“Strong Black Women”: African American Women with Disabilities, Intersecting Identities, and Inequality

Abstract

Angel love Miles University of illinois at Chicago, UsA in a mixed-methods study of the barriers and facilitators to homeownership for African American women with physical disabilities, self-concept emerged among the primary themes. This article discusses how participants in the study perceived themselves and negotiated how they were perceived by others as multiply marginalized women. Using what i call a feminist intersectional disability framework, i suggest that participants' relationships to care strongly contributed to their self-concept. The "strong Black Woman" trope and associated expectations had cultural and material relevance for how they interpreted themselves and were interpreted by others as receivers, managers, and providers of care. The material reality of owning or not owning a home did not reveal significant differences in the self-concepts of homeowners versus nonhomeowners. Rather, it was through conversations about homeownership that this data around self-concept in relationship to care was revealed.

Demonstrating the Feasibility of an Economic Empowerment and Health Promotion Intervention among Low-Income Women Affected by HIV in New York City

“…HIVRR sessions focused on knowledge and skills to reduce HIV/STI risks and provided women with communication and negotiation skills to use with intimate partners. Given the relatively high prevalence of trauma and violence histories reported among women in the study’s target population [ 23 ], sessions also aimed to address women’s concerns about intimate partner violence (IPV) related to safe sex practices while underscoring strategies for IPV prevention, including domestic violence and rape. Although the sessions focused on HIV/STI knowledge, overall health behaviors and health-related goal setting were prominent during HIVRR sessions.…”

Career counseling with African Americans.

“…Likewise, if a client presents with a disability, the career counselor might be challenged by the intersections of race, gender, and ability status. African American women with a disability (Miles, 2019) are at the intersection of "triple jeopardy" (Greene, 1996). Although the rate of employment for all persons with a disability is much lower than that for individuals reporting no disability, Black/African Americans with a disability have the highest unemployment rate among these groups (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020).…”

25 years of psychology research on the “strong black woman”

“…The term has also been used widely to examine varied groups, from (majority) White adolescent girls in the U.S. to U.S. Black women professors (Crago et al, 1996;Huddleston-Mattai, 1995). Some research included in our review refers to the SBW as a "schema" (e.g., Abrams et al, 2019;Liao et al, 2020), while other research refers to it as a "stereotype" or an "ideal" (e.g., Carter & Rossi, 2019;Miles, 2019;Stanton et al, 2017). Moving forward, we use the term schema as a higher-order term that is not necessarily negative or positive to describe multiple aspects of a group member (Mandler, 1982).…”

“…Towards the early 2010's, researchers expanded the topic by incorporating clinical samples to evaluate the impact of the SBW on physical health (e.g., Bellinger et al, 2015;Black et al, 2012;Harrington et al, 2010). Recently, the field has begun to examine the influence of friendships on Black American women's perception of the SBW (e.g., Davis & Afifi, 2019), and has become more inclusive, reflecting the heterogeneity within the community of Black women (e.g, disabled U.S. Black women's experiences with the schema; Miles, 2019). Throughout the last two and half decades of research, the SBW schema has recurringly been framed as a paradox, as many Black women of various ethnicities recognize the associated negative and positive outcomes (e.g., Beauboeuf-Lafontant, 2005;West et al, 2016).…”