by Ayana Haaruun This ethnographic research study focuses on Black Girls Jump, a Chicago based organization concerned with engaging African Americans in double dutch jump rope as a form of physical fitness. Fieldwork occurred at the organization’s jump rope group meet-up events at two public parks on Chicago’s Southside over a two-week period in June 2017. […]

Read More A Mini-Ethnography: Double Dutch Jump Rope as Physical Fitness Activity For African Americans

The National Double Dutch league reported double dutch jump rope was brought to the United States by Dutch settlers in New York (The History of Double Dutch, 2003). After World War II, double dutch became a favorite game of children in inner-cities. Double Dutch nearly disappeared in the 1950s and 60s, but regained popularity incorporating dancing, […]

Read More Literature Review: Black Girl Game

Culture and Health As jumping rope is a widely regarded effective form of cardiovascular exercise, Black Girls Jump (BGJ) has sought to use double dutch jump rope as a way to engage African Americans in exercise. As a form of physical play, jump rope games may also provide stress relief, healthy competition and social engagement […]

Read More Literature Review: Culture and Health

Methods: A review of literature indicates qualitative research and ethnography have been effectively employed in examining community health initiatives. Savage (2000) contends ethnography can be applied to healthcare issues as a way of accessing group beliefs and practices and gaining a deeper understanding of a group (p. 1401). As this research is concerned with documenting […]

Read More Methods and Setting

Question 1. What motivates Black Girls Jump (BGJ) participants to engage with the meetup group? Three themes emerged from my participant observation of BGJ meetup groups and interviews with attendees: cultural pride, nostalgia and a desire to teach jump rope to children. Cultural Pride and Nostalgia. Data analysis indicated the cultural pride and nostalgia double dutch […]

Read More Results: Motivation

Research Question 2:  How do jump rope meetup group shape health and fitness perceptions and behaviors amongst participants? Four themes emerged from my participant observation of BGJ meetup groups and interviews with attendees in regards to health and fitness perceptions and behavior. Fitness can be fun. As a nostalgic form of physical play, participants felt […]

Read More Results: Health & Fitness

In this study, the central research questions focused on Black Girls Jump participant motivations and the group’s impact on health and wellness perceptions and behaviors. Research indicates the organization’s cultural targeting effectively reaches populations of urban African American women and provides an empowering community health program.  Jump rope games excite nostalgia in participants and offer […]

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