Black People Are Currently Living In A Lovecraft Country
The critically acclaimed TV show is not a fantasy, it illustrates the horror that we are facing.
Every Sunday night, I sit on the edge of my bed with a laptop in front of me as wait for Lovecraft Country to come on television. Developed by showrunner Misha Green (creator of WGN series Underground) and executive produced by Jordan Peele (Key and Peele/Get Out/Us); the show revolves around two childhood best friends; Atticus “Tic” Freeman, a book smart Korean War veteran and Letitia “Leti” Lewis, a talented photographer as they encounter misadventures that are linked to the supernatural. The series is adapted from the novel of the same name written by science fiction author Matt Ruff.
I, along with millions of viewers, was drawn to the terrifying narratives that blended well with the historical facts about African American history. In the pilot episode, it opened up with famed baseball player Jackie Robinson going toe to toe with a giant monster on a battlefield consumed of hostile terrestrial beings. We see a young Emmitt Till, referred to as his nickname “Bobo” as he spends time with his young friends playing an Ouija board; the latest episode opens up to thousands of saddened African American bystanders attending his funeral. The creators also shed light on the LGBTQ community, as they were clandestine in their actions.
As a fiction writer on the film and television track, I found myself intimidated by the brilliance of every episode. Each scene was innovative. The way Greene and her co-writers blends merge horror storytelling with factual imagery of black trauma during the Jim Crow era is genius. However, I begin to realize that the show is not a work of fiction. We are currently living in a world of magic and monsters roaming the country.
The show solidifies the conclusion that African Americans have survived horror unimaginable. For example, it has been 401 years since people of melenated origin have been freed from captivity. After being granted freedom, black people were still subjected to brutal violence upon the Aryan social group.
In 1916, Jesse Washington, a 17-year-old farmhand, was gruesomely murdered by an all-white crowd that consisted of 10,000 spectators. The lynching of Laura and L.D Nelson, a mother, and son who were captured and killed by a vigilante group of Anglo-American men. The disappearance of Wallace D. Fard, the founder of the Nation of Islam, who was viewed as a controversial radical that was a potential threat to society. As the millennium transitioned, black communities across the country were still victimized by a system that continued to generate the legacy of slavery. In the late 19th century, southern states enforced the Jim Crow laws; which required segregation in public places. Mass Incarceration primarily centered on lower-class Americans; most notably black citizens. The emergence of the crack epidemic targeted urban neighborhoods across the United States, as it played a detrimental role in increasing black on black violence.
In 2020, nothing has changed. The country is burning to ashes. An invisible killer has placed over one million people in the hospital and claimed the lives of an unclear estimate of 200,000 Americans. The unlawful slayings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd have sparked protests all across the globe. Currently, the country is led by a reality star that refuses to denounce white supremacy. The US president represents the evil forces that Tic and Leti encounter in the series. The commander-in-chief wants to make America great again — a country that is functioned by leaders who want to viciously claim their territory; by any means necessary.
Misha Green created an autobiographical love letter to black culture. Reminding us that they have survived turmoil since our ancestors took their first step on the slave ships. The monstrous forces represent institutional racism — police brutality, white supremacy, corruption in the judicial system, etc. The show’s creator also reminds us of the unsung black heroes that this generation either forgot or unaware of. The impact it has on black entertainment is significant, especially during an outstanding moment in American history.
