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Despite the significant study of western history and African-American migration throughout the United States, until recent years the experience of African Americans in the West has gone largely untold. This is especially true in regards to African-American women and their contribution to western communities. Through a detailed historical analysis, this paper will identify some of the important African-American women in Montana's past, shedding light on their experiences and main contributions. The essay leans on reputable primary and secondary sources including applications to the National Register of Historic Places, census data, and the writings of historians such as Dr. Quintard Taylor. I argue that African-American women played a crucial role in the creation and cultivation of African-American communities throughout Montana. Through the organization and mobilization of social groups, participation in social and political change, and by capitalizing on economic opportunities, African-American women were able to challenge western social norms and create lasting change that we can see across Montana today. These women were able to uplift the entirety of their community, generating improvements that are being celebrating in current times. Because of the near invisibility of these women in the historic record, it is paramount their contributions be studied, recognized, and appreciated today.

The paper outlines the role, contribution and place of ethnic women minorities, namely, African American women, taking their race, religious and national backgrounds into consideration in Persian Gulf Wars. Methods: Quantitative research method; Comparative research method; Content-analyses. Results: The evidence suggests that 33 percent of women in the military were African Americans. This figure is quite impressive and indicates that women gained the best adaptation to this field. It was the military that became the trampoline that would connect them to American society. Military service gave African American women the following advantages: Career opportunities (the field is dangerous and less demanding); Ability to demonstrate goodness to the country; Adaptation to civil society.Keywords: African American women, ethnic women minorities, Persian Gulf wars, racial discrimination, sexual discrimination

This article is a comparison of black women with women of different racial and ethnic backgrounds and black men in the U.S. military. Developmental analysis is used to examine historical trends and to hypothesize about the future of black women on active duty. Although there is considerable scholarly literature on minorities (particularly African-American men) and women in the armed forces, no systematic study of the participation of African-American women exists. This omission is significant in view of the fact that the representation of black women has increased more than sixfold over the last 15 years (which marks a greater percentage increase than any other segment of the military population). Results of statistical analysis confirm previous findings that African-American women are accessing the military at a faster pace than other racial and ethnic female groups in the United States; they are more concentrated in the Army than other branches of the military; they are mostly assigned to administrative and support occupations; and they are more likely to be single parents than are military women and men in the comparison groups. The article ponders the consequences of these findings for the future stability of the participation of black women in the U.S. military.

This article reviews a book written by Lisa Nikol Nealy entitled: African American Women Voters: Racializing Religiosity, Political Consciousness and Progressive Political Action in U.S. Presidential Elections from 1964 Through 2008 (2009). I extracted the following themes from the book: (1) the importance and influence of the Black church or religious organizations and their leaders on the level of political participation of African Americans, especially Black women in the United States; (2) that Black and White gentile European Americans are experiencing two racial religiosities, which is reflected in the voting booth during national elections; (3) that relative to their Black male counterparts and members of other racial groups, Black women have made enormous contributions to U.S. politics especially in voting trends from the 1960s to present; and (4) there continues to be a serious division between Black and White American females, a division which is rooted in religious and racial histories of the two groups.

Violence against African American women, specifically intimate partner abuse, has a significant impact on their health and well being. Intimate partner femicide and near fatal intimate partner femicide are the major causes of premature death and disabling injuries for African American women. Yet, despite this, there is a paucity of research and interventions specific and culturally relevant for these women. This article focuses on issues relevant to intimate partner violence and abuse against African American women by examining existing empirical studies of prevalence and health outcomes of intimate partner violence against women in general, plus what limited research there is about African American women, specifically. It includes a discussion of specific recommendations for research, practice, education, and policy to reduce and prevent intimate partner violence against African American women.

Compares Black women with women of different racial and ethnic backgrounds and Black men in the military.

Commonly portrayed in the media as holding women in strict subordination and deference to men, Islam is nonetheless attracting numerous converts among African American women. Are these women "reproducing their oppression," as it might seem? Or does their adherence to the religion suggest unsuspected subtleties and complexities in the relation of women, especially black women, to Islam? Carolyn Rouse sought answers to these questions among the women of Sunni Muslim mosques in Los Angeles. Her richly textured study provides rare insight into the meaning of Islam for African American women; in particular, Rouse shows how the teachings of Islam give these women a sense of power and control over interpretations of gender, family, authority, and obligations. In Engaged Surrender, Islam becomes a unique prism for clarifying the role of faith in contemporary black women's experience. Through these women's stories, Rouse reveals how commitment to Islam refracts complex processes—urbanization, political and social radicalization, and deindustrialization—that shape black lives generally, and black women's lives in particular. Rather than focusing on traditional (and deeply male) ideas of autonomy and supremacy, the book—and the community of women it depicts—emphasizes more holistic notions of collective obligation, personal humility, and commitment to overarching codes of conduct and belief. A much-needed corrective to media portraits of Islam and the misconceptions they engender, this engaged and engaging work offers an intimate, in-depth look into the vexed and interlocking issues of Islam, gender, and race