Samantha Tenorio

 Statement of Purpose  I examine the ways in which certain sites and forms of cultural production during the Harlem Renaissance provide a space for, and even foster, the transgression of racial and sexual norms, and thus informed the formation of new identities, such as that of women-loving women.

 Introduction-Thesis  Challenging Queer Theory  The Blues: Articulating a Newfound Freedom  The Cabaret: Queering Time and Space  Literature: Confronting Black Female Sexuality through a Queer Lens  Conclusion

 “Criminal intimacies” 1  After hours  Confounding narratives of racial and sexual uplift 1 Shane Vogel uses this term in his book The Scene of Harlem Cabaret, citing Lauren Berlant and Michael Warner

 Bridging the gap  Queer Studies and African American Studies  The importance of intersectionality