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Voices unheard, stories untold: Black women, police violence and political participation

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Voices unheard, stories untold: Black women, police violence and political participation

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Content Copyright 2022 Ayana Best
Voices Unheard, Stories Untold:
Black Women, Police Violence and Political Participation

By

Ayana Best

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(POLITICAL SCIENCE AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS)

May 2022

ii

Acknowledgments
The journey to writing this dissertation and finishing the PhD program has been full of
ups and downs, the biggest up being the birth of my son KJ. As I reflect on giving birth to him in
the middle of finishing this dissertation, I realize I could not have done it with out him. KJ is the
love of my life and my motivation to continue to reach heights I never thought possible. To his
father and my love, thank you for all that you have done to support me through this process. You
are an amazing father, and I could not have successfully navigated being a new mother, writing a
dissertation, and getting a job without your sacrifices.
There are way too many people to acknowledge and attribute to my success, but I would
like to thank and acknowledging by parents. They have been pillars in this ever-changing
process. They have supported me financially, provided advise and been there in any and every
way that counts. They have showed me what unconditional love is and I would not have made it
to this point without them. Dad, thank you for always being present and taking care of me and
making sure I had everything I needed to be successful. Mom, you are a light in my life, my first
and greatest aspiration. I strive to be the kind of mother you are to my son. Even though I am the
oldest, my little sisters Courtney, Jada and Maliah are inspirations to me. I learn so much from
them and as they show me how to be confident, bold, and unapologetic in who I am.
I would like to thank my committee members Dr. Ange Marie Hancock-Alfaro, Dr.
Christian Grose, Dr. Christian Phillips, Dr. James Lo, and Dr. Francille Wilson for all the advice,
reading rough drafts, sitting through practice presentations, hours of assistance in data analysis
and editing, support and helping navigate the PhD process and ultimately getting a job. All of the
other faculty and graduate students I have met along the way who have guided me and assisted
me with resources I didn’t even know I needed.
There are so many people who have contributed to my learning and success that I cannot
name them all but this PhD is not just for me, it is for the loved ones I lost, my grandparents,
aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and the families I have become a part of over the years. This
experience has been a triumphant one that I wouldn’t change for anything.

iii
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... ii
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................... v
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. vi
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... vii
Chapter One: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1
Purpose of the Study .................................................................................................................... 1
Black Women and Their Experiences Are Missing from Political Science ................................ 4
Research Question and Puzzle ..................................................................................................... 6
Definitions of Key Terms ............................................................................................................ 7
Road Map of Dissertation .......................................................................................................... 10
Chapter Two: REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE ........................................................... 12
Historical Foundations of Black Women and Politics ............................................................... 14
Institutional Factors of Black Women’s Political Participation ................................................ 16
Political Mobilization of Black Women’s Political Participation ............................................. 18
Black Feminist Consciousness ................................................................................................... 21
The Role of Violence in Black Women’s Politics ..................................................................... 23
Summary .................................................................................................................................... 26
Chapter Three: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ........ 28
Theory ........................................................................................................................................ 28
Hypotheses ................................................................................................................................. 31
Data Collection Procedures ....................................................................................................... 32
Pilot Survey Design ................................................................................................................ 32
Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey Data ............................................................ 33
Participant Recruitment .......................................................................................................... 34
Data Analysis Procedures .......................................................................................................... 34

iv
Limitations of the Study ............................................................................................................ 35
Summary .................................................................................................................................... 36
Chapter Four: EMPIRICAL FINDINGS FOR PILOT SURVEY ................................................ 38
Descriptive Statistics .................................................................................................................. 38
Results ........................................................................................................................................ 38
Survey Weights .......................................................................................................................... 43
Summary .................................................................................................................................... 46
Chapter Five: EMPIRICAL FINDINGS FOR 2020 CMPS ......................................................... 49
Descriptive Statistics .................................................................................................................. 49
Robustness Checks .................................................................................................................... 50
Results ........................................................................................................................................ 53
Summary .................................................................................................................................... 54
Chapter Six: DISCUSSION .......................................................................................................... 57
References ..................................................................................................................................... 61
Appendices .................................................................................................................................... 65
Appendix A: Pilot Survey IRB Approval Letter ....................................................................... 65
Appendix B: Pilot Survey .......................................................................................................... 66
Appendix C: Semi-Structured Interview Protocol ..................................................................... 72
Appendix D: Interview Consent Form ....................................................................................... 74
Appendix E: Survey Recruitment Flyer ..................................................................................... 76

v
List of Tables

Table 1. Weighted and Unweighted Means of Pilot Survey
Table 2. The Outcome of Hypotheses
Table 3. Black Women’s Police Thermometer Profile
Table 4. Electoral Political Participation and Murder
Table 5. Non-Electoral Political Participation and Murder

vi
List of Figures

Figure 1. Theoretical Framework
Figure 2. Direct Non-Violent Police Contact Multivariate Regression
Figure 3. Direct Non-Violent Police Contact and Black Feminist Consciousness Regression
Figure 4. Direct Violent Police Contact Multivariate Regression
Figure 5. Direct Violent Police Contact and Black Feminist Consciousness Regression
Figure 6. Indirect Violent Police Contact Multivariate Regression
Figure 7. Indirect Violent Police Contact and Black Feminist Consciousness Regression
Figure 8. Histogram of Age Groups
Figure 9. Histogram of Income Levels
Figure 10. Histogram of Religion
Figure 11. Histogram of Educational Attainment Levels
Figure 12. 2020 CMPS Direct Violent Police Contact Multivariate Regression
Figure 13. 2020 CMPS Indirect Violent Police Contact Multivariate Regression

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Abstract
Most narratives surrounding police killings concentrate on the murders of unarmed Black men,
ignoring Black female victims such as Breonna Taylor, Sandra Bland, and Rekia Boyd; who
were also unlawfully murdered by police officers since 2014 (Crenshaw et al. 2015; Lindsey
2015). There is a growing concern among Black political activists over the lack of attention to
the negative experiences of Black women in the criminal justice arena. Given this concern over
gender inequality in media coverage of police shootings of unarmed Black women, Black
female-led campaigns such as #SayHerName have emerged to call for intersectional approaches
to addressing police violence. Thus, my project examines the relationship between the
prevalence of state-initiated violence against Black women and their political behavior. The
primary questions I propose in this project are: How does police violence affect Black women’s
political participation? Do instances of police violence lead to a stronger sense of group
consciousness amongst Black women? How does proximity to police violence affect Black
women’s political behavior? I theorize that police violence acts as an unfortunate mobilizing
mechanism for Black women voter turnout, bringing them together through both race, gender,
and shared experience. My theory also argues that while Black women experience both direct
and indirect interactions with police officers, each type of interaction affects their means of
political participation in different ways.

Keywords: Police Violence, Black Feminist Consciousness, Black Political Participation

1
Chapter One: INTRODUCTION
Purpose of the Study
While it is evident that Black men disproportionately experience police violence, Black
women are victims of police violence at alarming rates, although their experiences often go
unaddressed in mainstream media and scholarship. The purposes of this study are to a) draw
attention to the issue of police violence against Black women and b) assess if it affects their
political participation and if so, how it affects their political behavior. Black women are three
times more likely to face physical, sexual, and psychological neglect from police than white
women (DeVylder et. al 2014). The Prison Policy Initiative in 2019 reported that in recent years
violent interactions with law enforcement have more than quadrupled for women and Black
women are victims of violent traffic stops more frequently than white women or Latinas.
1
The
report also mentions that mainstream police conduct reporting agencies including the Uniform
Crime Report (UCR) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) do not accurately account for
race, gender, and the type of interactions by citizens and police, ignoring the increase in female
interactions with the police, making it difficult to determine whether Black women’s experiences
are improving or declining concerning police violence.
There is a growing concern among Black political activists and scholars over the lack of
attention to the negative experiences of Black women dealing with police violence in mainstream
social movements and the field of political science. Given this concern over gender inequality in
attention paid to victims of police violence against Black women, Black female-led campaigns
such as #SayHerName have emerged to call for intersectional approaches to addressing police
violence. Kimberle Crenshaw and others seek to call attention to the atrocities Black women face

1
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2019/05/14/policingwomen/

2
at the hands of law enforcement who receive no repercussions. Using a mixed-methods
approach, this project operationalizes police violence and Black feminist consciousness to better
assess Black women's political activity in the United States. I hope this project will give voice to
Black women’s experiences with police violence and help us better understand a salient voting
population in the United States electorate.
Statement of the Problem
On March 13, 2020, at approximately 12:40 AM, three plain-clothed police officers
forced entry into the home of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year old emergency medical technician from
Louisville, Kentucky.
2
Officers fired a total of 32 shots in the apartment, with 6 hitting and
killing Taylor. On November 22, 2014, Samaria Rice, a mother of four from Cleveland, Ohio,
received a call that would change her life forever. Someone had reported her 12-year-old son to
the police for having what turned out to be a toy gun. He was shot twice as soon as officers
arrived and died on the scene. These tragic stories are just two of many murders of young
unarmed Black people by police. Black women comprise about 7 percent of the overall U.S.
population but over 28 percent of unarmed killings by police officers. I often hear stories from
female friends and family members of their own direct experience with police violence that goes
unnoticed and unaddressed. Powell and Phillips find that while women face significant levels of
police criminalization, they often foreground Black males’ experiences, downplaying their own
(2020). Often times we do not take an in-depth look at how Black women experience police in
their communities, even though they face police violence not only happening to themselves but
also to their loved ones.

2
https://www.nytimes.com/article/breonna-taylor-police.html

3
As a Black woman, I too have experienced both direct and frequent proximal contact
with police violence that has affected my outlook on law enforcement politics tremendously.
Speaking to female family and friends, I have often heard similar sentiments. Part of my
propositions come from the anecdotes of Black women who tend to minimize their personal
experiences with police violence for the sake of focusing on loved ones (husbands, fathers, sons,
nephews, friends). With this project, I hope to not only draw attention to the effects of police
violence on Black families but also the direct effects upon Black women specifically.
Although there is a lack of discussion around Black female victims in the discourse
surrounding police violence, Black women are salient and often discussed during election time.
Over seventy-four percent of voting-eligible Black women voted in the 2012 presidential
elections, and in the 2016 presidential election, 94 percent of Black women who voted, voted for
Hilary Clinton (Census.gov). During the 2020 presidential campaign, 91 percent of Black
women voted for Joe Biden. During the 2020 Georgia gubernatorial race, over 800,000 Black
Americans came out to vote compared to 200,000 during the 2016 presidential election. Black
female-led voter registration efforts in Georgia resulted in 80 percent of newly registered voters
being Black.
3
While Black women are often victimized by law enforcement, they continue to be
one of the most influential and consistent voting blocs in the United States (Bureau of Justice and
Statistics 2017). Thus, my project examines the relationship between the prevalence of state-
initiated violence against Black women and their political behavior, which is primarily
unaddressed in political science literature.

