239533 Generating Knowledge Using Black Feminism in Preparation for Applying in Public Health

Saturday, October 29, 2011: 10:00 AM

Quinn Gentry, MBA, PhD , Urban Health Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
For this presentation, the instructor will demonstrate how black feminist theory is used in conducting research, needs assessments, and data analysis "within-groups" of marginalized women. The instructor will integrate discussions on how black feminism compares with other forms of feminist theory in explaining health-related issues. Specifically, she will use a social typology of six sub-groups of women at risk for HIV. For each social type, the instructor will identify unique characteristics, as well as risk and protective factors that are often overlooked in examining women's risk for social and health threats. The primary type of women at risk for HIV include: (1) street women and (2) housed women. These main groups are further analyzed for "within-group" dynamics that help program developers plan appropriately for intervening with various groups. For example the "street women" are further analyzed as follows:

The absolute homeless -“All Cracked Out and No Place to Go”

The hustling homeless -“24/7”

The rooming housed - “Barely off the Street”

In like manner, the "housed women" are further analyzed as follows:

The heads of households - “The Invisible High-risk”

The family housed - “High-risk Families"

The steady-partner housed - “His and Her Habits”

After examining risk and protective factors for each of the six diverse groups of marginalized women, the instructor will walk participants through examples of how to apply black feminism in developing relevant interventions for each of the sub-groups of women. Finally, as a way to show how black feminism generates knowledge using the arts as a legitimate form of education, the instructor will use short film clips based on monologues of the women's authentic voices in explaining their risk and resilience within the context of their relationships, life histories, and current social and structural environments.

Learning Areas:
Diversity and culture
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Program planning
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Define and deconstruct black feminist theory as a relevant and practical gender specific strategy in public health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to teach this institute because I have been advancing black feminism in public health since 2003 as my NIH-funded dissertation research provided a critical perspective on why black feminism should be a legitimate and mainstream framework in public health. My work resulted in a book published by Taylor and Francis titled, Rough Living: Black Women's Risk for HIV. In keeping with principles of black feminism to include diverse stakeholders in the knowledge gathering and sharing processes, I wrote, directed, and produced a play based on the clinical research findings from her book, called “Divine Intervention. In 2007, The CDC’s National HIV Prevention Conference presented “Divine Intervention” to diverse stakeholders in HIV. As a post-doctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, my work on advancing black feminism in public health was presented at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health’s Annual Women’s Symposium. Finally, I have developed and implemented two practice-based public health interventions guided by black feminism.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Advancing Black Feminist Theory and Practice in Public Health
See more of: APHA-Learning Institute (APHA-LI)