  Despite traditional thinking, an appreciable population of massive black
holes may be lurking in dwarf galaxies. Prior to the last decade, nearly all
massive black holes were found in the nuclei of giant galaxies and the
existence of massive black holes in dwarf galaxies was highly controversial.
The field has now been transformed with a growing community of researchers
working on a variety of observational studies and theoretical models of dwarf
galaxies hosting massive black holes. Work in this area is not only important
for a holistic understanding of dwarf galaxy evolution and feedback, but it may
just tell us how the first "seeds" of massive black holes formed in the early
Universe. In this Perspective, I discuss the current state of the field as well
as future prospects. I also present new insights on the demographics of nearby
dwarf galaxies, which can be used to help constrain the black hole
occupation/active fraction as a function of mass and dwarf galaxy type.
