Theorizing Black women’s experiences with institution-sanctioned violence: a #BlackLivesMatter imperative toward Black liberation on campus

Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi are the three Black women and founders of #BlackLivesMatter (BLM). Despite being founded by Black women, public discourses about BLM often foreground Black men’s lives, and deaths, at the hand of the state. When attention is given to the violence against Black women, they are either blamed for their victimization or rendered invisible altogether. Black women’s labor as a driving force of the BLM movement is also largely unacknowledged. This manuscript explores intersectional failures in the treatment of Black women’s contributions broadly, and within higher education, specifically. The authors argue that in addition to state-sanctioned violence, institution-sanctioned violence contributes to the erasure of Black women. Using the experiences of the BLM founders as an entry point, the authors illuminate multiple forms of institution-sanctioned violence experienced by Black women scholars and leaders who, despite their commitment to Black liberation and uplift, experienced marginalization. This article closes with Black women’s liberation strategies to disrupt institution-sanctioned violence.