3
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-elections/exit-polls

4
Black Women and Their Experiences Are Missing from Political Science
The existing literature that connects criminal justice contact to political participation can
be summed up as a debate between two positions. One side argues that criminal justice custodial
contact (whether direct or indirect) represses political participation (Burch 2013; Lee et. al 2013;
Weaver and Lerman 2010). Others argue proximal custodial contact increases political
participation through caregiving for loved ones in the system (Walker and Castanon 2014;
Walker 2020; Weaver et. al 2020). Caregiving in particular is a way women experience police
contact through loved ones who are incarcerated or live in high contact areas of police (Smooth
2011, Walker and Castanon 2014). These groundbreaking studies introduce to the field of
political science, the experiences of race-class subjugated communities with what is referred to
as the carceral state (Soss and Weaver 2017). While Black men report police violence more
often, Black women often foreground Black males' experiences, undermining their own (Pew
Research Center 2019; Powell and Phelps 2020).
My research is the first in the discipline of political science to argue that criminal justice
contact starts even before arrests when dealing with police officers in the community. This
omission in the extant literature, which focuses almost exclusively on post-arrest interactions and
political behavior, also does not consider Black women. Positioning Black women at the
forefront of this conversation, I am the first to connect the role of proximal police violence on
Black women’s attitudes and participation. I explore one possible way that they deal with both
proximal police violence and direct police violence in their daily lives. Dealing directly with
police violence, Black women are three times more likely to face physical, sexual, psychological
abuse and neglect from police officers than whites and currently the fastest-growing prison
population and a group disproportionately affected by police use of force (DeVylder et. al 2014;

5
Say Her Name Report). They also deal with officers indirectly while having their loved ones
harassed, surveilled, arrested, incarcerated, and murdered at higher rates than any other
demographic (prisonplicy.org). There are currently very few studies that connect experiences
with police violence and Black women’s political behavior. My dissertation will bridge the gap
between these lines of scholarship, conceptualizing police violence as a mobilizing mechanism
and Black feminist consciousness as a mediator for Black women’s political participation.
While there is a growing body of literature addressing the issue of police brutality and
murder of unarmed Black and brown men in the United States, the use of excessive force on
unarmed Black women is often overlooked in scholarly research (Crenshaw et al. 2015). Political
science literature surrounding the links between the criminal justice system and Black political
participation focuses primarily on the effects of Black male incarceration on the Black
community as a whole (Weaver and Lerman 2010; Burch 2014) or lump Black women into a
category of “women of color”(Walker and Castanon 2014). One approach to integrating gender
into these areas of study has focused on violence against women of color in general terms. The
risks of taking this approach are twofold: the homogenization of all women’s experience with
violence and the lack of attention to Black women in particular. Black women have a specific
history of violent interactions with law enforcement officials that is distinct from any other
group. Black women’s history plays a major role in both how they view law enforcement and
how they mobilize for change. Black women are also a salient voter group in the United States
electorate, participating at higher rates than any other racial or gender group in the past three
general elections (U.S. Census Bureau 2012, 2016, 2020). While there are a number of studies
addressing Black women’s political behavior (Prestage 1991; Simien 2006, 2013; Farris and
Holman 2014) and group consciousness (Gay and Tate 1998; Rosser-Mims 2010), none have yet

6
to connect police interactions with political participation. Moreover, surveys do not include
enough Black women respondents to examine intersectional effects on their political attitudes
(Simien 2013; Farris and Holman 2014). There is a clear need for more heterogeneous studies of
police violence against Black women in order to uncover the issue, find solutions and create
more intersectional and inclusive research.
Research Question and Puzzle
The primary questions I propose in this project are: Do instances of police violence lead
to a stronger sense of Black feminist consciousness amongst Black women? How does police
violence affect Black women’s political participation? How does proximity to police violence
affect Black women’s political behavior?
The following hypotheses emuate from the research questions:
H1: Controlling for SES, age, education, and religion, Direct non-violent contact with police
violence leads Black women to participate in electoral political activities more than those
without direct contact.
H1A: Controlling for SES, age, education, and religion, direct non-violent contact with police
violence leads Black women with a strong sense of Black feminist consciousness to participate in
both electoral and non-electoral political activities more than those without any contact (i.e.
voting, protesting, running for office).
H2: Controlling for SES, age, education, and religion, direct violent contact with police violence
leads Black women to participate in non-electoral political activities more than those without
any contact.
H2A: Controlling for SES, age, education, and religion, direct violent contact with police violence
leads Black women with a strong sense of Black feminist consciousness to participate in both

7
electoral and non-electoral political activities more than those without any contact (i.e. voting,
running for office, protesting).
H3: Controlling for SES, age, education, and religion, indirect violent contact with police
violence leads Black women to participate in non-electoral political activities more than those
without any contact.
H3A: Controlling for SES, age, education, and religion, direct violent contact with police violence
leads Black women with a strong sense of Black feminist consciousness to participate in both
electoral and non-electoral political activities more than those without any contact (i.e. voting,
running for office, protesting).
In sum, I theorize that we must better understand how police violence shapes and
conditions Black women’s feminist consciousness. To do this, I draw upon other theoretical
approaches to understanding Black feminist consciousness, police violence, and review empirical
approaches to Black women’s political behavior. I theorize that police violence acts as an
unfortunate mobilizing mechanism for Black women’s political activity, bringing them together
through shared racialized and gendered experiences. Black women with a strong sense of a Black
feminist consciousness will be more likely to mobilize against police violence because of the
threat it poses to themselves and more importantly, their communities. My theory also argues
that while Black women experience both direct and indirect interactions with police officers,
each type of interaction affects their means of political participation in different ways.
Definitions of Key Terms
For this study here are definitions for the key terms that will be used throughout this
study:

8
Political Participation can be defined as any activity that influences the distribution of resources
or values in each society (Rosenstone and Hansen 1993) This activity can include voting,
protesting, signing petitions, running for office, joining a political organization, holding a board
position in an organization. I use both traditional and non-traditional modes of political
participation in this study because while Black women participate traditionally (voting, running
for political office) at high rates, disenfranchisement has caused Black women to often
participate non-traditionally (protesting, volunteering for a political campaign) (Milbrath & Goel,
1977; Walton 2003).
Traditional forms of political participation include the most common form which is
voting. Voting is a democratic process in which most citizens get the opportunity to express their
opinion and be represented in the U.S. electorate. Other traditional forms of political
participation include running for political office although this is much rarer.
Non-traditional forms of political participation include volunteering to work for a
campaign, donating money to a campaign, and protesting. These are considered more non-
traditional forms of participation because the costs of these activities often outweigh the benefits
making it less likely for citizens to engage (Rosenstone and Hansen 1993; Milbrath & Goel,
1977).
Black Feminist Consciousness acts as a key mediator in the theoretical framework of this
study. Black feminist consciousness argues that Black women have a distinct standpoint of their
experiences (Collins 1991). Collins argues that knowledge can empower Black women and that
Black feminist activism and Black feminist thought, as an intellectual framework, are linked
(1991). Their low positionality within the racial and gender hierarchy gives Black women a
greater sense of connection and linked fate to their racial and gender groups (Shingles 1981; Gay

9
and Tate 1991; Dawson 1994; Simien 2005). These experiences cause Black women to feel a
need to be more vocal in speaking out against their oppression through the political activity as a
means of survival for their group.
Police Violence or police brutality is defined as any use of excessive or unwarranted
force by law enforcement. For the purposes of this study, I differentiate between two types of
police violence that occur in political science literature, direct and proximal or indirect acts of
police violence. For the purposes of this study, it acts as a mobilizing mechanism for Black
women.
Direct acts of police violence include murder, rape, physical assault, verbal abuse,
harassment, racial profiling, and sexual exploitation that may cause physical and/or
psychological harm to an individual.
Proximal or indirect acts of police violence can be defined as those who have
experienced police violence through a friend or family member (White 2019). Black women’s
volatile history with the state includes constant direct and proximal acts of violence, including
community surveillance, law, and unlawful arrests, traffic stops, welfare checks, domestic
violence calls and stop and frisk occurrences lead them to mobilize against the injustices done to
them and their loved ones (White 2019; Walker 2020).
Political Mobilization Efforts in this study are defined as actions taken on the part of
individuals and/or groups in order to influence the existing distribution of power in a given
society. Forms of political mobilization include media outlets, family and friends, and social
organizations. For Black women specifically, there are a number of longstanding social networks
that contribute to their consciousness and mobilization efforts including church, Black media,
and Black female political organizations.

10
Road Map of Dissertation
Chapter 1 proceeded with a description of the project, my motivations for doing this
research, and a statement of the problem. This is followed by a brief explanation of my theory,
the hypotheses, and definitions of the key terms involved in this study. I then discuss where this
work fills a gap in the literature of political science. Chapter 2 provides an in-depth review of the
relevant literature of Black women’s interactions with police and its connection to their political
participation. Chapter 3 expands the theoretical framework and hypotheses for the project as well
as an in-depth explanation of my research design and methodology choices and procedures.
Chapters 4, 5, 6 will include the empirical findings for the three research questions. Finally,
Chapter 7 will conclude with a discussion of the next steps and broader implications of this
research.

