I was so struck by Dr. Brown’s statement, that I use it as an academic compass to examine the ways in which I study black geographies, while articulating their significance. Especially with the rise of recent academic discourse that concentrates on the intersectionality of black identity. Often, when scholars investigate the complexities of identity, the focus is directed towards race, gender, sexual orientation, class, age, mental or physical illness, religion or disability. Each of these aspects of social identity, help to better understand individual experiences of oppression and dominance-hierarchy in society, over collective assumptions that structural discrimination is universal and felt in the same ways by all people of color. Although this framework is a momentous paradigm in academic contexts, it neglects to incorporate the significance of placed-based identity. Particularly, how space constructs social identity and the ways in which local dominate systems impact black individual and collective selves. When scholars attempt to understand structural racism and individual agency, “the where” can alter how we cognize environmental influences on social interaction. Further, space acts as a social construct in tandem with other social constructions that have been used against the black body. Therefore, “the where” becomes crucial to recognizing how space exists within societal hierarchies, perpetuating inequality across various
I was so struck by Dr. Brown’s statement, that I use it as an academic compass to examine the ways in which I study black geographies, while articulating their significance. Especially with the rise of recent academic discourse that concentrates on the intersectionality of black identity. Often, when scholars investigate the complexities of identity, the focus is directed towards race, gender, sexual orientation, class, age, mental or physical illness, religion or disability. Each of these aspects of social identity, help to better understand individual experiences of oppression and dominance-hierarchy in society, over collective assumptions that structural discrimination is universal and felt in the same ways by all people of color. Although this framework is a momentous paradigm in academic contexts, it neglects to incorporate the significance of placed-based identity. Particularly, how space constructs social identity and the ways in which local dominate systems impact black individual and collective selves. When scholars attempt to understand structural racism and individual agency, “the where” can alter how we cognize environmental influences on social interaction. Further, space acts as a social construct in tandem with other social constructions that have been used against the black body. Therefore, “the where” becomes crucial to recognizing how space exists within societal hierarchies, perpetuating inequality across various