The Queer God

This thesis explores the impact of dance/movement therapy practices on the embodied healing experience of Black queer and LGBTQIA++ - identified people to heal from religious and spiritual trauma. Currently, there is limited research dedicated to the understanding of Blackness, queerness, and spirituality and the unique perspective dance/movement offers in combatting oppressive systems of religious trauma. Research is needed that acknowledges and amplifies the ways Black queer people have adapted, survived, and thrived. This literature review provides a discussion of historical contexts at the intersections of Blackness, queerness, and spirituality to engender a remembering, reclaiming, and reimagining of Black queer divinity through embodied healing and dance/movement therapeutic practices. Common themes are summarized notating the impact and use of African spiritual practices toward developing dance/movement therapy theoretical frameworks which aid the healing process of Black queer people from the effects of white supremacy, oppression, and religious trauma