11

12
Chapter Two: REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE
Until the early 1990’s Black women’s political participation went primarily unaddressed
in the field of political science. Even with the groundbreaking work of scholars including Jewel
Prestage, Dianne Pinderhughes, Patricia Hill Collins, Evelyn Simien, and more, Black women
and their political behavior remain an understudied sector in the field in relation to the political
work they have done. Due to the lack of data on this population, much of the current scholarship
addresses elite behavior or Black women of certain educational attainment levels and
socioeconomic demographics. This has the unfortunate consequence of leaving a large portion of
Black women’s political issues unaddressed. According to 2010 U.S. Census data, only fourteen
percent of Black women have college degrees and have the lowest median income compared to
any other racial group (US Census Bureau 2011). My research argues that the populations of
Black women that are not captured in the current data are participating traditionally and non-
traditionally as political actors. These groups need to be included in the data in order to
accurately assess the needs of Black communities that are often left out of political discussions.
Scholars whose research is concerned with the interactions of the criminal justice system
and African Americans conclude that Black people who have constant proximal contact with the
criminal justice system overall tend to retreat from politics (Burch 2011, Weaver and Lerman
2014). They focus primarily on the incarceration of Black and Brown men and its effect on
political participation. My primary assumptions argue this is not telling the full story for Black
women, who cannot afford to abstain from participation. They are politically active as a means
of survival. Arguments that mention Black women retreat from political participation due to
criminal justice contact do not completely account for the non-traditional means that Black
women have historically and currently participate. Much of the literature that argues criminal

13
justice contact represses political participation doesn’t empirically account for other forms of
political participation including protesting and joining a civic organization. They also do not
account for those who are not able to participate in electoral politics because of current or
previous incarceration (Burch 2013; Weaver and Lerman 2014).
Extending the work of Walker and Garcia-Castano as well as Weaver, Prowse, and
Piston’s theories that argue Women of Color are more politicized through loved ones
experiencing the criminal justice system and participate through non-traditional means to enact
change, my theory argues that Black women, in particular, are more politicized not only as
caregivers who experience proximal contact with the criminal justice system but direct violent
interactions with law enforcement before custodial contact even happens (Walker and Garcia-
Castano 2017, 2020; Prowse and Piston 2019). Black women participate in both traditional and
non-traditional means due to their greater sense of group consciousness, a Black feminist
consciousness.
The works of Beth Ritchie and Andrea Richie show there is a need to include Black
women in the conversation of direct acts of police violence. While individuals who are
overexposed to the criminal justice system may be less likely to vote in general elections (Burch
2014), Black women, in particular, participate politically in several other significant ways
outside of voting including protesting, organizing, and in some cases running for office (Cole
and Stewart 1996). Over 74 percent of voting-eligible Black women voted in the 2016
presidential elections and remain the largest and most politically active amongst women despite
themselves and their loved ones being victims of police violence at higher rates than any other
racial group. While Black women overwhelmingly vote democratic, scholars empirically show
that they are not as homogenous in their ideologies. My research deviates from the criminal

14
justice literature by focusing specifically on what happens before incarceration. The effects of
the everyday lived trauma of police violence experienced through Black women’s perspectives.
Historical Foundations of Black Women and Politics
Since the inception of the United States, Black women have played a distinct role in the
American political system. Tocqueville’s 1831 female tradeoff “American women never manage
the outward concerns of the family or conduct business or take part in political life; nor are they,
on the other hand, ever compelled to perform the rough labor of the fields or to make any of
those laborious efforts which demand the exertion of physical strength” did not include Black
women. Black female slaves were seen as property whose only value was from their labor and
the children they could have (Morgan 2004). Black women not only had to work in white
owners' homes, fields, but also be matriarchs, taking care of their own families (Ritchie 2013).
Due to their inferior positionality throughout American history, the contributions of Black
women have been largely ignored. Prestage argues that even though Black women were not
allowed to participate in traditional politics, they have always resisted through non-traditional
means including not carrying unwanted children to labor, organizing escape plans, and
participating in slave revolts (1991).
There is a long history of Black women being viewed and treated as property. As a result,
Black women are not seen as female in the sense of white women, instead, they are perceived to
be ungendered (Morgan 2004, Snorton 2017). This allowed slave owners to justify the use of
Black women’s bodies as a means of producing free labor, childbearing, or even lab
experiments. During the creation of the American constitution, the Founding Fathers wrote into
law the subordinate position of both women and African slaves, giving white men, white women,
and even Black men a superior position above Black women through structural racism and

15
sexism. White slave owners created stereotypes that hypersexualized and/or desexualized Black
women, cultivating a perception that black women were unvictimizable (Collins 2012). These
stereotypes of the promiscuous woman, the mammy, the welfare queen, or the angry Black
woman continue to leave Black women vulnerable to police violence that goes unspoken and
unpunished (Plous & Williams 1995; Hancock 2003; Harris-Perry 2013). To combat this
Higginbotham argues that black Christian women practice the politics of respectability to stand
out from deviant blacks (2009). The dehumanization of Black women has continued to manifest
itself in various ways in modern society, one way being the criminal justice system.
During the abolitionist movement, Black suffrage, and women’s suffrage movements,
Black women were at the forefront of ending violence against their entire communities. Black
women fought alongside Black men and white women in these movements where they faced
both physical and psychological violence from both groups (Giddings 1988). Women including
Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Anna Julia Cooper, and others used political means outside of
voting to gain freedom. They were often met with violence from whites who used intimidation
tactics to keep them away from the polls (Prestage 1991). Ida B. Wells appealed to international
audiences with her writings that gave a detailed account of the violence Black people were
facing in the South through anti-lynching movements (Wells 1891). Organizations including the
National Association of Colored Women’s Club and the National Council of Negro Women
were founded by Black women doing political work on behalf of themselves and their
community. Even then, Black women felt the neglect of their issues and knew they had to be
addressed separately from their Black male and White female counterparts.

16
Institutional Factors of Black Women’s Political Participation
People participate in a variety of political activities including voting, donating to
campaigns, protesting, organizing through local political groups, running, and serving in a local
office, or on local boards at differing levels. Scholars have explained these differences in
political participation as a function of individual and group access to resources and political
knowledge (Aldrich 1993; Avery 2006; Verba, Schlozman, and Brady 1995). Early scholars
reported that African Americans had lower voter turnout rates than whites without factoring in
disenfranchisement strategies, SES, and lack of political knowledge (Abramson and Clagett
1989). However, when SES is considered African Americans vote at higher rates than whites
belonging to their same economic class (Bobo and Gilliam 1990). Black Americans have
historically been excluded from traditional means of political participation and therefore engage
in non-traditional means of political participation (Prestage 1991; Walton 2003). Even though
traditionally Black voters and women have been empirically lumped together, the scholarship
shows that White women continue to behave politically differently from women of color, and we
should not treat them as a monolith (Junn 2017, Frasure-Yokley 2014). Black women
participated in several ways including “social protests, public speaking, and advocacy, as well as
grant writing, budgeting, and other administrative tasks, were viewed as a part of a larger
struggle” (Naples 1998). Black women have had a history of political empowerment and
leadership in community organizing since the antebellum period. McAdams found that women
who participated in movements found that it had a longer-lasting impact on them, and these
women continued to participate in women's movements (1996).
Black women have historically been on the frontlines of movements like the Women’s
Suffrage Movement and the Civil Rights Movement, however, did not see their issues being

17
addressed (Collins 1990; Giddings 1998; Simien 2001). Neither movement resulted in Black
women gaining full suffrage, they continue to work within the political sphere. Groups like the
National Council for Negro Women and later the Combahee River Collective were founded to
address the distinct nature of Black women’s experiences. While Black women have historically
participated in non-traditional forms of political participation due to disenfranchisement, with the
gaining of both Black and female suffrage, in more recent years Black women have become
much more active in traditional politics.
Brandy Norwood reports on the physical and psychological effects of discrimination in
the era of Jim Crow. The state of Ohio, like many other states during and post-reconstruction,
imposed “Black codes” which were ordinances, statutes, and policies that restricted the actions
of free Blacks in public spaces (2018). Massey and Denton link Jim Crow laws to residential
segregation and the creation of the Black “ghetto” in places like Chicago and Philadelphia
(1993). Legally mandated segregation structurally impeded the social mobility of African
Americans, closing off access to better schools, housing, and job opportunities. The massive
expansion of criminalization, arrest, and incarceration of African Americans caused civil-rights
groups to redirect their focus. Cross observed that the Black Power phase of the 20th-century
Black social movement attempted to transform the stigmatized Black identity into a new one
based on pride in Black culture and experience; he argued that this pattern of transformation
characterizes the development of individual Black identity as well (1991). This influx of drugs
and crime being pushed into minority communities also increased police presence and mass
incarceration rates of Black men leaving Black women as the primary caretakers of their
households and communities. According to Weaver and Lerman, custodial citizens are people
subject to constant surveillance by law enforcement, and thus truncated substantive citizenship,

18
because of involuntary encounters with the carceral state or a police state (Weaver and Lerman
2010; Richie 2012).
Scholars also quantify the early “adultification” of Black youth and the implications this
has on the criminal justice system. A study done in 2017 showed that Black women are seen as
adults by society as early as age 5 whereas white children tend to be given more leniency by the
criminal justice system for making poor decisions in their adolescence (Epstein, Blake, and
Gonzalez 2017). The early adultification of Black girls leads to their criminalization and constant
contact with the criminal justice system as early as elementary school. In her book Invisible No
More, Andrea Ritchie mentions there is a lack of knowledge on Black women’s encounters with
police officers that lead to their incarceration. However, she mentioned the differential treatment
of Black women by U.S. customs officers and local police officers performing stop and frisks
(2017). Due to the oppressive systems written into United States law, Crenshaw argues there is
no frame for us to see Black women (1991). Black women had no recourse for violence
perpetrated upon them. They needed to create means for them to have some humanity within a
society that deemed them unimportant. Scholars have shown that Black women are more likely
to politically participate, despite the presence of political disenfranchisement tactics (Cole and
Stewart 1996), however very little attention is paid to the activity of Black women specifically
outside of Black feminist scholarship. Since 1990, Black women have out-paced Black men in an
election to public office (Orey et. al 2006) and are more likely to register to vote, register others,
work on political campaigns and march in protests than White women (Junn 1997).
Political Mobilization of Black Women’s Political Participation
The historical separation of both race and gender has created a distinct category for Black
women in American society. During the antebellum period, Blacks were socially and legally

19
defined by their phenotypic characteristics. The consequences of this where Black people as a
group were placed into a class-subjugated position in society. Group membership can be defined
as the assignment of an individual into a particular group based on characteristics that are
specific to that group, in accordance with widely held ideas in society. American institutions and
structures reinforce membership criteria due to the lack of individual agency (Nobles 2000).
Group identification refers to an individual’s awareness of belonging to a certain group
and having a psychological attachment to that group based on a perception of shared beliefs,
feelings, interests, and ideas with other group members ( Jackman & Jackman 1973, Gurin et al.
1980, Miller et al. 1981, Conover 1988). According to social identity theory, an individual’s
identity is primarily derived from their group membership.
Group consciousness is in-group identification politicized by a set of ideological beliefs
about one’s group’s social standing, as well as a view that collective action is the best means by
which the group can improve its status and realize its interests (McClain et.al). Group
consciousness is a broad theory about how individuals engage in society as members of identity
groups (Shingles 1981, Miller et. al 1991). The emergence of a group consciousness can be
defined cumulatively over as four stages: group identification, power discontent, system blame,
and collectivist orientation (Miller et. al 1991, Gay and Tate 1998). The first stage of group
consciousness, group identity, is simply a person's self-awareness of belonging to a particular
social stratum (Verba and Nie 1972). Miller et al. argue group consciousness involves not only
self-identification with a certain group but also understanding that their group is deprived of
resources and producing some discontent with the status quo (1991). Individuals who possess
group identification and discontent with the status quo, blame the current system of power and
begin to mobilize with their group to change their position in society. Farris and Holman argue

