As a writer, I’m acutely aware of my responsibility to dip into subject matters that trigger conversations. It is not to solve the riddle. It is to stimulate dialogue aimed at making us better. The genius of great writing is in how it fosters tension. It doesn’t resolve the struggle – it amplifies it.
Thus, as a writer, I read, watch and listen to EVERYTHING in search of enmity. I’ve discovered this happens best in scripts that tackle moments in history. This is where creative license best serves in transcending our assumptions related to history. What we do with history is often minimized to a set of truths. What happened. What was said. How did it all serve in advancing the moment. Creative license helps us ponder the psyche of the moment. What were they thinking? What are the internalized conflicts stirring in the soul as characters seek to find their way?
Recent offerings in Black cinema are expanding how we think about history. Amazon Primes One Night in Miami is the most recent to fictionize Black history to force pondering regarding what it meant and means to be Black living in America. It follows Self-Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom as stories that divert from just the facts. Coming soon, Judas and the Black Messiah will explore the life and assassination of Fred Hampton, Jr, the leader of Chicago’s Black Panther Party. Set to be released February 26, The United States vs. Billie Holiday, tells the story of the Queen of Jazz and her battle with the United States government after releasing the song Strange Fruit.
Adding to the facts has long been named as Hollywood’s greatest sin in retelling the stories of Black folks. It bruised the credibility of The Green Book, the 2018 winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture. Set in 1962, the film is based on the true story of Black classical and jazz pianist Don Shirley and his driver, Frank “Tony Lip” Vallelonga, during a tour of the Deep South. The twisted facts led to dismay among Black viewers.
Twisting the facts is not new, but there is something different in the air. The Green Book inserts a white savior to make the story genteel to white viewers. It plays on assumptions of the big net while pulling the heart strings of a nation frenzied by messages of racial hostility. White people needed to feel good again, and the Green Book is a reminder that some good can be found in a sea of hostility.
In this sense, Black historical moments are used as the subtext of a white agenda. These stories play into the delusion of unity dismissive of reconciliation. These altered moments in history proffer a sense of well-being within moments still ablaze with vibrant hostility. These are not enough to hush the maddening plea of Black Lives Matter framed in the backdrop of Black men and women killed by police.
What these Black creatives do in adjusting history is different. They are not toying with the truth to placate the emotions of white people. There’s is not a design to widen the net to trap white viewers. These are stories written to prod conversations among Black people. These are “what if” questions once limited to talks at the family reunion table. These are chatter at the barbershop and beauty parlor where white people aren’t present to alter the narrative.
The genius of these new works is in how they press us beyond the “what” toward what we “feel”. These are moments for deeper reflection after centuries of feelings trapped in regret. These are moments to address how Black people feel about one another in the continuing pursuit for authentic freedom. Works like these provide opportunities to ponder the dilemma of the Black American experience – past, present and future.
There is deep tension in the text we call American history. Times like these demand new ways to re-tell the story as historian do the heavy lifting of presenting how facts are swallowed in a vacuum called white privilege.
Can we talk?
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