry stakeholders in conducting collaborative destination marketing activities.Design methodology ...approach - This research takes a case study approach by focusing on the investigation of the business relationships among tourism industry stakeholders in Elkhart County, Indiana. Interviews with five staff members from the Elkhart County Convention and Visitors Bureau as well as 32 tourism industry representatives were conducted in order to answer the research questions.Findings - The interview results indicate that different relationships of cooperation, competition and coopetition coexist among the tourism stakeholders. Four cooperative relationships with various degrees of formalization, integration, and structural complexity are involved. In addition, four factors have been identified as affecting this relationship configuration. The perceived relationship between cooperation and competition was also found to be vital with reference to the marketing of a destination.Research limitations implications - Given the exploratory nature and case study approach of the research, caution is required in interpreting the results of the study, particularly in generalizing the study results to other destinations.Originality value - The paper provides practical implications to tourism businesses in their efforts to collectively market their destination, particularly in relation to how they balance the relationship between cooperation and competition, individual benefits and common benefits in order to achieve success for both the destination and their individual businesses.
In the US, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have occupied a distinct role in the social contract: they have been predisposed to be at the forefront of social change and to addressing “wicked” ...problems. Over the last four decades sustainability has emerged as one such problem, and HEIs have practiced campus sustainability to improve environmental management and foster social change on campuses and beyond. Understanding the development of campus sustainability in the US during these years is essential for scholars and practitioners looking to make sense of its present state and to map out future pathways. There is, however, no comprehensive analysis of campus sustainability's development in the U.S. Here we ask how campus sustainability has developed in the US since the early 1970s. To answer our research question, we analyze scholarly works and reports and use the epochs approach to build a chronological narrative. Our analysis results in the identification of three distinct and overlapping epochs of campus sustainability: greening the campus (1970s-1990s), the growth of campus sustainability (1990s-2010s), and transforming HEIs to implement sustainability on campus and beyond (since 2010s). We conclude by analyzing the nature of changes that campus sustainability has undergone over time, in terms of both managing the environment and fostering social change. We argue that campus sustainability initially emerged as informal, ecologically-focused, campus-confined initiatives at HEIs that prioritized educating agents of change and modeling change. Over time campus sustainability has evolved towards more formal, holistic, extramural policies at HEIs that assume the role of agents of change. Here, we provide the first historical narrative of campus sustainability in the US. As such, this work is likely to be of value to scholars and practitioners alike as they grapple with the past, present, and future of campus sustainability.
The broader context (a), problem identification and policy objectives (b), and implementation philosophy and tools (c) of the three epochs of campus sustainability in the US since 1970. The three epochs are: greening the campus (1970s-1990s), the growth of campus sustainability (1990s-2010s), and transforming HEIs to implement sustainability on campus and beyond (2010s-). Display omitted
•Problem identification, implementation philosophy and tools of each epoch are analyzed.•1st epoch: greening the campus (1970s–1990s).•2nd epoch: the growth of campus sustainability (1990s–2010s).•3rd epoch: transforming HEIs on campus and beyond (since 2010s).•HEIs have always explicitly focused on the social change aspects of sustainability.
Social Capital and Community Resilience Aldrich, Daniel P.; Meyer, Michelle A.
The American behavioral scientist (Beverly Hills),
02/2015, Volume:
59, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Despite the ubiquity of disaster and the increasing toll in human lives and financial costs, much research and policy remain focused on physical infrastructure–centered approaches to such events. ...Governmental organizations such as the Department of Homeland Security, United States Federal Emergency Management Agency, United States Agency for International Development, and United Kingdom’s Department for International Development continue to spend heavily on hardening levees, raising existing homes, and repairing damaged facilities despite evidence that social, not physical, infrastructure drives resilience. This article highlights the critical role of social capital and networks in disaster survival and recovery and lays out recent literature and evidence on the topic. We look at definitions of social capital, measurement and proxies, types of social capital, and mechanisms and application. The article concludes with concrete policy recommendations for disaster managers, government decision makers, and nongovernmental organizations for increasing resilience to catastrophe through strengthening social infrastructure at the community level.
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