episode 2: the last story I wrote has been haunting me, but in a good way
starring a playlist + afro-surrealism recommendations
The last story I shelved was an afro-surrealist novel about mental health, grief, and McDonald’s pancakes. It was supposed to be a mixture of It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Good Trouble, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Knives Out.
I know. It was a lot.
Since childhood, I’ve been drawn to Afro-surrealism. I just didn’t know it by name at the time. Afro-surrealism is all about using surrealism, which Wikipedia describes as an art and cultural movement in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike scenes and ideas, to describe the Black experience.
Afro-surrealism feels like a celebration of the weird. That makes me feel comfortable. I’ve always felt that being Black in America, day-to-day, is a fucking weird experience. The constant code-switching, stereotypes being shoved in your face, the strays you catch for no reason—like what the fuck is a “Black job”?
It’s all weird. And that’s putting it lightly.
Growing up I had this growing frustration with my experience as a Black girl. I felt as though I couldn’t verbalize it. I felt invisible to everything I yearned for. Years would pass and my girlhood wasn’t progressing in the ways I thought it would.
For example, I always felt a type of way about never going to a school dance with a date. Dates felt like a validation of beauty, and I’ve never felt that. But, I had no place to air my frustrations.
I had to maintain. I had to be strong. Afro-surrealism feels like an art form where you can finally react to the world's absurdity with equal levels of absurdity—and that doesn’t happen often.
The latest piece of Afro-surrealism I loved was Netflix’s The Vince Staples Show.
Vince Staples has been one of my favorite celebrities for a long time. He’s naturally hilarious and makes such good music. He also is a part of one of my favorite interviews of all time, one that I often quote.
“Everything that we love is directly related to Ray J.” — Vince Staples
What I love the most about Vince Staples is that he ain’t afraid to tell the truth. That’s what The Vince Staples Show is, a truth (because there is no one universal Black experience) about what it is to be Black. Sometimes it’s absurd. Sometimes it’s hilarious. Sometimes it’s violent. Sometimes it doesn’t make any fucking sense. But, it’s always real. Always.
If I could recommend any episode to y’all, it’s episode 2: “Black Business.” Watch. That. Shit.
As a Black woman living in 2024, I feel things getting weirder and stranger and more ridiculous. I find myself wanting to point out the absurdity, hoping someone sees me exposing the oddity and is reminded that none of this shit is normal.
I might go back to the Afro-surrealist book I was writing. Flesh it out. Subtract a few elements so it’ll actually make sense. Or, maybe it would be better for it to make no sense at all.
In all this thinking, I made a playlist for the “new” story walking around in my head. Once I tie music to whatever I’m writing, it feels more real—alive even.
A few weeks ago, I watched a Black horror movie from 1990 called Def by Temptation. It stars Kadeem Hardison, of A Different World fame. It fits into the Afro-surrealism genre. Check out the trailer below.
Thanks for reading hun. Subscribe if you’d like to keep kickin’ it.
With love,
Nia
This movie looks W I L D in the best possible way lol. I must watch! I've also been meaning to get into the Vince Staples Show. I started I'm A Virgo a little bit ago but never finished. I gotta get it together lol