*Review* **Boundaries of Belonging: Theorizing Black African Migrant Experiences in Australia**

**Kathomi Gatwiri \* and Leticia Anderson**

School of Arts and Social Science, Southern Cross University, Gold Coast, QLD 4225, Australia; leticia.anderson@scu.edu.au

**\*** Correspondence: kathomi.gatwiri@scu.edu.au

**Abstract:** As nationalist ideologies intensify in Australia, so do the experiences of 'everyday racism' and exclusion for Black African immigrants. In this article, we utilize critical theories and engage with colonial histories to contextualize Afrodiasporic experiences in Australia, arguing that the conditional acceptance of Black bodies within Australian spaces is contingent upon the status quo of white hegemony. The tropes and discourses that render the bodies of Black African migrants simultaneously invisible and hyper-visible indicate that immigration is not only a movement of bodies, but also a phenomenon solidly tied to global inequality, power, and the abjection of blackness. Drawing on critical race perspectives and theories of belonging, we highlight through use of literature how Black Africans in Australia are constructed as 'perpetual strangers'. As moral panics and discourses of hyper-criminality are summoned, bordering processes are also simultaneously coopted to reinforce scrutiny and securitization of black bodies, with significant implications for social cohesion, belonging and public health.

**Keywords:** African diaspora; migration; Australia; belonging; politics of belonging; bordering; racism
