Uncovering Black Placemaking in Black Student Athlete Organizations at Predominantly White Institutions

• In Event: Diversity, Identity, and Equity in College Athletics: Perspectives on Recruitment, Experience, and Labor

Abstract

Many Black student-athlete organizations (BSAOs) were created during a time of civil unrest following the murder of George Floyd, a time in which Black athletes engaged in social justice activism on campus and beyond. Research shows BSAOs are critical counterspaces for Black athletes at PWIs and sites of community, belonging, and identity affirmation. Less is known about how BSAOs are made, and how they are re-made and maintained despite living/existing in oppressive, predominantly white environments. In this study, we employ a Black placemaking analysis to closely examine how the labor of Black athletes and staff allows Black athletes to co-create BSAOs to meet their needs and desires, and how athletes and staff navigate organizational structures within their athletic departments and BSAOs.

Authors

• Ezinne Ofoegbu, Santa Clara University

• Briana Savage, University of California - Riverside