The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to understand how low-income Black male community college students who attend a male engagement program describe their experiences with the intersection of race and gender plays a role in their persistence towards graduating in Midwest, Ohio. Through 45-120-minute, semi-structured, open-ended, zoom interviews, and a 45-minute, focus group where participants discussed their views on their experiences with understanding the intersection of race and gender plays a role in their persistence towards graduating in Midwest, Ohio. The sample included 20 low-income Black males who are currently enrolled in the male engagement program at a community college in Midwest, Ohio. The target population and location were selected because the community college has an active interest in improving the persistence rate for low-income Black males who are enrolled at the community college. Research Question 1: How do low-income Black male community college students who attend a male engagement program define the intersection of race and gender? Research Question 2: How do low-income Black male community college students who attend a male engagement program describe their experiences of the intersection of race and gender in their persistence towards graduating? There were four themes that emerged. Themes 1 Self-determination and Theme 2, Racial Battle Fatigue aligned with research question 1. Theme 3 Self Identity and Theme 4, and Collective Consciousness aligned with both researcher question 2. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]