Purpose Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, including contact restrictions and the switch to virtual classes, loneliness has become a pressing concern for college students and their learning. This study aims to interrogate current discussions about college student loneliness through the lens of Black feminist love-politics to reimagine online pedagogical practices. Design/methodology/approach Using a broad literature base and anecdotes from personal teaching experiences, the authors contend that Black Feminist perspectives on love, care and solidarity can illuminate the sociopolitical dimensions of loneliness in pedagogically productive ways. Findings The authors explore various pedagogical practices that are inspired by Black feminist approaches that aim to promote solidarity, love and care in either virtual or in-person classrooms. These pedagogical suggestions result from the authors’ teaching experiences amid online learning and current literature in education. Practical implications The authors seek to support educators’ understanding of the most pervasive yet misunderstood emotional experiences of student learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper explores strategies for addressing feelings of loneliness within online learning-related contexts in higher education. This discussion will be particularly relevant for educators and students from historically marginalized populations. Originality/value This work focuses on the plight of community college students, a demographic that has not garnered enough attention in the educational research concerning this pandemic. In addition, this paper offers an account of loneliness that aligns with the political and ideological crisis of today and places it in conversation with Black feminist thought.

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Though the current issue is long overdue, we are proud that we were able to pull it off in the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic. Probably like most of our readership, we are hunkered down in our homes, the luckiest in comfortable houses in green suburbs while others in crowded apartments in dense urban areas. Indeed, we write this editorial from Queens, New York City, currently the epicenter of the epicenter of COVID-19 (McVane, 2020). In the past weeks, we have personally witnessed students, colleagues, and friends become ill and, the most vulnerable, die. As in other severe crises, this pandemic has accentuated the obscene inequalities and class divides in our societies, including racial/ethnic disparities (e.g., COVID-19 kills twice as many Black and Latin@s than Whites in the U.S., see Mays & Newman 2020) and further exposed the vulnerability of the disabled and the elderly (Hakim, 2020). Unnervingly, we look ahead with great uncertainty about what our lives will be like, except perhaps with a conviction that grows stronger everyday that our lives will not be the same as before, especially those of us in the hardest-hit areas, such as the New York metropolitan region.The articles in this volume were all received and reviewed before the COVID-19 pandemic, which now seems like ages ago. One could easily wonder, what relevance would there be in reading them today when our reality has changed so drastically and so quickly? Our readership can rest assured that that is not at all the case. Uncannily, the articles published in this volume raise issues that not only dovetail with the issues we are all grappling with during this pandemic but indeed make their relevance all the more salient. As a matter of fact, this should not at all be surprising for a journal that boasts on Vianna, Rifino & Sales • 2