"Black Pioneers in Communication Research is a pathbreaking book that displays a refreshingly joyful and critical spirit. Here, communication theory is shown to be the work of real persons living real lives, asking real questions of real problems. By celebrating and evaluating the lives of Black scholars as they have sought to advance communication studies, readers are introduced to perhaps the first truly foundational text our field has to offer! By tracing pioneers' life histories up to their current contributions to the field of communication, students will not simply be exposed to a concept and its definition, but rather invited to explore the evolution of both the concept and its progenitor. This illuminates and enlivens the study of communication while helping readers to be conscious of the conditions that have helped to shape our current state of knowledge. Black Pioneers in Communication Research is fully edifying: It lifts all communication scholars higher by being courageous enough to teach us as intellectuals that when we lay bare some of the intricacies of our lives, our students are better able to understand the complex canvases upon which our paradigms are built." --Eric King Watts, Wake Forest University Black Pioneers in Communication Research is the only book in the field of communication that-through personal interviews-systematically explores the lives, careers, and profound conceptual contributions of the men and women who have helped shape the contours of humanistic and social scientific inquiry within communication studies and beyond. The personal lives and careers of eleven leading scholars are profiled: Molefi Kete Asante, Donald E. Bogle, Hallie Quinn Brown, Melbourne S. Cummings, Jack L. Daniel, Oscar H. Gandy, Jr., Stuart Hall, Marsha Houston, Joni L. Jones/Iya Omi Osun Olomo, Dorthy L. Pennington, and Orlando L. Taylor. These pioneers have had an indelible impact on Black Studies, sociology, communication, political science, film studies, rhetoric, sociolinguistics, and cultural studies. Black Pioneers in Communication Research presents a penetrating look into the circumstances that shifted the paradigms of interdisciplinary thought. Some of the concepts covered in this book are afrocentricity, articulation theory, aphasia, oral performance and interpretation, womanism, Black English, Black oral traditions, the TrEE communication development model, chronemics, as well as the mammy, buck, mulatto, coon, and Uncle Tom images in film and television. Intended Audience:This is an excellent textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses dealing with African American communication and/or communication research (such as intercultural communication, African American communication, African American studies, African American rhetoric, communication research, and communication theory~
Ronald L. Jackson II (Ph. D., Howard University) is Associate Professor of Culture and Communication Theory in the Department of Communication Arts & Sciences at the Pennsylvania State University. He is author of The Negotiation of Cultural Identity (Praeger Press), Think About It! (Iuniverse.com), African American Communication: Identity and Culture (with Michael Hecht and Sidney Ribeau; Erlbaum Publishers). Forthcoming are five books entitled: African American Rhetorics: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (with Elaine Richardson; Southern Illinois University Press); Scripting the Black Masculine Body in Popular Media: Identity, Discourse and Racial Politics in Popular Media (SUNY Press), Essential Readings in African American Communication Studies and Understanding African American Rhetoric (with Elaine Richardson). Dr. Jackson's theory work includes the development of two paradigms coined "cultural contracts theory" and "black masculine identity theory." Sonja M. Brown Givens is Assistant Professor of Interpersonal Communication in the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Her research interests include the influence of mass mediated portrayals of socially marginalized groups on social decision making processes. Her collaborative work appears in Quarterly Journal of Speech with Dr. Celeste Condit from the University of Georgia. Her latest manuscript entitled "Mammies, Jezebels, and other controlling imagery: An examination of the influence of televised stereotypes of perceptions of an African American woman" is currently under review for Media Psychology. Works in progress include a manuscript entitled "Coping from the margins: The intersection of race, gender, spirituality and professional identity in African American graduate student experiences" which is currently being prepared for submission to Western Journal of Communication.
Introduction 1. Molefi Kete Asante Introduction Biographical Information Academic Background and Experience Contributions to Communication Research Conclusion References 2. Donald E. Bogle Introduction Biographical Information Academic Background and Experience Contributions to Communication Research Conclusion References 3. Hallie Quinn Brown Introduction Biographical Information Academic Background and Experience Contributions to Communication Research Conclusion References 4. Melbourne S. Cummings Introduction Biographical Information Academic Background and Experience Contributions to Communication Research Conclusion References 5. Jack L. Daniel Introduction Biographical Information Academic Background and Experience Contributions to Communication Research Conclusion References 6. Oscar H. Gandy, Jr. Introduction Biographical Information Academic Background and Experience Contributions to Communication Research Conclusion References 7. Stuart Hall Introduction Biographical Information Academic Background and Experience Contributions to Communication Research Conclusion References 8. Marsha Houston Introduction Biographical Information Academic Background and Experience Contributions to Communication Research Conclusion References 9. Joni Jones/Iya Omi Osun Olomo Introduction Biographical Information Academic Background and Experience Contributions to Communication Research Conclusion References 10. Dorthy L. Pennington Introduction Biographical Information Academic Background and Experience Contributions to Communication Research Conclusion References 11. Orlando L. Taylor Introduction Biographical Information Academic Background and Experience Contributions to Communication Research Conclusion References Index About the Authors
