Date of Award
Spring 6-12-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D. in Social Work
Organizational Unit
Graduate School of Social Work
First Advisor
Ramona Beltrán
Second Advisor
Shannon Sliva
Third Advisor
Autumn BlackDeer
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
All Rights Reserved.
Keywords
Belonging, Black LGBTQIA+ people, Social environments, Systems of oppression
Abstract
Belonging is a human need central to survival and can be cultivated within all spheres of life. Social environments are vital for experiencing a sense of belonging. In some social environments, Black LGBTQIA+ people encounter greater impediments to their daily lives with consequences for survival, including threatening their belonging needs. Within the United States, systems of oppression create and inform conditions within social environments that can potentially thwart pathways to belonging for Black LGBTQIA+ people. Thus, fulfillment of belonging needs for Black LGBTQIA+ people is one of nuance, pain, resilience, hope, harm, trauma, resistance, and healing; scant research is available detailing the multidimensional and intersectional experiences of Black LGBTQIA+ belonging. As such, this multiple-manuscript dissertation illuminates the sense of belonging experiences of Black LGBTQIA+ people: the first manuscript is a Qualitative Interpretive Meta Synthesis (QIMS) of the available literature on the affirming experiences of Black LGBTQIA+ people within the Black community; the second manuscript examines the sense of belonging experiences of Black gay men living in a predominantly white social environment; and the third manuscript moves beyond the physical social environment into the imagination, using a creative multi-method qualitative approach to interpret visions of belonging possibilities for Black LGBTQIA+ people. Collectively, findings within this dissertation establish a crucial strengths-based foundation for understanding the unique intersectional belonging experiences of Black LGBTQIA+ people with major implications for the field of social work.
Copyright Date
6-2026
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Rights Holder
Olivia H. Hunte
Provenance
Received from ProQuest
File Format
application/pdf
Language
English (eng)
Extent
207 pgs
File Size
1.5 MB
Recommended Citation
Hunte, Olivia H., "Defying Impossibility: Critical Qualitative Reorientations to Black LGBTQIA+ Sense of Belonging" (2026). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2721.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/2721
Included in
African American Studies Commons, Civic and Community Engagement Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons, Queer Studies Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Social Work Commons