This study examines the correlation between migration and cultural rejection in women of the African diaspora, namely, latinas and Black women in America during the 20th century. Research acknowledges that there is an identity dilemma that exists in people who migrate from one country to another; this research however, fails to address how this dilemma manifests, and it seldom speaks specifically to the condition of Black women. As a contribution to scholarship in transnational identities and migration this dissertation foregrounds the manifestations of cultural rejection, focusing specifically on language and aesthetics. Through the analysis of several critical, literary, and, visual texts I define and investigate the causes of the diaspora’s proclivity for cultural rejection.

The Black experience in Argentina is one colored by systemic racism, which is described as the way individuals, structures, and institutions uphold and perpetuate inequality on the basis of race (Cole, 2018). Racism in Argentina acts to erase Afro-Argentines and Afro-descendants and their contributions to the country. The fight for the visibility of Blacks in Buenos Aires is a constantly evolving struggle. Since the beginning of this battle in 1995, Afro-descendants living in Buenos Aires have sought ways to resist and combat the disenfranchisement they have endured. Afro-activists in Buenos Aires organize around finding ways to combat the invisibility of Blackness in Argentina while simultaneously uplifting the Black community. Drawing upon five qualitative interviews with Afro-Argentine activists, as well as ethnographic observations conducted in the summer of 2018, I demonstrate how the Black activist experience in Buenos Aires challenges systemic anti-Black racism and combats invisibility.

The project Meta-Learning Abroad: African American Study Abroad Students in Italy examines the experiences of African American study abroad students. There are approximately 5.9% or 2,000 African American students who study abroad in Italy each year. The experiences of the study abroad students incorporate global education, the European migrant crisis in Italy, the perception of Black people in Italy, and discusses whether these factors influence African American study abroad students in Italy. These studies were conducted through intensive research of scholarly sources, oral interviews, and personal analysis.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 This ethnographic research project aims to explore the Black vegan food business scene in Atlanta. While living in Atlanta for school I have discovered a thriving Black vegan or plant-based community in the city. There are approximately nineteen vegan restaurants in the city and nine of them are Black-owned. These restaurants are mostly concentrated in south Atlanta where mostly Black lower-income people live. The West End neighborhood, which is majority Black and low-income, has the highest concentration of vegan restaurants in Atlanta. These components, which dispel generally accepted notions about the Black community’s lack of participation in veganism, have led me to explore the factors that contribute to Atlanta as a hub for Black entrepreneurship in vegan cuisine. The research also strives understand how Black-owned vegan food businesses’ motivations and strategies play a role in Black liberation or the uplifting of Black people from oppressive and exploitative institutions. The methodology consists of interviews with Black-owned vegan food businesses in Atlanta in order to understand the motivations, missions, challenges and histories of these businesses and entrepreneurs. There is also a mapping component which will situate Black food businesses within the geography of the West End neighborhood. Overall, this research is important in order to document an aspect of Black foodways which is not often explored, yet reveals Black people’s participation in an alternative food movement.