18 Search results for "catharsis"

I want Black time travelers to be a threat to the status quo
This essay contains spoilers for See You Yesterday, Siempre Bruja, Mortal Kombat 11, and Kindred, as well as discussions of sexual violence and anti-Black state violence. I was eighteen, a freshman in college studying film and visual arts, and deeply interested in the history of both. A film studies professor asked the class one […]
Van Jones, language and the psuedo memory of national identity
by Donnie Moreland In my six years participating in scholastic speech and debate competition, the one lasting impression of the sport itself, less any social interaction, was that language is never fixed. Language is neither absolute, or inherent. Language is craftable, manipulatable, sellable and infinitely interpretable. This seems obvious, but when you think of how […]
Black conspiracy and skepticism persist because we believe the evidence of our experience
by Donnie Moreland There is a whispered binding between Black folks and the truth. Less truth, in that meta-ethical way we discern the spiritually evidential as Black folks, but truth telling. The expressions, negotiations and altercations with, and of, “facts.” How we tell the truth, digest it and confirm that truth as just that; gospel. […]
Orlando Jones was fired from ‘American Gods’ because Black anger makes white people uncomfortable
by Andrew Keahey White supremacy doesn’t allow for Black anger. The second we get even mildly irritated in any way and make the mistake of actually showing it, we’re labeled as irrational, problematic, and even violent. You see it all the time. It’s one of the reasons twitchy white cops use to justify their brutality […]
Protecting Black children should never mean re-injuring them, owning them, or denying their sexual autonomy
by Donnie Moreland This essay contains discussions of domestic violence and sexual assault Ruminations of my daughter’s hypothetical death play on repeat, ever since her birth. I’ve accepted them as inescapable conditions of parenthood—Black parenthood especially. I also believe the story of Julia Martin’s death in 2016 partially informs my anxieties in raising a daughter. […]
Reconciling ‘glorious healing’ & the ‘loving refusal’ of intracommunal violence in an era of disposability
By Tez Files Baptize me. Now that reconciliation is possible, if we’re gonna heal, let it be glorious. – Beyoncé, “Sandcastles” I must have heard Beyoncé’s “Sandcastles”a dozen times. I read all types of complexity into its lyrics. After having gone through a very difficult break-up, it was healing to sit with my emotions and […]
It’s past time for Black men to become traitors to the male privilege that protects us
by Donnie Moreland This essay contains descriptions of sexual violence, including r/pe When I looked at her, I felt nauseous. Here she was, a college friend of mine, recounting a time when she had asked a group of Black male acquaintances the question, “How many of you have ever fucked a girl while she was […]
British trans performance artist takes trauma from burger assault and turns it into a call to action with ‘Burgerz’
by Josh Rivers Travis Alabanza is an electrifying talent, but that’s obvious. One need only glance in their direction to see pulsing from them the potential and possibility of art manifesting in its purest, most acute form. To sit in their glow is to be enthralled, enchanted, mesmerised. Travis is a performance artist, poet and […]
‘The First Purge’ is satisfying and cathartic, just as Black horror should be
by Andrew Keahey This essay contains some spoilers for The First Purge. Catharsis is important. As marginalized people, every day that we’re alive and drawing breath in this country, we are bombarded with things that infuriate and sadden us. The news not only traumatizes us by showing us the seemingly incessant violence perpetrated against us, […]
With Mary J. Blige set to star in ‘Body Cam’, we may have another Black horror hit soon
by Andrew Keahey Black horror films have a consistent combination of factors that make them successful in the public eye: relatability and catharsis. The elements in our horror movies meant to frighten and upset are often familiar to us, and are scary because the fear is something we have felt before, and often. When the […]
‘The First Purge’ will finally center people of color in its violent, dystopian narrative
by Andrew Keahey The Purge series is an interesting phenomenon; a horror franchise with heavy commentary on American class politics, privilege, and security. Sure, it absolutely helps to fulfill the public’s desire for stylized hyper-violence, a craving once consistently nurtured by the Saw franchise, but it also endeavors to do much more with the stories […]
The ‘Tales from the Hood’ sequel will be right on time
by Andrew Keahey This essay contains spoilers for Tales from the Hood (1995) Tales from the Hood is a 1995 horror anthology masterpiece from director Rusty Cundieff and producer Spike Lee. The films follows three gang bangers visiting a funeral home to retrieve drugs from the eccentric funeral director, Clarence Williams III. The funeral director […]