Purpose: This article provided a comprehensive overview of the available peer-reviewed and grey literature on the current status of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and small African American-owned technology firms participation in the federal assistive technology research and development (AT-R&D) enterprise. Method: Authors completed a historical review of the existing literature on HBCUs' participation in STEM academic pathways to AT-R&D; the contextual framework for HBCUs federal R&D barriers; STEM pathways to small African American Technology Entrepreneurship; and small African American-owned technology firms AT-R&D participation barriers. Results: Overall, the review illuminated participation barriers experienced; exacerbated in part by narrow STEM pathways designed to help African American students successfully matriculate in related disciplines, institutional systematic barriers, a lack of funding priorities within federal research agencies, and the oversight of African American entrepreneurs in AT. Conclusions: The authors presented recommendations that might be useful for developing proactive academic pipelines to AT-R&D. The literature review is among the first to examine HBCUs' participation in STEM pathways to federally-funded AT-R&D.