"Still Processing" Podcast | Wesley Morris & Jenna Wortham
The People in the Neighborhood, the May 13th episode, brought together social construct and art in a way I’d never thought of and powerfully so through a dark moment in 2020. The episode centers around the trial of Derek Chauvin and the murder of George Floyd. Morris and Wortham talked about (and shared highlights of) the words of the close witnesses to the murder, the prodding by council to have emotional reactions explained and how each of their reactions culminated in a unique carving of community. Morris was reminded of Sesame Street and the Greek chorus, two connections that seemed trivial and too unrelated to be bridged, but where insights lived in artistic expression reflective of the human experience-and so felt significant and connected. Ancient opera storytelling, the Greek chorus is where the voices of the crowd highlight what the main character is both doing and what should be done differently. Genevieve Hansen, a firefighter off-duty at the scene, shared how she would have checked Floyd’s vitals, would have removed the pressure from his neck to open his air ways, all suggestions that were dismissed by the police present there.
Fate brought together strangers into one form of community. They all spoke to a narrative that highlighted brutality against a man and against a greater group of people to which that man belonged. The conversation then steered into the conflation of the word community, the power of social media, the dissolution of full black storytelling into blacksploitation, and the highlighting of “Do the Right Thing” as a powerful timeless example of “meeting the moment, not exploiting the moment”. Though much stuck with me, one exchange between Morris and Wortham has cycled continuously.
“glut of material -there is a proliferation of what people think we want to see, the violence and horror as a way to somehow legitimize the violence we’re experiencing in our regular lives...something more needs to happen...empathy is missing”.
What does art do to validate and uplift the black experience? Sometimes art bares its soul in violent depictions because it is being honest about reality’s violence, but where does the honesty of violence become harmful to the people its intending to support? Those were the questions I came away from the conversation and ones I sit with still. If art is a reflection of life then the trauma captured has to be tread carefully, there must be breaks from being a witness to death in every outlet, and the black experience cannot be a singular the because there are so many unique voices within the collective, some who need to know Floyd’s story in detail or some who have the capacity to just know of because they’ve known so many stories just like his before.
Still Processing has the social commentary that you can chew on for days. Every episode I’ve listened to introduces new flavors and it is an education that delights my mind and my soul carves a place for all of the new art I can read, watch, and listen to.
“collapsing of nuance for the sake of convenience.”
Carve out a place to ponder that for a minute. And check out all of their episodes-absolutely worth the listen.
[Book of Delights p. 219 | No. 83 Still Processing]