The Evidence of Spaces (Un)Seen: A Theory of HBCU Black Quare Placemaking and Spatial Justice-Liberation

• In Event: The Queer Agenda: The Decolonial, Antiracist, Liberatory Future of Queer and Trans Education Research

Abstract

The stifling and obliteration of Black quare and trans* existence at HBCUs is akin to the gentrification of Black queer night life establishments occurring across the United States. Thus, through a series of short personal narratives and drawing from extant literature, I explored how the occupancy of institutional spaces is severely limited for queer and trans* individuals at HBCUs. To do so, I aimed to extend Tichavakunda’s (2020) theory of Black placemaking in higher education by pairing it with research focused on spatial justice. Together, I prophesized through the theory of Black quare placemaking and spatial justice-liberation, the futurity of Black quare and trans* humanity that transforms physical boundaries and most of all—is loved, healed, celebrated, and liberated.

Author

• Jarrel T. Johnson, University of Utah