"In a Way It Certainly Tells Us that We Don't Belong Here": Black First-Generation College Students Visualizing Their Sense of Belonging at a Historically White Institution.

This study explores how Black first-generation college students (FGCS) describe their sense of belonging at historically white institutions (HWIs) through a participant photography project and qualitative interviews with 20 Black FGCS at private HWIs. It highlights the impact of campus racial climate and environmental microaggressions—subtle, systemic cues of racial exclusion such as underrepresentation, racialized campus symbols, and performative diversity initiatives—on these students' feelings of hypervisibility, invisibility, and social exclusion. Despite these challenges, the research identifies contexts fostering belonging, including culturally relevant curricula, supportive faculty and peer interactions, and institutional programs designed to enhance engagement and community. The visual counterstories produced serve to inform Black students, non-Black peers, and institutional stakeholders about the nuanced experiences of Black FGCS, aiming to promote awareness and institutional change to improve their campus inclusion and persistence.