ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the intellectual and administrative labor in the forging of a new field of study within Black Studies. Reading the formation of Black digital humanities (DH) as a movement, Kevin Winstead delineates the intellectual community that led to a field that is informed by a politics of care, particularly by Black women scholars, to make new spaces for junior Black scholars to exist. In this chapter, we argue for a broader definition of Black DH that incorporates scholars who do not make or build traditional DH tools or products and instead focus on the study of Black gamers at play, Black writers on social media, and Black digital content creators. As we move through the work of our “forefamily” to the intentional care around institution building, we conclude with thinking about how to sustain intellectual fellowship. We redefine Black DH from this perspective and provide practical guidance for how to take up this reinvigorated definition in building sustainable connections between those within and traditionally outside of DH research.
