What would it feel like to wake up one day and discover you’re no longer white?
What is Blackness and should we relinquish it? Were Black people designed into existence as a commodity?
In this clip, Karen Hunter, Joel Christian Gill and Sunn m’Cheaux discuss the idea of Blackness.
About Joel Christian Gill
Joel Christian Gill is a cartoonist and historian who speaks nationally on the importance of sharing stories. He is the author of the acclaimed memoir Fights: One Boy’s Triumph Over Violence cited as one of the best graphic novels of 2020 by The New York Times and for which he was awarded the 2021 Cartoonist Studio Prize. He wrote the words and drew the pictures for Fast Enough: Bessie Stringfield’s First Ride and the award-winning graphic novel series Strange Fruit: Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History, as well as 3 volumes of Tales of The Talented Tenth, which tell the stories of Bass Reeves, Bessie Stringfield, and Robert Smalls. He is currently at work on the graphic novel of Ibram Kendi’s National Book Award-winning Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, forthcoming from Ten Speed Press in 2023. Gill has dedicated his life to creating stories to build connections with readers through empathy, compassion, and, ultimately, humanity. He received his MFA from Boston University and his BA from Roanoke College.
About Sunn m’Cheaux
Sunn m’Cheaux (pronounced sʌn mɪˈʃˈo͡ʊ) is a Gullah/Geechee Charleston, SC “binya” (native) speaker. He teaches Gullah in the African Language Program. He’s also fluent in various Afro-Caribbean creoles, including Bahamian Creole English and Jamaican Patois. Sunn is an artist, activist, and social commentator for whom representation and preservation of Gullah/Geechee culture, language and people are integral to his work. It is with this in mind that he is honored to be guest lecturer of Gullah–nationally and abroad–and most dearly, an instructor of Gullah in Harvard University’s African Language Program “fa da kalcha”. #weoutchea
