This piece first appeared in our February 2021 Magazine.
The increased national conversation surrounding race that occurred in the wake of the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor saw with it a demand for works by Black creators. This demand led to what became a ubiquitous sight: the anti-racism reading and watch lists. Across the internet, in cozy Instagram graphics and in national publications, the lists poured in.
They are typically filled with nonfiction books “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” or “Between the World and Me” or “Beloved” or “Their Eyes Were Watching God” to cover the fiction bases. You might see movies like “Do the Right Thing” or “Get Out” populating the film versions of those same lists. Many of these works are things that should be read or watched.
These lists, however, often have a key flaw: they encourage people to consume Black art solely as education. Black experiences are watered down into learning tools for non-Black people. Consuming art as simply a learning tool can result in losing some of its finer qualities. Whether it’s the prose of Jesmyn Ward novels or the shots of Steve McQueen’s camera, these works deserve to be admired for their artistic expression as much as what they can teach.
This has been said before, but as we prepare to give a couple of lists of our own, it feels important to say again. Some of the works we selected for these lists could find themselves onto an anti-racism reading or watchlist. But they are more than just learning tools, they are vibrant pieces of art with a variety of merits in form and context.
We hope you take to the time to enjoys some of the works we suggest, and we hope you enjoy hope as the multifaceted pieces they are.
