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That unease many viewers felt from last night's #LovecraftCountry 
comes from that particular haint *haunting all of US children's media.* #TheShadowBook
(This isn't hard stuff - Morrison taught us this going on 30 years ago. Bernstein walked us through it in Racial Innocence.)
comes from that particular haint *haunting all of US children's media.* #TheShadowBook(This isn't hard stuff - Morrison taught us this going on 30 years ago. Bernstein walked us through it in Racial Innocence.)
The impact of Uncle Tom's Cabin on the development of children's media in the United States can't be overstated.
A *lot* of the impetus behind early counterstories for Black children (pre-Brownies' Book) was because that imagery was so pervasive. *Ubiquitous in the culture.*
A *lot* of the impetus behind early counterstories for Black children (pre-Brownies' Book) was because that imagery was so pervasive. *Ubiquitous in the culture.*
I graduated 2 courses short of my theatre education minor at FAMU. Professor Luther Wells taught us that minstrelsy was the foundation of the US stage & screen.
(This US minstrelsy tradition can be found from The Cat in the Hat to Mickey Mouse to Little House on the Prairie.)
(This US minstrelsy tradition can be found from The Cat in the Hat to Mickey Mouse to Little House on the Prairie.)
What happened in #LovecraftCountry last night was a brilliant metaphor for US Black girlhood itself. It unsettles us because it's supposed to...
All of us who were dreaming Black girls can relate to running away from that particular caricature in our storied imaginations.
last night was a brilliant metaphor for US Black girlhood itself. It unsettles us because it's supposed to...All of us who were dreaming Black girls can relate to running away from that particular caricature in our storied imaginations.
I have named my colleagues who work specifically on this. I'm hoping the burgeoning field of Black girlhood studies incorporates the scholars searching for origins in pre-20th century media.
(I sincerely wish I'd found a way to mention Topsy in #TheDarkFantastic. Next time!)
(I sincerely wish I'd found a way to mention Topsy in #TheDarkFantastic. Next time!)
Adultification is one thing, but I urge folks to continue to press further. Yes, Black girls are being denied their childhood, and suffer the consequences thereof.
Yes... and the horror is much worse than that.
*Thingification* is useful here. It's not that Topsy is adultified.
Yes... and the horror is much worse than that.
*Thingification* is useful here. It's not that Topsy is adultified.
Every time I want to press for adult or animal metaphors, my academic BFF, a 19th cen Af Am scholar goes:
No. Not quite an adult.
No. Not quite an animal.
It's because of her that I wrote, "We are the monsters."
No. Not quite an adult.
No. Not quite an animal.
It's because of her that I wrote, "We are the monsters."
That episode gave me so much life. It was like a shot in the arm for my critical AND creative work after a month of slogging through.
Because yes.
Yes.
Because yes.
Yes.