20
that individuals join groups to gain resources in the form of social capital (2013). Social capital
encourages and improves collective decision-making and cooperation amongst a group with
something in common. Black women possess higher levels of social capital overall across
incomes and education levels than Black men or white women. This elevated sense of group
consciousness through social capital mobilizes Black female political participation at higher
levels than (Gay and Tate 1998; Farris and Holman 2013).
Some scholars conceptualize black racial identity as an awareness of and identification
with a racial group based on feelings of in-group closeness (Matthews & Prothro 1966, Broman
et al. 1988, Harris 1995). Other scholars argue that black identity is a multidimensional construct
consisting in part of the physical, psychological, sociopolitical, and cultural elements of life for
blacks in the United States (Allen et al. 1989, Demo & Hughes 1990, Phinney 1990, Thompson
2001, Harris-Lacewell & Junn 2007). Despite the recognition of the necessity to incorporate an
individual’s perception of the group’s social status into measures of racial identity, a specific
measure (or set of measures) is not easily agreed on. One reason is that individuals view racial
identity in different ways. Some respondents may base their definition of their own racial
identity on racial group membership (“Society says I am black; therefore, I am black”), whereas
others may view racial identity in terms of a common culture, interests, and linked fate (Shingles
1981; Dawson 1994; Gay and Tate 1998; Simien 2005). Dawson defines linked-fate as the
recognition that you belong to a certain group and that your life chances are directly linked to
those of your group. He argues that Black Americans linked fate comes from a shared history of
slavery and racial discrimination. This shared history and experience lead Black people to
support the democratic party specifically, even when they become a part of a higher
socioeconomic group. His theoretical framework argued the role of group interests among

21
African Americans is a mechanism in their individual level evaluations of policy, parties, and
candidates, or what he calls the black utility framework (1986). In Boundaries of Blackness,
Cathay Cohen argues there is a second marginalization amongst Black Americans. Therefore,
gender, class, and sexual norms can exist within the Black community that often silence the
needs of the marginalized community within the community (1999). Scholars in social
psychology suggest that one of the primary mechanisms through which social movements
mobilize is the formation of a collective identity. Black women possess a distinct standpoint
because of their shared experience of racialized and gendered oppression living in a white, male-
dominated society (King 1988, Collins 1991). Through a strong identification with their identity
group or cultural communities, Black girls learn at an early age, strategies for coping with
stressors brought on by the trauma of dealing with adversity on a daily basis (Evens-Winters
2014).
Black Feminist Consciousness
While the presence of a group consciousness makes mobilization easier, it is not enough
for political participation. Belonging to a certain identity group emboldens an individual identity
and connects the individual to a certain social or cultural group, solidifying their commitment to
the group's issues (Gamson, 1992). When individuals share a common identity, and hence a
sense of common fate with a group, they act to protect group interests (Gurin & Townsend,
1989). Feelings of a common fate and Black identity increases Black rates of political
participation in conventional behavior, such as participation in elections, campaign activities, and
discussing politics (Tate 1991, 1993, 2003, Gurin et al.). Much of the early scholarship on group
consciousness did not address Black women specifically. The scholarship that discusses Black
group consciousness is often Black male-centered because focusing on sexism in the movement

22
is seen as taking away from the goal of Black liberation. Even scholarship that includes Black
women tends to measure their behavior and psychology in relationship to Black men or white
women. Oftentimes Black women who are conscious of their group positionality must grapple
with the fact they being both Black and female doubly marginalized and need to be measured on
the basis of belonging to both these groups at the same time.
To remedy this absence, Gay and Tate (1998) use the National Black Elections Surveys
of 1984 and 1996 to show that Black women identify strongly with both race and gender when
making political decisions. They found that race and gender are mutually reinforcing, as Black
women who identified strongly with their racial identity were more likely to identify with
feminism. However, when it comes to issues addressing race or feminist issues, Black women
tend to place the needs of the race over those of gender when the issues are not specific to Black
women (Gay and Tate 1998). Scholars who looked at this from a more intersectional standpoint
found when faced with race-gender issues a Black-women identity becomes more salient (Settles
2006). Evelyn Simen (2004) develops a measure for Black feminist consciousness measuring
race and gender simultaneously when looking at group consciousness. Simien and Clawson
(2004) expand this conversation arguing that Black feminist consciousness and race
consciousness go hand in hand to bolster policy attitudes. Black feminist consciousness differs
from linked fate due to paternalism, sexism, and racism (Collins 1991, Cohen 1999).
Due to their extensive history with both sexual and racial violence, Black women do not
have the luxury of choosing what is more important between race and gender (Beal 1970;
Giddings 1984; Gay and Tate 1998; Harris-Lacewell 2004; Tate 2010; Simien 2004). The limited
existing literature suggests that Black women's unique socialization, politicization, and life
experiences make their political activity different from any other group (Gay and Tate 1998;

23
Simien and Clawson 2004; Tate 2010; Brown 2014). Many Black feminist scholars also argue
that the multiple matrices of discrimination faced by Black women promote their higher levels of
participation to combat the overshadowing of being a Black woman (Farris and Holman 2014). I
argue that true feminist consciousness cannot and does not separate the community from the self.
Black women’s political activity keeps not only their own well-being in mind but also their male
counterparts.
Political scientists generally have devoted significant attention to identifying factors that
influence an individual’s decision to participate in politics (Verba and Nie 1972; Wolfinger and
Rosenstone 1980; Verba et al. 1995). One method of empirically examining political
participation and its relationship to Black group consciousness employs Shingles’ (1981)
theoretical framework of political mistrust and empowerment. More recent scholars have built
off this work arguing that the presence of a stronger group consciousness leads to higher levels
of political mistrust and therefore higher levels of political participation including protesting
(Heatherington 2005, Avery 2006, 2009). Bobo and Gilliam (1990) theorized that for African
Americans living in areas of high empowerment – such as having a Black mayor or other elected
official – influences Black participation. They theorize that the presence of Black elected
officials stimulates a more trusting orientation toward the political process and stimulates the
political engagement of African Americans. Lorrie Frasure and Linda Faye Williams argue that
these predictors are not enough. Using an intersectional approach, racial and economic
inequalities that impact individuals need to be taken into account when looking at political
participation (2009). These theories have been tested on Blacks in general however not on Black
women specifically and not taking into account police violence.
The Role of Violence in Black Women’s Politics

24
While women encounter high levels of violence in various forms, Black women are
overly exposed to acts of violence due to their positionality in society. According to historian
Daina Berry, “misogynoir” is a term used to describe gendered, anti-Black violence ranging from
police beatings and murders of unarmed Black women to the racist targeting of leading Black
female scholars, attorneys, journalists, and political figures. This violence is in addition to the
ongoing disparities in Black women’s access to education, healthcare, employment, and housing
(2020). Many of the methodological approaches in the literature consistently found that residents
of race-class subjugated communities are more likely to experience police surveillance,
harassment, brutality, and inadequate protection (Burch 2013; Soss & Weaver 2017). For Black
women living in a police state, it is common to have violent interactions with law enforcement
consistently (Richie 2012). While these encounters may not always end in physical violence, the
constant surveillance of Black communities is an indirect act of structural violence that leads to
psychological harm and continues systems of structural racism (Sewell et. al. 2016). Historically
there has been a push to appear tough on crime, which has persisted throughout today’s political
landscape. The consequences of this have been racialized policies criminalizing the behaviors
that stem from poverty, poor mental and physical health, lack of education, increasing law
enforcement budgets, and the expansion of the prison system (Eckhouse 2019; Frymer 2010;
Hinton 2016, Gottschalk 2006; 2008; 2014).
The literature on police use of excessive force reports that the percentage of police
shootings involving Black victims exceeds the percentage of Blacks in the population by two
hundred percent (Milton et. al 1977, Washington Post 2018). Early literature on the use of
excessive force reports that there is a correlation between police shooting rates, arrest, and
homicide rates in specific jurisdictions (Binder and Schaft 1982). These studies showed police

25
violence concurred with two “Belief Perspectives” about why Blacks were disproportionately
killed by officers. The first “Belief Perspective” of police shooting rates involved internal
structural policies and practices that trained officers to use more violence when dealing with
Black people (Fyfe 1980; Fridell and Lim 2016). The second “Belief Perspective” argued that
the killing of Black people was justified because they were disproportionately involved in more
crime (Uelman 1973; Goldkamp 1976; Fyfe 1980).
Current theories show there is clear racial bias in law enforcement and hidden
curriculums within the police academy that promotes hyper-masculinity and patriarchy. This
literature continues to suggest there are unspoken norms within police departments that produce
a misogynistic and racist culture while in the field, that leads to certain implicit and explicit
biases when interacting with citizens (Haas 2013; Gelman et.al 2017; Quinlam and Ramirez
2017; Prokos and Padavic 2002). Scholars also find that when communities take steps to remedy
the injustices, they face at the hands of law enforcement they are met with resistance and
retaliation (Legewie 2016; Hailey 2005) There have also been theories addressing the differential
treatment of Black women in the battery, domestic violence and rape cases which creates a lack
of trust between Black women and police officers. Black women run the risk of experiencing
more violence when they choose to call the police for assistance (Collins 1998; Robinson and
Chandek 2008; Brunson and Witzer 2011) and report experiencing harassment, physical assault,
and rape when contacting the police.
4

4
There are several cases of police officers sexually assaulting Black women including Daniel Holtzclaw was
convicted of sexually assaulting 18 women, all who were African American, while working as an OKC police
officer. A Black woman in Memphis, Tennessee reports being raped by a police officer after she was taken into
custody. As well as a Black women in Baltimore who sure BPD for sexual assault during a strip search.

