An Intrasectional Approach to Black Queer Research: Girl, Let’s Kiki!

• Percy Allen, English, University of Delaware

• Eric Layland, Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Delaware

Recently, there has been an influx of studies that seek to measure strengths among queer folks. However, strengths-based research rarely does the work of centering the Black queer perspective. This in turn has led to the unique experience of the Black queer community being silenced in academic conversations of queerness. To remedy this, this study enacted what Northern Illinois University professor Quortne R. Hutchings (they/them) described as a “Kiki Methodology.” This type of qualitative data analysis centers “[Black] queer joy, laughter, and love” (Hutchings, 2023). The current study extracted qualitative data from the Black, queer population from the Queer Development Lab’s Queer Joy Study (n=31). Through Hutchings’s methodology, written responses were coded using themes that categorized the varying positive aspects of the participants’ lived experiences. These themes included displays of joy and resilience, discussion of how one’s Black and queer identity intersect, and the description of cherished interpersonal memories. It was hypothesized that by focusing on the experience of Black queer participants, more attention could be paid to uplifting the voices within this subpopulation. This analysis enabled the creation of empowering narratives that existed in their own context instead of being compared to white narratives. The current study presents a novel, critical lens through which studies of the queer community can utilize to promote diversity. By utilizing Hutchings’s “Kiki Methodology,” future studies can more easily pay attention to the diversity of lived experiences among those who may belong to another marginalized group in addition to being queer.