It is my attempt to add something (anything) useful to the renewed call that Black Lives Matter, and in this little corner of the conversation, I’m emphasizing the richness of African diasporic creativity with recommendations for…
* Keita: The Heritage of the Griot (film)
* The Epic of Sunjata (which Keita draws heavily on)
* Octavia’s Brood: Afro-Futurist anthology
* The amazing music of the Haitian band, Boukman Eksperyans.
(Links at the newsletter linked above.)
This may not seem directly relevant to police reform–and Lord knows we need that conversation–but I wanted to signal boost these works because I firmly believe that one of the most powerful long-term ways to empower a group of people to replace belittling associations about them with positive, empowering ones. African diasporic cultures do not get this positive representation nearly enough. Black Panther, I think, did a lot of good, but it’ll take a lot more.
In other news, I’ve actually had many ideas about things I want to post on DW but, thus far, no time. My teaching term just ended, and I’m trying to catch up, catch breath, and blaze through the year’s worth of creative writing I’ll have the next month and a half to accomplish before school ramps up again. Hopefully, there will be some DW posting and reading in there.
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