26
Carbado argues that there is the legalization of racial profiling within the Fourth
Amendment doctrine that enables police officers to stop and harass Blacks with little to no basis
(2017). Walker and Irlbeck (2002) use both qualitative data to define what they call “Driving
While Female''. Women reporting Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence to police may
encounter inadequate, neglectful, or abusive responses from police following their report
(Campbell et al., 2015; Cuevas et al., 2010; Du Mont et al., 2003; Jordan, 2004; Kasturrirangan
et al., 2004; Potter, 2010; Tasca et al., 2013). There are several stories of officers entering private
homes on the pretext of a search and then assaulting women who live there. They also find there
is a failure of police departments to investigate allegations that come to their attention. In several
cases, supervisors disregarded citizen complaints filed by female victims. In one of the Nassau
County cases, the female victim filed a formal complaint with the department in a timely fashion,
but the department did not investigate it for almost nine months.
Summary
Even though Black women were disenfranchised, they have historically always resisted
their subjugated state. Black women are powerful change agents in their communities, who have
collectively organized around issues that primarily affect themselves and their communities
while facing gendered and racialized oppression. Black women share a unique bond through
their experiences with state-sanctioned violence that goes back to the antebellum period. Black
women are at the forefront of organizing and mobilizing grassroots campaigns and educating
their communities to combat the violence they face. Several Black women including Samir Rice
have become politically emboldened through their experiences with police violence. This project
presents the argument that Black women use the trauma they experience from encounters with
police as a mobilizing mechanism to educate and advocate for themselves and their communities.

27

28
Chapter Three: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
Theory
Given the relevant literature, my theory examines the political implications of both direct
and indirect (proximal) acts of police violence on Black women. Using Black feminism to
understand how hierarchies of oppression are always used simultaneously. Direct acts of police
violence include murder, rape, physical assault, verbal abuse, harassment, racial profiling, and
sexual exploitation that may cause physical and/or psychological harm to an individual (who.int).
Proximal or indirect acts of police violence can be defined as those who have experienced police
violence through a friend or family member (White 2019). Black women’s volatile history with
the state includes constant direct and proximal acts of violence, including community
surveillance, law, and unlawful arrests, traffic stops, welfare checks, domestic violence calls and
stop and frisk occurrences lead them to mobilize against the injustices done to them and their
loved ones. My theory argues that both direct and indirect (proximal) contact with police
violence affects Black women’s political behavior and potentially in different ways. Direct acts
of violence will be operationalized in my survey with the question: Have you personally
experienced police brutality (i.e. murder, rape, verbal or physical assault)? The indirect
(proximal) acts of violence will be measured in the survey using the question: Has anyone in
your family/friends experienced police brutality (i.e. murder, rape, verbal or physical assault)?
Extending Walker and Garcia-Castano and Weaver, Prowse, and Piston’s theories that argue
Women of Color are more politicized through loved ones experiencing the criminal justice
system and participate through non-traditional means to enact change, my theory argues that
Black women, in particular, are more politicized not only as caregivers who experience proximal

29
contact with the criminal justice system but direct violent interactions with law enforcement
before custodial contact even happens (2017, 2020).
My theoretical framework uses Black feminist consciousness as a mediator of police
violence and political participation, contending that Black women share a common sense of
anxiety and grievance against the state whether it be from direct or proximal contact with law
enforcement. Black women’s shared experiences of violence and their low positionality within
the racial and gender hierarchy give Black women a greater sense of connection and linked fate
to their racial and gender groups (Shingles 1981; Gay and Tate 1991; Dawson 1994; Simien
2005). These experiences cause Black women to be more vocal in speaking out against them
through political means. The presence of a group consciousness needs to be present in order for
police violence to mobilize Black women however it can also be that police violence against
Blacks increases Black women’s group consciousness.
Black organizations, such as Black churches, businesses, colleges, media, more recently
social media, and other institutions play an important role in informing Black political
knowledge and encouraging mobilization (Harris-Lacewell 2004; Tate 1991). My theory uses
these mobilization efforts to explain how police interactions lead to political participation.
Institutions such as the Black church, Black press, Black social organizations, eliminate
detrimental effects of poverty and discrimination. These institutions help set the political agenda
of what's important to the Black community and where mobilization efforts should be
concentrated. A number of scholars have argued that exposure to media surrounding the Black
Lives Matter movement specifically has different responses for individuals (Crowder 2019;
Bonilla and Tillery 2020).

30
The modes of political participation I focus on in this theory are voting, protesting,
signing petitions, running for office, joining a political organization, holding a board position in
an organization. I use both traditional and non-traditional modes of political participation
because while Black women participate traditionally (voting, running for political office) at high
rates, disenfranchisement has caused Black women to often participate non-traditionally
(protesting, volunteering for a political campaign) (Walton 2003). Weaver, Prowse, and Piston
argue that while constant police surveillance and living in a carceral state make Black citizens
retreat from state institute politics, they move towards community power activism to institute
change (2020).
I posit that Black women tend to be more politically active because they possess a strong
sense of Black feminist consciousness when faced with the issue of police violence, they
instinctively act to protect themselves, their family, and their community.

Figure 1. Theoretical Framework

31
Hypotheses
H1: Controlling for SES, age, education, and religion, Direct non-violent contact with police
violence leads Black women to participate in electoral political activities more than those
without direct contact.
H1A: Controlling for SES, age, education, and religion, direct non-violent contact with police
violence leads Black women with a strong sense of Black feminist consciousness to participate in
bo electoral and non-electoral political activities more than those without any contact (i.e.
voting, protesting, running for office).
H2: Controlling for SES, age, education, and religion, direct violent contact with police violence
leads Black women to participate in non-electoral political activities more than those without
any contact.
H2A: Controlling for SES, age, education, and religion, direct violent contact with police violence
leads Black women with a strong sense of Black feminist consciousness to participate in both
electoral and non-electoral political activities more than those without any contact (i.e. voting,
running for office, protesting).
H3: Controlling for SES, age, education, and religion, indirect violent contact with police
violence leads Black women to participate in non-electoral political activities more than those
without any contact.
H3A: Controlling for SES, age, education, and religion, direct violent contact with police violence
leads Black women with a strong sense of Black feminist consciousness to participate in both
electoral and non-electoral political activities more than those without any contact (i.e. voting,
running for office, protesting).

32
Data Collection Procedures
Pilot Survey Design
Evelyn Simien states that survey and public opinion researchers must develop measures
that consider group variation (2013). My survey seeks to address the variation in experiences
amongst Black women with policing and why they may or may not participate in certain types of
political activity. Using Gay and Tate’s extension of the traditional linked fate model, I include
survey items that assess in-group attachments (1998). Creating my own survey allowed me to
include a number of questions that directly test my hypothesis. It also gave me a large sample of
Black women. Asking women from all over the United States with varying matrices of
oppression, allowed me to analyze what really matters for Black women when it comes to their
political participation. I have received 867 Black female respondents of various education
levels, SES, religious backgrounds, age groups, etc. The pilot survey asked in-depth questions
addressing all variables in the theory. I hope to gain some insight on race and gender identities
that affect how Black women deal with police violence against their community with the analysis
of this data. In the collection of the data, I noticed the majority of the respondents are 46-54. I
plan to create a variable using R data programming to weight the lack of age variation. I am also
looking into collecting more survey respondents in hopes of getting more variation in age and
educational attainment.
My dependent variable is political participation (voting, protesting, signing petitions,
running for office, joining a political organization, holding a board position in an organization)
and my explanatory variables are proximity to police violence. My moderating variable is Black
women’s group consciousness. The survey will also measure proximity to police violence and
how that affects Black women’s likelihood to mobilize, answering the question: How does

33
proximity to police violence affect Black women’s political behavior, and who needs to be the
target group of police violence for Black women to organize and mobilize?
Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey Data
For this dissertation I used the 2020 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey
(CMPS), to test my hypotheses. Other surveys including the ANES, CCES, and GSS, while
useful in asking questions about political behavior, do not have enough Black female
respondents to test the relationship of both race and gender while interacting with another
variable. The CMPS is the largest and most comprehensive election survey, using a nationally
representative sample and an oversampling community of color and including questions
addressing Black Lives Matter and police violence (Barreto et. al 2018). The 2020 CMPS had
almost 15,000 Black, LatinX, Asian, and White respondents. To use the CMPS to answer my
research questions, I first performed an exploratory factor analysis By conducting a logit
regression model with the CMPS, I will be able to address group consciousness for Black women
and police violence while controlling for other traditional factors of political participation
including SES, age, and education. I control for these factors because I want to test my
hypothesis without these indicators becoming confounding factors in the analysis. The purpose
of using the CMPS is to first see if Black women possess a strong sense of linked fate and do
they tend to be more politically active on issues concerning police violence. I will use the “linked
fate” question to measure this. The question essentially asks on a scale from 1-7, how much do
you believe what happens to other African Americans determines what happens to you?
(Dawson 1994; Gay and Tate 1998). Using the CMPS will also give me access to respondents of
various racial and gender groups to use as comparisons.

34
Participant Recruitment
The purpose of the survey is to gauge the experience of Black American women and
how personal experiences with police violence affect them politically. I recruited these women
through (1) A snowball sampling method and (2) reaching out to Black female organizations
around the United States including support groups of mothers who have lost their children to
police violence. I created the survey through Qualtrics. While my primary method of getting
responses for the survey was using the snowball method, I also plan to use Lucid to collect Black
female respondents for the book project.
Data Analysis Procedures
The data analysis procedure of the pilot survey includes three multivariate least squared
regression, using the political participation questions as dependent variables and direct and
indirect police violence as the independent variables. I then modeled three ordinary least squared
regression plots interacting Black feminist consciousness with police violence to show its effect
on political participation as a moderating variable. To analyze the 2020 CMPS data, I first
completed an ordinary least squared regression where the dependent variable was family
members murdered by police. I used the explanatory variables of voted in the past 12 months,
participating in a BLM protest, donating to a political campaign, and joining a political
organization. I then completed an exploratory factor analysis to see which variables are highly
correlated when dealing with police. There were three primary factors that come out of the EFA.
Many of them dealt with questions about the avoidance of the police. Overall the EFA showed
there are a number of varying factors in Black women’s feelings towards police. I create a profile
for Black women who are more likely to be pro-police and anti-police.

