JOURNAL ARTICLE

"We Worship All Sizes and All Shapes That Are Brown and Black!": Community Healing and Transformative Justice at Shuga Shaq.

  • Published In: Departures in Critical Qualitative Research, 2026, v. 15, n. 1. P. 32 1 of 3

  • Database: Academic Search Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Thomas, Victoria E. 3 of 3

Abstract

Community is central to the praxis of transformative justice as communities provide social, mental, and financial support. This article utilizes transformative justice as an analytic to examine my experiences in community with Black queer folks at Shuga Shaq: An All People of Color Burlesque Revue. I utilize Black feminist autoethnography to interpret and historicize my experiences in community among Black queer folks in a predominantly white U.S. city. I examine the structure of a typical Shuga Shaq show, concentrating on the hosts, cohosts, performances by burlesque dancers, and kinship formation with audience members. The political and cultural messages embedded in performances on and off stage constitute joy, self-love, and a celebration of Brown and Black bodies of all shapes and sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional Information

  • Source:Departures in Critical Qualitative Research. 2026/03, Vol. 15, Issue 1, p32
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:Drama and Theater Arts
  • Publication Date:2026
  • ISSN:2333-9489
  • DOI:10.1525/dcqr.2026.15.1.32
  • Accession Number:193319321
  • Copyright Statement:Copyright of Departures in Critical Qualitative Research is the property of University of California Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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