Aretha Faye Marbley

Coping with the Unexpected: Black Faculty at Predominately White Institutions

The fall semester is in full swing. Midterms have come and gone, and faculty as well as students are entrenched in the everyday activities of college life. Classes, research, writing, and service projects strain the 24-hour day of faculty, but these are the accepted aspects of faculty life at a predominately White (PWI) Research II institution. And then it happens; the unexpected incident. The institutions nationally ranked womens basketball team is hosting a historically Black institution (HBI) team. During the day of the game, the coaches for the visiting team go to a local discount store to pick up needed items. As they exit the store, police question them about a money scam reported by a local citizen. The coaches indicate they have no knowledge of the scam, however, the victim of the scam positively identifies the coaches. Police follow the coaches, two women and a man, back to their hotel. There, the questioning continues and the coaches are taken to jail, where they are held for several hours before being released. Police refuse to state that the coaches are no longer suspects in the scam; however, no charges are filed. They simply indicate that the investigation is continuing. The trauma of the encounter prompts the visiting coaches to cancel the game and return home. Needless to say, this incident was front-page news in this community as well as nationally. Even now, months after the incident, letters to the editor continue to appear in the local newspaper. The

Capitalizing on Leadership Capacity: Gifted African American Males in High School

Leadership is one of the most underemphasized dimensions of high ability cited in the current federal definition of giftedness. This particular ability area is highlighted here in an effort to offer helpful information and recommendations to administrators, educators, parents, and policymakers who seek plausible solutions to the problem of underidentification among gifted secondary African American male student populations. Key topics and issues addressed include definitions of giftedness, school context and environment, identity development, resilience, and leadership potential. The analysis concludes with practitioner- and researcher-focused recommendations.

Teaching Diversity across Disciplines: Reflections from African-American Faculty in Four Different Academic Settings.

Abstract The authors, male and female African-American faculty from different academic disciplines at predominantly white institutions, share personal reflections on their experiences teaching postsecondary graduate and professional courses that focus on diversity and multicultural themes. This article provides tools and strategies for improving the overall effectiveness for those who teach diversity courses from a framework the authors have codified as a “3-C” perspective: context, characters, and curriculum.

His Eye Is on the Sparrow: A Counselor of Color's Perception of Facilitating Groups with Predominantly White Members

The author uses her personal experience as a co-facilitator of color of groups consisting of predominantly White members to discuss the literature on the group dynamics of multicultural counseling and to identify unique and common issues for diverse counselors facilitating White and culturally different race groups. Included in the discussions of group dynamics, but often not addressed in counseling groups, are the attitudes and perceptions expressed by both clinicians and group members concerning their experiences of racism, prejudice, and oppression.

Case Studies of African American Families: Self-Reports of Ethnically Diverse Practitioners

Using the lessons learned from mistakes made in their earlier clinical work with African American families, through the lens of Multicultural Counseling and Therapy theory, these culturally diverse practitioners use reflections from their counseling experiences to offer clinicians a people-responsive, diversity-sensitive framework and provide recommendations for working with African American families in school and community counseling settings.

Harambee: Working Together to Engender Change in Communities of Color.

Abstract Working with communities of color to find solutions to the problems they face is a complex and challenging task. The “It Takes a Village” concept and the Transtheoretical Model of Change (Prochaska, Norcross, and DiClemente 1994) were used by the authors of this article in their work to empower clients of color to effect change in their communities. The narratives by these authors, European-American and African-American practitioners and educators, incorporate accounts of advocacy and social justice initiatives as they describe their interactions with grassroots organizations, such as educational and faith-based institutions, within communities of color.