35
Limitations of the Study
This study suffers from a few limitations. The first is getting a nationally representative
sample of Black women. I recruited Black women from various socioeconomic statuses,
educational attainment levels, age groups, and from the five different regions of the United States
in an effort to gauge the experiences of various types of Black women. However, using the
snowball method gave me respondents from certain groups. To remedy this I created survey
weights on the controls using 2020 Census data.
There are also limitations with both the pilot survey and the 2020 CMPS in that they do
not ask questions concerning Black women being murdered by police i.e. Sandra Bland and how
the respondent feels about Black women specifically being murdered by police. This is important
because it is a key factor of Black feminist conciousness to gauge Black women’s feelings about
other Black women experiencing police violence. There were also not any community-specific
questions addressing what Black women define as community and if proximal violence to
members of their residential community influences behavior. To address this, I included
questions on the interview protocol to better define Black feminist consciousness and proximal
contact for Black women.
There is also a concern of external validity because I am addressing such a specific
population. While this may seem like an issue Black woman themselves are a diverse group of
people with lots of regional, educational, and class variations. There is also very little data on
Black women’s experiences with police violence in general. This data will provide information
on a salient population and be replicable for other groups to better understand specific
experiences with trauma using an intersectional framework.

36
Summary
Overall, my theory argues, Black Women’s interactions with law enforcement shape their
political behavior. Black female-led civic organizations play a key role in mobilizing Black
women when there is a threat to the Black community, such as police violence. Type of contact
(direct vs. proximal) with police matters for the type of political participation. Using my own
survey instrument and the 2020 CMPS, I was able to test the hypotheses I propose. Using my
pilot survey and the 2020 CMPS I provide answers to the three research questions I propose.

37

38
Chapter Four: EMPIRICAL FINDINGS FOR PILOT SURVEY
Descriptive Statistics
This chapter presents findings from the pilot survey, fielded online using Qualtrics in
May of 2020. The survey consisted of 28 multiple choice questions and took respondents
approximately 10 minutes to complete. There were over 930 respondents and 856 of those were
Black women that fully completed the survey. The other respondents either did not identify as
Black or did not complete enough of the survey to use in the results.
All the respondents were ages 18 and older. There were 55 respondents in the age range
18-25, 108 were in the age range of 26-36, 181 were in the age range of 37-45, 433 were in the
age range of 46-64, and 89 were 65 and older. Approximately 8 percent of the respondents had a
total household income of less than 30,000, 28 percent had an income between $50,000-$75,000,
and 19 percent had an income of $75,000-$100,000. Nearly half of the respondents found
religion to be extremely important. The largest percentage had master's degrees at 38 percent.
The results in this section are using unweighted self-collected data. I later present
weighted and unweighted means of the dependent variables using 2020 U.S. Census population
data. Due to the large skew of the control variables, I created weights on age, income, and
educational attainment level. Overall, the results show that when exposed to non-violent direct
police contact, there is an increase in the likelihood of Black women engaging in political
activity in both electoral and non-electoral forms. When exposed to violent direct and indirect
contact, there is a significant increase in non-electoral forms of political participation.
Results
Hypothesis 1 posits that direct non-violent contact with police violence leads Black
women to participate in electoral political activities more than those without any police contact.
While in the existing criminal justice literature direct contact with the criminal justice system is

39
negatively associated with frequency of voting, the analysis of my data suggests it is positively
associated with Black women (Figure 2). That is, direct contact with police officers is a positive
and statistically significant predictor of political engagement when measured by the following
questions:(1) Have you personally been pulled over or arrested by a police officer? (2) Have you
personally experienced police brutality (physical, verbal or sexual assault)? In Figure 2, the
relationship between non-violent direct contact with police violence and all modes of political
participation is positive except for running for political office which there is no effect.
Controlling for income level, age, religiosity, and educational attainment there is a significant
increase in voter turnout, joining political and racial organizations. If there was some direct
exposure to non-violent police contact (traffic stop, arrest) there was a 10.8 % increase in the
likelihood of turnout in the 2012 presidential election, a 10.1% increase for the 2016 presidential
election, and for donating to a political campaign there was an 11.7% increase. For joining a
political organization there was a 14.2% increase and in joining a racial organization a 10.6%
increase.
Hypothesis 1A suggests that non-violent direct contact with police violence leads Black
women with a strong sense of Black feminist consciousness to participate in political activities
more than those without direct contact. My hypothesis argues that Black feminist consciousness
is a moderating variable because it stratifies the impact of police contact. I would expect Black
feminist consciousness to vary across levels of contact with police. The results of the analysis do
not support this hypothesis (Figure 3). In Figure 3, when interacting Black feminist
consciousness with non-violent police contact there is a negative effect on political participation.
The x-axis and y-axis measure the coefficients of direct non-violent contact (independent
variable) and political participation (dependent variable). These findings show that Black

40
feminist consciousness is only moderating Black women’s political activity slightly but when
they experience higher levels of non-violent police contact. When controlling for age, income,
educational attainment level, and religion, while interacting with Black feminist consciousness
with the independent variable, there is a six-percentage point decrease in the likelihood of
participation.

Figure 2. Direct Non-Violent Police Contact Multivariate Regression Figure 3. Direct Non-Violent Police Contact and Black
Feminist Consciousness Regression

Hypothesis 2 posits that violent direct contact with police violence leads Black women to
participate in non-electoral political activities more than those without any contact. These
findings align with the current literature suggesting that direct contact with criminal justice
causes a withdrawal from electoral politics. However, we cannot reject the null in stating violent
contact with the criminal justice system, more specifically, police cause them to withdraw from
electoral politics. There is also statistical significance that violent direct police contact causes an
increase in the likelihood of Black women participating in non-electoral political activities. In
other words, the data shows that when Black women experience sexual, verbal, or physical
assault by the hands of police, they are more likely to participate in political activity such as

41
protesting. That is, direct contact with police officers is a positive and statistically significant
predictor of political engagement when measured by the following questions:(1) Have you
personally been pulled over or arrested by a police officer? (2) Have you personally experienced
police brutality (physical, verbal, or sexual assault)? Controlling for income level, age,
religiosity, and educational attainment there is a significant increase in voter turnout, joining
political and racial organizations. If there was some direct exposure to non-violent police contact
(traffic stop, arrest) there was a 10.8 % increase in the likelihood of turnout in the 2012
presidential election, a 10.1% increase for the 2016 presidential election, and for donating to a
political campaign there was an 11.7% increase. For joining a political organization there was a
14.2% increase and in joining a racial organization a 10.6% increase.
In Figure 4, the relationship between direct contact with police violence there is a
significant increase in the likelihood of political participation for non-electoral political activity.
Controlling for income level, age, religiosity, and educational attainment there is a significant
increase in participating in a protest and joining a political organization. If there were some
exposures to direct violent interactions with police (verbal, sexual, and physical assault) there
was a 9.4 % increase in the likelihood of turnout in the 2012 presidential election. For joining a
political organization there was a 28.7% increase and racial organization 10.6% increase.
Hypothesis 2A suggests that violent direct contact with police leads Black women with a
strong sense of Black feminist consciousness to participate in political activities more than those
without any contact. The results of the analysis do not support this claim with a slightly larger
than hypothesis 1A (Figure 5). When controlling for age, income, educational attainment level,
and religion, while interacting with Black feminist consciousness with the independent variable,
there is a decrease of three percentage points in political activity when Black feminist

42
consciousness is used as a moderator for violent direct contact and political participation. When
direct violent contact with police increases, the effect of Black feminist consciousness on
political activity slightly decreases.

Figure 4. Direct Violent Police Contact Multivariate Regression Figure 5. Direct Violent Police Contact and Black Feminist
Consciousness Regression

Hypothesis 3 posits that violent indirect contact with police violence leads Black women
to participate in non-electoral political activities more than those without direct contact. The
results of this analysis support this hypothesis and show there is an increase in non-electoral
political activities and a withdrawal from electoral politics (Figure 6). That is, direct contact with
police officers is a positive and statistically significant predictor of non-electoral political
engagement when measured by the following questions:(1) Have you personally been pulled
over or arrested by a police officer? (2) Have you personally experienced police brutality
(physical, verbal or sexual assault)? Figure 6 illustrates the relationship between indirect contact
with police violence and non-electoral political activities. Controlling for income level, age,
religiosity, and educational attainment there is a significant increase in non-electoral political
activities including joining a protest and a political organization. These results also show there is
a withdrawal from electoral politics and most significantly in voting in the 2012 presidential

43
election and donating to a political campaign. If there was some indirect exposure to police
violence (arrest, assault) there was a 2% decrease in the likelihood of turnout in the 2012
presidential election. For participating in a protest, there was a 28.7% increase, and joining a
political organization, a 10.6% increase.
Hypothesis 3A suggests that indirect violent contact with police leads Black women with
a strong sense of Black feminist consciousness to participate in political activities less than those
without indirect contact. The results of the analysis show when Black women are exposed to
higher levels of indirect violent contact with police, the effect of Black feminist consciousness of
political participation decreases (Figure 7). When controlling for age, income, educational
attainment level, and religion, while interacting with Black feminist conciousness with the
independent variable, there is a five percentage point decrease in the likelihood of participation.

Figure 6. Indirect Violent Police Contact Multivariate Regression Figure 7. Indirect Violent Police Contact and Black
Feminist Consciousness Regression
Survey Weights
To account for the undersampling of younger Black women, those of lower
socioeconomic statuses, and educational attainment levels, I created post-stratification survey
weights using the raking method (Valliant et. al. 2018). I used this strategy to reduce sampling

44
error and be able to easily replicate each class stratification. With data from the 2020 United
States Census, I estimated the average means of the unweighted data and the data weighted on
age, education, and income (Table 2). Overall there is only a slight decrease in the averages of
the unweighted data and the weighted data.
5
I created the weights to help eliminate some of the
the error that occurred because of the skewness of the data. Most of the respondents were older
women in the group of age 46-64, obtained a master’s degree, and made over $50,000 per year.
This is clearly not an accurate representation of Black women in the United States. Creating the
weights adjusts the numbers to be more aligned with the nationally representative sample of
Black women. While the data I collected was not nationally representative, there was a slight
decrease in the weighted and unweighted means. This shows that while there was some error in
the results using the unweighted data, we can conclude that for the purposes of this research, the
analysis of the sample effectively and accurately answers the research questions.

5
To account for other robustness checks, I also recreated the models of the pilot survey using the 2020 CMPS.

45

46
Summary
Overall, the results show that Black women who experience non-violent interactions with
police are more likely to participate in both electoral and non-electoral political engagement
including voting, protesting, and joining a civic organization. Black women who experience
direct violent interactions with police are more likely to participate in non-electoral forms of
political engagement including protesting and joining a political organization. Black women who
experience indirect violent interactions with police are more likely to participate in non-electoral
forms of political engagement including protesting and joining a political organization. They
retreat from electoral politics including voting and donating to a campaign.
While the survey instrument asked specific questions that directly answered my research
questions, it is not a nationally representative sample meaning that it does not accurately
represent all Black women in the United States. The next chapter uses the 2020 Collaborative
Multiracial Post-Election Survey as a large nationally representative sample of Black women.
While the survey does not ask the exact questions to test my hypotheses, it does contain several
vignettes about policing. I am also able to use the survey to better address the causal mechanisms
that may be the reasons for the opposite effect of police violence and Black feminist
consciousness.

