Chapter 8: Black College Women and Intersectionality: Examining and Interweaving Core Concepts and Themes

In this chapter we take what we refer to as a reciprocal analysis of intersectionality and the experiences of Black college women: exploring how intersectionality and the literature on Black college women inform, challenge, and offer insights to the other. The framework of intersectionality is a natural lens through which to consider the experiences of Black college women, as many of the tenets of intersectionality are represented in the lives of these students. At the same time, the literature on Black college women raises issues that can lead to reflection, expansion, or refinement of current conceptualizations of intersectionality. The chapter explores both how intersectionality resonates with the lives of Black college women, and how the experience of Black college women reflects, contradicts, or stretches intersectionality.