“Necessary Bonding”

Abstract

This article uses a t4t framework rooted in Black feminist thought to meditate on the convergence of Black and trans in meetings between fields, encounters with text, and relational bonds forged between individuals that help promote collective creation. Section 1 explores the bridging of Black feminist thought and trans studies in relationship to the emergence of Black trans studies. The second section examines how the searching Black trans reader's encounter with the text allows for the imagination and creation of an actualized trans self. Section 3 takes a more conventional approach to the concept of t4t, exploring the kin bonds created between Black trans people, with an eye to the way that Black feminist literature is used to describe these relationships.