47
Hypothesis IV's Accepted Rejected DV's
H1
Non-Violent Direct
Contact X
9 Electoral and Non-Electoral
Participation
H1a
Non-Violent Direct
Contact X Political Participation
H2
Violent Direct
Contact X
9 Electoral and Non-Electoral
Participation
H2a
Violent Direct
Contact X Political Participation
H3
Violent Indirect
Contact X
9 Electoral and Non-Electoral
Participation
H3a
Violent Indirect
Contact X Political Participation
Table 4. Outcome of Hypotheses

48

49
Chapter Five: EMPIRICAL FINDINGS FOR 2020 CMPS
This chapter shows the findings from the 2020 Collaborative Multi-racial Post-election
Survey (CMPS). I also included a replication of the self-collected survey to check the robustness
of the results. I used the 2020 CMPS because it contains a nationally representative
oversampling of communities of color including Black women. The survey also already includes
weights, so I don’t have to worry about creating any to account for potentially skewed data.
Other election surveys including the American National Elections Survey (ANES) and the
Cooperative Congressional Elections Survey (CCES) not only do not have large samples of
groups of color but also do ask questions about policing that I need to test the hypothesis I posit.
While there were several questions addressing policing and feelings toward police, the question
addressing police violence that I ask in the self-collected survey were not present in the CMPS.
To replicate the results, I had to use the questions that were as similar as possible to those that I
ask concerning police violence.
Descriptive Statistics
The 2020 CMPS includes 2289 Black female respondents. All the respondents were ages
18 and older. There were 397 respondents in the age range 18-29, 395 were in the age range of
30-39, 391were in the age range of 40-49, 442 were in the age range of 50-59, 452 were in the
age range of 60-69, and 211 were in the age range of 70 and older (Figure 8). Figure 8 shows the
frequency of each age group in for Black women in the survey. Twenty-nine percent of the
respondents had a total household income of less than 30,000. Figure 9 shows the frequency of
each income level group in the survey. More than half of the respondents found religion to be
extremely important. Figure 10 shows the frequency of each important level of religion from
extremely important to not important. The largest percentage had some college education which
the self-collected survey also shows to be the description of Black women as a highly educated

50
population (Figure 11). Figure 11 shows the frequency of each educational attainment level
group within the survey.

Figure 8. Histogram of Age Groups Figure 9. Histogram of Income Levels

Figure 10. Histogram of Religion Figure 11. Histogram of Educational Attainment Levels

Robustness Checks
To check the robustness of the results from the sample collected in the pilot survey, I
replicated the model as close as possible to using the Black female respondents from the 2020
CMPS. Overall, the results hold, for direct contact with police, there is a percent decrease in
electoral participation which is operationalized using the question that asks respondents if they

51
voted in the past 12 months. The results of the multivariate regression show the results of the
pilot survey are valid. I was not able to operationalize the variables exactly however I used the
survey questions that were most like those in the pilot survey. The independent variables were
direct and indirect violence. To operationalize direct violence, I used the questions: (1) Been
stopped and questioned by the police while in a car. Been stopped and questioned by the police
while you were on foot. (2) Been charged a fine or fee for a non-criminal infraction, such as
driving without insurance or failure to appear in court. Been arrested, booked, or charged with a
crime. (3) Been convicted of a crime, even if you weren't guilty. To operationalize indirect
violence, I used the questions: (1) Had a close friend or family member arrested, booked, or
charged with a crime. (2) Had a close friend or family member convicted of a crime, even if they
weren’t guilty. (3) Had a close friend or family member who spent time in jail, prison, or on
probation or parole. The dependent variables were voted, protest, political organization, donated
to a political campaign. To operationalize direct violence, I used the questions: (1) This year a lot
of people said they did NOT vote in the election, because they were just too busy, not that
interested in politics, or frankly don't like their choices. How about you? Would the official vote
records for {INSERT STATE} indicate that you voted in the November 2020 election, or like
some people, did you skip this one? (2) Participated in one or more social, cultural, civic,
political groups or unions? In how many groups did you regularly participate? (3) Contributed
money to a candidate, political party, ballot issue, or some other campaign organization? (4)
Attended a protest march, demonstration, or rally?
The results of Figure 12 shows there is a significant increase in the likelihood of political
participation for non-electoral political activity. Controlling for income level, age, religiosity,
and educational attainment there is a significant increase in participating in a protest and joining

52
a political organization. If there were some exposure to direct violent interactions with police
(i.e. stopped by an officer, arrested) there was a decrease of 2.4 percentage points in the
likelihood of voter turnout. For joining a political organization there was an increase of 5.5
percentage points, an increase of 13 percentage points of joining a political organization, and no
effect on donating to a political campaign.
The results of Figure 13 shows there is a significant increase in the likelihood of political
participation for non-electoral political activity when there is indirect contact with police
violence. Controlling for income level, age, religiosity, and educational attainment there is a
significant increase in participating in a protest and joining a political organization. If there were
some exposures to indirect violent interactions with police (i.e. family member arrested) there
was a decrease of 0.2 percentage points. For the likelihood of participating in protests there is an
increase of 5 percentage points, for joining a political organization there was a 4-percentage
point increase and for donating to a political campaign there was no effect.

Figure 12. 2020 CMPS Direct Violent Police Contact Multivariate Regression

53

Figure 13. 2020 CMPS Indirect Violent Police Contact Multivariate Regression

Results
To take a closer look at the effects of violence on Black women’s political participation, I
ran an OLS regression model with the dependent variable being electoral political participation
(voted in the past 12 months, donated to a political campaign) vs. non-electoral political
participation (i.e., participated in a protest, a part of a political organization). The explanatory
variable is a family member shot by police. The results show that when just looking at the most
extreme form of indirect violent contact, there was a slight increase in electoral political behavior
and a significant decrease in non-electoral political behavior.

54

Table 4. Electoral Political Participation and Murder Table 5. Non-Electoral Political Participation and Murder
Finally, I ran an exploratory factor analysis to find what variables regarding policing
were highly correlated with one another. Overall I found the older you are, the lower your police
factor score (i.e. more positive views of police), the more educated you are, the higher your
police factor (i.e. more negative views of police), the higher your income, the lower your police
factor score (i.e. more positive views of police) and the more religious you are, the higher your
police factor (i.e. more negative views of police), however, protestants specifically have more
positive views of the police.
Summary
Overall Black women are a lot more conservative on their ideas about policing than I
previously theorized. Even when though Black women are going out of their way to avoid
police, they for the most part are strongly opposed to cutting funding to police departments.
When factoring in the idea of a Black women’s group consciousness, it represses their political
participation which was also an interesting finding considering the previous literature led me to

55
posit that Black women’s group attachment and history would cause them to participate in a
more liberal direction. Using the sample of Black women from the 2020 CMPS to check the
validity and robustness of the pilot survey shows very similar results. Black women who
expereicence direct violent contact with the police are more likely to retreat from electoral
politics and turn to non-electoral forms of political activity.

56

57
Chapter Six: DISCUSSION
In sum, these results highlight the broader implications of Black women's political
participation. Black women are essential to the democratic process, being educated and
consistent voters. Contrary to the existing literature, Black women who experience non-violent
interactions with the criminal justice system, more specifically police are more likely to
participate in both electoral and non-electoral political activities. However, when it comes to
violent encounters with police, their electoral political activity modes are slightly repressed.
Black women who experience direct violent interactions with police are more likely to
participate in all modes of political participation but more significantly vote in primary elections
and join a political organization. While Black feminist consciousness doesn’t seem to influence
Black women’s political activity, the increase of violent encounters has a negative effect on
Black women’s sense of collective identity and likelihood to mobilize because of it. This may be
occurring because the operationalization of Black feminist consciousness is not accurately
capturing the true definition of Black feminist consciousness as Black feminist scholars define it
or as Black women define it for themselves. These findings highlight the need to reexamine how
linked fate and group identity are defined when it comes to intersectional research. Black women
are important change agents in their communities and political candidates should look closer at
the issues of Black women and create policies that address these issues in order to better
mobilize Black women. With more accurate data we can begin to address the issue of state-
sanctioned violence in marginalized communities.
Black Feminist Consciousness analyzes oppression of Black women through race,
gender, sexuality and class studies. My project takes this even further in connecting trauma as an
everyday lived experience of Black women that causes mental degradation that has not been

58
addressed and becomes a barrier for Black women's possibilities for empowerment and freedom
as a collective. Second Marginalization of Black women leaves their issues out of the black
political agenda. Even Black women may justify police violence due to ambivalent sexism and
respectability politics in mind (Kennedy 2015; Yokely-Frasure 2016). Black women, especially
those with a strong religious foundation practice respectability politics and believe strongly in
roles of the sexes. This may be a barrier to Black women using their collective consciousness as
not going against the status quo too much in order to be able to enter political conversations at
all.
Ongoing Research
To completely answer the research questions, I proposed in this project, I plan to include
in-depth qualitative interviews. The purpose of these interviews will be to measure other forms
of proximal police violence contact including community violence. I will be able to ask
interview participants if the Black women’s participation is directly tied to their experiences with
police in their own words. I will be able to ask directly why and how Black women act against
police violence specifically instead of just modeling for it. The qualitative interviews will also
take a more in-depth look at what Black women define as Black Feminist Consciousness by
looking specifically at if and how gender plays a role in the levels in which Black women
become politically active. It will take a more in-depth look at the role organizations play in the
political participation of Black women. Future projects will focus solely on the effects of police
violence perpetuate on Black women specifically to Black women’s political particiaption.
Finally, this research shows the importance of intersectional research. No group is a monolith
with completely universal beliefs and ideologies. Among Black women, there is a vast variety of
experiences, behavior, and ideology. My future research will continue to look at the variations

59
amongst Black women to better understand this dynamic and salient group.

