On the latest episode of Basic Black, airing tonight at 7:30pm on GBH 2, Facebook, and Twitter, host Callie Crossley is joined by four guests to review and reflect upon 2020 — a year of COVID, racial unrest, economic downturn, and the election. What can we take from everything that has happened this year and how do Black and brown people move on — and what can we expect — in 2021? After the monumental grieving, loss, anger and hurt that pervaded this challenging year, are there positive, hopeful circumstances that emerged personally and for society during this time? We will hear from Phillip Martin, Senior Investigative Reporter at the GBH Center for Investigative Reporting; Renee Graham, Associate Editor and Columnist for The Boston Globe; Kim McLarin, Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director at Emerson College; and Charmain F. Jackman, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist and the Founder & CEO of InnoPsych, Inc. A few highlights from the conversation include:
What happened?
“There’s nothing more emblematic for me of 2020 than the sight of a white cop’s knee on a Black men’s neck," said Graham. "So much of that image, of what happened to George Floyd, is exactly what it’s felt like in so many instances this year for the Black community in the way that it feels like this nation has its knee on our neck and everything that happens, happens to us ten-fold.”
What were you surprised by?
"What surprised me is just the way that we were able to come together and to kind of raise our voices in solidarity and actually push organizations to do more than just put out their statements," said Jackman. "We’re actually holding organizations to the fire in keeping that message and in putting more actions into what they’re actually doing in terms of employment and hiring Black employees.”
What kept you joyful?
“One bright side of this year has been the amazing continuing explosion of Black art and poetry, novels. I have been immersed in all of the literature that’s coming out of this year," said McLarin. "As Toni Morrison said, 'Tough times are when artists go to work.’ And so I have been uplifted by the Black artists that have gone to work this year.”
Watch the full episode of Basic Black tonight at 7:30pm here.
