Graduation Year

2023

Document Type

Open Access Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Media Studies

Reader 1

Carlin Wing

Reader 2

J Finley

Terms of Use & License Information

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Rights Information

© 2023 Gabby Osifo

Abstract

Black students within predominantly white institutions (PWIs) have a unique experience due to the fact that they reside in higher learning institutions that were never meant to hold Black, queer bodies. Residentially, academically, and structurally PWIs display a quality of lacking which consists of failing to provide appropriate resources, acknowledge structural barriers, and address complaints made by students of queer identities, namely Black students, in meaningful and effective ways. Through examining the history of Black student-led movements within the five Claremont Colleges (5Cs) using a Black Existentialism lens, this paper seeks to understand the positionality of this quality of lacking within the culture of resistance which is formulated by the specific conditions of Black students within PWIs and the interventions of pleasure, leisure, and joy which add a crucial affective component to the culture of resistance. By studying the first major instances of Black resistance in 1969 using old newspaper clippings and photographs, this paper is able to establish a connection between the demands made by students in the sixties and current movements led by Black students which often are documented through Instagram posts. It is through personal moments recorded and shared as well as Instagram pages of Black Student Unions (BSUs), that the queer-making potential stifled by the lack of physical space for queer identities with PWIs is fueled and able to showcase the pleasure, joy, and leisure that allows Black, queer students to demand their own autonomous, physical space on campus.

Streaming Media

Download

Share

COinS