60

61
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Appendices
Appendix A: Pilot Survey IRB Approval Letter

66
Appendix B: Pilot Survey
USC (Political Science -- VonKleinSmid Center 327, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0044)

INFORMATION/FACT SHEET FOR EXEMPT SURVEY RESEARCH

Research Study: Understanding Sentiments of Police Violence Towards Black Women

You are invited to participate in a research study. Research studies include only people who
voluntarily choose to take part. This document explains information about this study.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: The purpose of this project is to better understand Black women’s
positionality within the American electorate, while primary issues are being ignored. Black
women are an essential part of the political process and this research will further our knowledge
on their voting behavior.

CONFIDENTIALITY: There will be no identifiable information retained in connection with this
study. Survey responses will be collected on Ayana Best’s computer, and only aggregate survey
results will be used in the academic paper.

PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT: If you agree to take part in this study, you will be asked to
complete an online survey with only 10 short questions. It should only take 6 minutes or less to
answer the questions. You can end your participation at any time. Click “next” in the survey to
move to the next question.

INVESTIGATOR CONTACT INFORMATION: If you have any questions or concerns about
the research, Ayana Best, PhD Candidate in the Political Science and International Relations
Department at the University of Southern California, can be reached by email at
ayanabes@usc.edu or at (510) 228-9538.

IRB CONTACT INFORMATION: If you have questions, concerns, or complaints about your
rights as a research participant or the research in general and are unable to contact the research
team, or if you want to talk to someone independent of the research team, please contact the
University Park Institutional Review Board (UPIRB), 3720 South Flower Street #301, Los
Angeles, CA 90089-0702, (213) 821-5272 or upirb@usc.edu.

Demographics

What state do you reside in?
(All 50 states)

Control Variables

Please mark the answer that includes your income amount in 2019 before taxes.
a. 100,000-109,999
b. 10,000-124,999
c. 125,000-149,999

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d. 150,000-174,999
e. 175,000-249,999
f. 250,000 or more
Prefer not to answer

What is the highest level of school you have completed or the highest degree you have received?
a. Bachelor’s degree
b. High school diploma
c. Master’s degree
d. Associate degree
e. Doctoral degree
f. Professional degree
g. 12th – 9
th grade
h. Other

Please indicate your age group? (ANES 2016)
a. Age group 18-20
b. Age group 21-24
c. Age group 25-29
d. Age group 30-34
e. Age group 35-39
f. Age group 40-44
g. Age group 45-49
h. Age group 50-54
i. Age group 55-59
j. Age group 60-64
k. Age group 65-69
l. Age group 70-74
m. Age group 75 or older

Generally speaking, do you usually think of yourself as [a Democrat, a Republican, an
independent,
or what?
a. Republican
b. Democrat
c. Independent
d. Other

Where would you place yourself on this scale, or haven’t you thought much about this?
a. Extremely liberal
b. Liberal
c. Slightly liberal
d. Moderate/ middle of the road
e. Slightly conservative
f. Conservative

68
g. Extremely conservative
h. Haven’t thought much about this

Do you consider religion to be an important part of your life?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Don’t Know

Group Consciousness Questions
When you speak about Black women, how often do you say “we” instead of “they”?
a. Always
b. Mostly
c. Often
d. Sometimes
e. Never

Do you think that what happens generally to Black women in this country will affect what
happens in
your life? (ANES 2016)
a. Yes
b. No

How much do you think that what happens generally to Black women in this country will affect
what
happens in your life? (ANES 2016)
a. A lot
b. Some
c. Not very much
d. Not at all

Political Participation

Did you vote in the 2014 Presidential Election?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Don’t Know

Did you vote in your local 2016 Midterm Election?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Don’t Know

Did you vote in the 2020 Presidential Election?
a. Yes
b. No

69
c. Don’t Know

Did you vote in your local 2018 Midterm Election?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Don’t Know
Have you ever participated in a political protest?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Don’t Know

Have you ever signed a petition?
Yes
No
Don’t Know

Are you or have you ever been a part of any political organization?
Yes
No
Don’t Know

Are you or have you ever been a part of any race/ethnic-based organization?
Yes
No
Don’t Know

Are you or have you ever been part of any women’s organization?
Yes
No
Don’t Know

Are you or have you ever been on a board for an organization?
Yes
No
Don’t Know

Have you ever run for political office?
Yes
No
Don’t Know

Police Violence

Where would you rate police on a general scale?

70
Peaceful
-
-
-
-
Violent

Have you ever been pulled over by an officer?
Yes
No
Don’t Know

If yes, how many times?
a. 1-3 times
b. 4-6 times
c. 7-10 times
d. More than 10 times

Have you ever been arrested?
Yes
No
Don’t Know

If yes, how many times?
e. 1-3 times
f. 4-6 times
g. 7-10 times
h. More than 10 times

Has anyone in your family/friends experienced police brutality (i.e. murder, rape, verbal or
physical assault)?
Yes
No
Don’t Know
______________(Open Response)

If yes, what was the instance of violence?
_____Murder
_____Verbal Assault
_____Physical Assault
_____Sexual Assault
______________(Open Response)

In what state did the incident happen?
(List of 50 states)

71
Have you personally experienced police brutality (i.e. murder, rape, verbal or physical assault)?
Yes
No
Don’t Know
______________(Open Response)

If yes, what was the instance of violence?
_____Sexual Assault
_____Verbal Assault
_____Physical Assault
______________(Open Response)

In what state did the incident happen?
_____________

How often do you hear about cases of Black women and police violence in the media?
Very Frequently Frequently Sometimes Never

Do you think police officers should be on school grounds?
Yes
No
Don’t Know

72
Appendix C: Semi-Structured Interview Protocol
Semi-Structured Interview Protocol

Demographic Questionnaire (Filled out beforehand)

● Tell me a little about your background.
○ Name?
○ Age?
○ Single/Married?
○ Occupation?
○ What city do you live in?
○ How long have you lived there?

● Introduction/Rapport building
○ Do you have any children? Siblings?
○ What are their ages? Gender?
○ What are your greatest hopes for your children and/or the children in your family?
○ What are your greatest worries or concerns about their future?
○ Are you religious? If so, what is your denomination?

● Public Opinion Questions about Crime and Police Violence
○ How should communities deal with crime?
○ How has your community’s safety changed during the time of COVID?
○ Do you think police should be abolished? Why or why not?
○ Do you think funds given to police should be reallocated to other sources? If so,
which sources, if not, why?
○
● Personal Direct/Indirect Interactions with police
○ What does policing look like for your community overall?
○ What is the first memory you can remember of the police?
○ Do you have any friends or family members who are police officers?
○ Tell me a little bit about your personal interactions with police officers in your
community. How were the interactions? Have you or someone you know
experienced violence at the hands of police? Did anyone take steps to mediate the
situation? Was it reported?
○ Do you think this memory has an effect on your current outlook on police?
○ Do you think COVID-19 has increased or decreased your interactions with police
officers?
○ Do you think COVID-19 will have an effect on police officers’ training and
practices in the field for your community? If so, will this change be positive or
negative?
○ Has a Black person in your community experienced police violence?
■ What was their gender?
■ Age?
■ Why would you consider them as being a part of your community?
○ What type of violent experience was it? Have any of your friends or family
members been arrested? Male or Female?

73
○ Have any of your friends or family members been incarcerated? Male or female?
○ Have you lost a family member or friend to police violence? Were they male or
female?

● Political involvement and policing issues
○ Did you vote in the most recent midterm election?
○ Did you vote in the most recent presidential elections?
○ How would you describe the community you live in?
○ Have you participated in any political advocacy addressing Black women and
police violence?
○ Do you know who your community representatives are?
○ Do you think your political representation does an effective job in addressing
these issues?
● How to Change the Relationships between Black Women and Police Officers
○ What were your thoughts when you first heard about what happened to George
Floyd? Philando Castile?
○ What were your thoughts when you first heard about what happened to Breonna
Taylor? Sandra Bland?
○ What were your thoughts when you first heard about what happened to Aiyana
Stanley-Jones? Tamir Rice?
○ How much do you think things have changed since the murder of George Floyd?
○ Any recommendations for improving community relations with Black women and
police officers?

74
Appendix D: Interview Consent Form
Voices Unheard, Stories Untold: Black Women Police Violence and Political Participation

Consent to Take Part in Research
Study

· I....................................................... voluntarily agree to participate in this research
study.

· I understand that even if I agree to participate now, I can withdraw at any time or
refuse to answer any question without any consequences of any kind.

· I understand that I can withdraw permission to use data from my interview within
two weeks after the interview, in which case the material will be deleted.

· I have had the purpose and nature of the study explained to me in writing and I
have had the opportunity to ask questions about the study.

· I understand that participation involves answering questions about policing in my
community and my political participation.

· I understand that I will not benefit directly from participating in this research.

· I agree to my interview being audio-recorded.

· I understand that all information I provide for this study will be treated
confidentially.

· I understand that in any report on the results of this research my identity will
remain anonymous. This will be done by changing my name and disguising any details
of my interview which may reveal my identity or the identity of people I speak about.

· I understand that disguised extracts from my interview may be quoted in a
dissertation, conference presentation, published papers etc.

· I understand that if I inform the researcher that I or someone else is at risk of harm
they may have to report this to the relevant authorities - they will discuss this with me
first but may be required to report with or without my permission.

· I understand that signed consent forms and original audio recordings will be
retained in the Dropbox account and computer of Ayana Best until the exam committee
confirms the passing of the dissertation.

75

· I understand that a transcript of my interview in which all identifying information
has been removed will be retained for three years after the passing of the dissertation.

· I understand that under freedom of information legalization I am entitled to access
the information I have provided at any time while it is in storage as specified above.

· I understand that I am free to contact any of the people involved in the research to
seek further clarification and information.

Ayana Best
Ph.D. Candidate
University of Southern California
ayanabes@usc.edu
(510)228-9538

Signature of research participant

Signature of participant Date

Signature of researcher

I believe the participant is giving informed consent to participate in this study

Signature of researcher Date

76
Appendix E: Survey Recruitment Flyer

Abstract (if available)

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Asset Metadata

Creator Best, Ayana (author)

Core Title Voices unheard, stories untold: Black women, police violence and political participation

School College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Political Science and International Relations

Degree Conferral Date 2022-05

Publication Date 04/19/2022

Defense Date 03/04/2022

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Black feminist consciousness,Black political participation,OAI-PMH Harvest,police violence

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Hancock-Alfaro, Ange Marie (committee chair), Grose, Christian (committee member), Lo, James (committee member), Phillips , Christian (committee member), Wilson, Francille (committee member)

Creator Email ayanabes@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC111014551

Unique identifier UC111014551

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Best, Ayana

Type texts

Source 20220419-usctheses-batch-929 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given.

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu