Currently, the Department of Black Studies offers four Specializations in the concentration fields of Black LGBT History, Art, and Activism; Reproductive Justice; and Healing Justice and Black Wellness.
Black LGBT History, Art, and Activism
Situated at the intersection of Black Feminisms, Queer Studies, and Trans Studies, Black LGBT Studies at UCSB collectively affirms Alexis Pauline Gumbs’ proclamation “that a world where queer Black feminine folks are living their most abundant, expressed, and loving lives is a world where everyone is free.” Our Black Studies and Feminist Studies departments are home to one of the nation’s strongest and most collaborative group of public intellectuals producing Black Queer and Trans scholarship and creative writing. Trained in disciplines including History, Literature, Performance Studies, and Religious Studies, our faculty cluster into several sub-specialties within Black Queer and Trans Studies. These include Queer Caribbean Studies (Roberto Strongman, Omise’eke Tinsley); Black Trans Studies (Candice Lyons, Matt Richardson, Omise’eke Tinsley,); Poetic Scholarship (Candice Lyons, Omise’eke Tinsley); Black Queer and Trans Archives (Candice Lyons, Matt Richardson, Jeffrey Stewart); and Black LGBT Performance and Performance Studies (Caleb Luna, Matt Richardson, Omise’eke Tinsley) Our faculty work with Black Queer and Trans artistic and political groups worldwide, including The Audre Lorde Project, The Knights and Orchids Society, The Mahagony Project, and Allgo Queer People of Color.
Reproductive Justice
Black Studies and Feminist Studies understand Reproductive Justice work as any project that considers Black people’s right to have children, to not have children, to raise the children we have in safe and healthy environments, and to enjoy gender and sexual autonomy. We participate in engaged, multi-modal, creative, collaborative and/or activist approaches to Reproductive Justice in both our scholarly work and broader community commitments. We include social scientists and humanities scholars whose Reproductive Justice work centers Birthing Justice (Halle Ashby, Anne Napatulung, Laury Oaks), Women of Color Feminisms (Gaye Theresa Johnson, Anne Napatulung), Critical Disability Studies (Jigna Desai, Candice Lyons), and Carceral Studies (Halle Ashby, Debanuj Dasgupta). Our faculty include past President of California Latinas for Reproductive Justice Gaye Theresa Johnson and founding member and National Resources Director of Wisconsin Doulas of Color Anne Napatulung. We work with groups including California Latinas for Reproductive Justice, Wisconsin Doulas of Color, Yellowhammer Fund, and Alabama Birth Equity.
Healing Justice and Black Wellness
Cara Page describes Healing Justice as “a framework that identifies how we can holistically respond to and intervene on generational trauma and violence, and to bring collective practices that can impact and transform the consequences of oppression on our bodies, hearts, and minds.” Black Studies and Feminist Studies strongly value our faculty’s community-based work that promotes Healing Justice. Training and practice in healing modalities are encouraged as part of the fieldwork for the Master’s thesis final project. Gaye Theresa Johnson is a certified Healing Justice facilitator who has led numerous initiatives as a lead facilitator and has used this experience in work with the National Day Laborers’ Organizing Network, the Los Angeles Community Coalition, the Central Coast Social Justice Academy, the Ms. Foundation, the Annenberg Foundation, and the McCune Foundation. Justin Hosbey organizes a Black Ecologies Field School that engages community wellness in post-Katrina New Orleans, exploring historical and contemporary forms of world making, waterscapes, and Black ecologies with community partners. Anne Napatulung is a doula, herbalist, Reiki practitioner, and vegan caterer passionate about reproductive freedom, healing justice, and plant knowledges. Roberto Strongman is a certified instructor in Hatha and Kemetic Yoga and the organizer of the Black Yoga for All series at UCSB. We work with organizations including: Black Women for Wellness, Kindred Southern Healing Justice, Kemetic YogaSkills, Common Ground Collective, and Nicodemus Historical Society.