ABSTRACT
Very little literature exists concerning Black queer women’s wayfinding through higher education. The lack of representation and comprehensive discussion around this matter creates a vacuum of leadership and guidance for those identifying as Black queer femmes and other triple jeopardy minorities in as early as secondary education. This chapter intends to meet this need.
Information on Black queer women’s wayfinding through higher education was collected from more than 40 college information sessions to gauge insight into queer of color representation and support in admissions and collegiate infrastructure. In addition, Black women professionals inside and outside higher education were interviewed to provide insight into discrimination and perseverance. From these stories, it is highly recommended that institutions explicitly welcome queer of color existences to protect and support all Black identities in spaces of scholarship. Supporting queer of color existences in academia would also require institutions to initiate conversations around Black queerness as a cumulative identity.
