The movement of people from one region to another--what is commonly called “migration”--is intertwined with other factors. One can not think critically about migration without thinking about it in relation to other contemporary realities, such as environmental pollution, national policies, sexuality, gender, and so on. Our learning topics are created and selected to educate visitors about the various contemporary realities which influence Black, LGBTQIA+ people’s decision to migrate and the realities which influence their experiences of migration.

Our treatment of migration is informed by a broad feminist approach which is grounded in the work of Black, Latina, and transnational feminists.

Houston is one of the largest and most diverse major metropolitan areas in the US and immigration has significantly contributed to its rapid growth and continues to do so today. As an immigration hub, Houston is home to migrants from Mexico, El Salvador, Vietnam, India, Honduras, Philippines, Guatemala, Pakistan, Colombia, Nigeria, Canada, Korea, Taiwan, Venezuela and Ecuador among others (Capps, Fix, & Nwosu 2015).

At the same time, Houston and its surrounding areas boast a growing number of immigrant detention centers. Immigrant communities in Houston frequently become targets of anti-migration raids through which they are detained and deported. Among these groups, Black LBTQ+ migrants are being disproportionately impacted during processes of migration (Foner 2018; Transgender Law Center). Yet existing research and media on migration often overlooks the realities of anti-blackness and rarely provides an effective analysis of the intersecting structures of oppression that endanger so many migrants (Crenshaw 1991).

With the current global pandemic reinforcing racial inequities, there is an urgent need to educate throughout the Southern US about the ways that migrants and immigrant communities are uniquely impacted by systemic racism. Through these learning modules on this site, we aim to advance how race, particularly anti-blackness, and migration are understood and discussed. We work to help users see stories of migration in new ways in order to work against the the criminalization and pathologization of Black and gender-queer migrants.

Students and community members who use this the lessons on this site will gain an understanding of: 

1. Key factors driving the migration of Black LGBTQ+ migrants to the US South today

2. The depth and breadth of queer and trans Afro-Caribbean and Afro-Latinidad histories and cultural productions related to migrations

3. The current realities of structural racism and anti-blackness within the U.S. as it impacts Black LGBTQ+ migrants

4. Uses of this knowledge to serve Black LGBTQ+ migrants