Black Joy: Love, Intimacy, and Sexuality Amongst Black Intellectuals in the Academy

Abstract

When I was in graduate school, I met a Black man! Before I knew his name, or anything about him, I was drawn to his energy. It was a chance meeting outside the Black Cultural Center. Little did I know then, God had a plan for this man and I. Eventually, I met this man. His name was Lewis. Only later did I remember the chance encounter. At first, we connected professionally based on our shared research about the Black community in Columbus, and we met … at the Black Cultural Center. The chance meeting, and our first meeting, however, would set the stage for our intellectual triumphs, professional challenges, community strength and most importantly, our shared love, intimacy and sexuality. While there is a body of literature that has examined the lived experiences of Black scholars in the academy, none of it has elucidated Black love, intimacy, and sexuality amongst two Black academics in Predominately White Institutions (Christian, 2017; Hendrix, 2021; Kuradusenge-McLeod, 2021; McFerguson, 2022; Mukandi & Bond, 2019; Stewart, 2020; Ward Randolph, 2010). This autoethnographic article explored love, intimacy and sexuality in the academy amongst two Black scholars. In this treatise, the author's musings focus on the love, intimacy and sexuality she shared with her late husband, a political scientist. She illuminated the significance of love, intimacy and sexuality in fostering productivity in the academy, how African American intellectuals addressed challenges through intimacy, and how love, intimacy and sexuality served as a protective and restorative shield that strengthened their communal bond in the hostile environment often accosting Black faculty in higher education which can amount to "state-based racist violence" (Mukundi & Bond, 2019, p. 254). In turn, shared love, intimacy and sexuality amongst these two academics highlights the need for them in the lives of Black faculty as a buffer against institutional violence in PWIs (Varel, 2018).