Publication Type: Individual Paper
Abstract: CLIMBING JACOB�S LADDER:

RECONSTRUCTING THE LADDER IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN SPIRITUALS, 1830-1930


This essay explores the history and symbolic construction of Jacob�s Ladder in African-American spirituals, drawing on popular writing and collections of spirituals published between the Civil War and the 1930s. It traces the origins of spirituals to the encounter of the African-American community with the evangelical Protestantism of the antebellum South, an encounter that involved a symbolic reconstruction of Biblical images in terms of both an African musical heritage and the immediate concerns of life under slavery (Darden, 2004; Du Bois, 1986/1903; Epstein 1977; Levine, 1978; Lovell, 1972; Newman, 1998; Raboteau, 1995). Through a textual analysis of Jacob�s Ladder imagery in some two dozen spirituals, this essay specifically documents how the ladder was invoked to offer religious consolation for the sorrows of this world, to envision a more just and bountiful world, and to inspire salvation and liberation in this world as well as the next.

This essay, currently in draft form, draws on my research and writing on the image of Jacob�s Ladder in American culture. Depending on the time allotted and the availability of Power Point, I might also conclude my presentation with brief comments on the continuing importance of the image of Jacob�s Ladder in other forms of African-American cultural expression, noting particularly Richard Hunt�s �Jacob�s Ladder� sculpture that graces the foyer of the Carter Woodson Regional Library in Chicago.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The simplest way to define citizen participation is, “.. Citizen Participation is a process by which public concerns, needs, and values are incorporated into governmental and corporate decision making. It is two way communication and interaction, with the overall goal of better decisions that are supported by the public". However, public hearings, which are the epitome of citizen participation do not meet this definition and per Arnstein "Ladder of Citizen Participation” - they fall in the third (Information) and fourth(consultation) rung. These two rungs allow for citizens to hear and be heard. _x000d__x000d_This paper provides 3 tools that one could use to go to the next level on the ladder- which is true partnership between citizens and decission makers. The tools are: Using Technology; Administrator practicing advocacy;Purpose Issue Matrix_x000d__x000d__x000d__x000d_Example of a participation process that used the electronic communication system to involve participants from all sections of the community in a policy decission._x000d_An example of a administrator who devoted his entire career towards citizen involvement_x000d_Purpose Issue Matrix: to aid in deciding the method of participation based on the purpose and issues.

Publication Type: Paper (prepared oral presentation)
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: In his classic Bureaucracy, James Q. Wilson observes that transformational leadership in public administration is ��so heavily dependent on executive interests and beliefs as to make the chance appearance of a change-oriented personality enormously important in explaining change.� He pessimistically concludes that, �it is not easy to build a useful social science theory out of �chance appearances�.� But what if a change-oriented bureaucrat�s appearance at the top of an organization is not due to random chance? This paper argues that the personalities of bureaucratic agency heads are systematic consequences of professional career systems. Data are drawn from psychological probes and a behavioral survey of police chiefs serving American municipalities. Using personality coded from Behavioral Event Interviews, I analyze the ways that human motivation interacts with agency personnel policies and career paths to determine police chiefs� career advancement. I find that power motivation is linked to career advancement in vertical agencies (where agency heads are promoted from within the organization) and that achievement motivation is predicts advancement in diagonal agencies (where agency heads are recruited from outside). Thus government hiring and promotional policies and the adaptive behaviors of professionals lead to distinct patterns of executive personality and, ultimately, political leadership in the bureaucracy. Over time, career mobility favors achievement-motivated individuals, who Wilson might say have �change-oriented personalities.�

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The present study examined how mock-juries and jurors evaluate lesser-included homicide charges using 1) unanimity required verdict forms (must decide higher charges before lower charges) vs. 2) unanimity not required verdict forms (juries can consider all charges). We also included a radical verdict form (�step-up�) that asked juries to evaluate lower charges before evaluating higher charges. For a second-degree murder case, results indicated that unanimity jurors and �step-up� jurors were more punitive (found more guilt) than non-unanimity jurors. For a manslaughter case, unanimity jurors were more punitive than non-unanimity and step-up jurors. However, deliberations inhibited these differences.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: While widely regarded as a signifier for racial justice for close to 50 years, the playwright and political activist/writer Lorraine Hansberry was not constructed as a queer signifier until after her death in 1965. This essay contests one of the commonly received narratives about Hansberry that is articulated in both African-American and lesbian/gay contexts -- that she was an assimilationist playwright of little political importance except biographically as an African-American (lesbian). The essay�s careful reading of Hansberry�s work in its pre-civil rights, pre-Stonewall historical context reveals Hansberry as a writer whose acumen and breadth clearly distinguish her as one of the foremost public intellectuals of her time. Moreover, in the context of gay/lesbian studies of public communication, Hansberry�s contributions to the Ladder exemplify a distinctive and frequently omitted perspective in contemporary debates over race, gender, and sexuality.