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The Ethics of Displaying Black Trauma

Pierce Otlhogile-Gordon, Ph.D.
10 min readJun 9, 2019

Let’s unpack the impact of our favorite media.

Photo by Mario Calvo on Unsplash

Remember Nick Cannon’s recent hot take on slavery? No, not that one.

This one:

Do you remember the context? This was about the time massive slave movies were captivating theatre audiences. Lincoln, Django Unchained, and 12 Years a Slave, had come out in quick succession. For better or worse, Cannon’s opinion stirred up a national discussion about the impact of black cinema. Some agreed, others thought he made much ado about nothing, At the time, I didn’t see what all the fuss was about.

I’ve since changed my mind.

It might have been Mike Brown’s death. Maybe it was Trump’s presidency. I can’t remember exactly when I reached the end of my rope, but I’ve slowly fallen out of favor with stories that center black trauma and experience to sell compelling stories. Today, the art isn’t separate from experience; seeing these stories just throws more salt into open wounds.

Let’s note: I’m not the only one that feels this way, and this isn’t the first

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Pierce Otlhogile-Gordon, Ph.D.
Pierce Otlhogile-Gordon, Ph.D.

Written by Pierce Otlhogile-Gordon, Ph.D.

a knowledge architect. building social change education.

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