Georgetown University professors, Soyica Diggs Colbert (C’01) and Robert Patterson are hoping their new book, The Psychic Hold of Slavery: Legacies in American Expressive Culture (Rutgers University Press, 2016), will spark conversations about how the American legacy of slavery informs a present in which African-Americans experience ongoing and increasing racial inequity and violence.
The book features essays by African American studies scholars who explore how film, drama, fiction, performance art, graphic novels and philosophical discourses represent or fail to represent slavery, and the relationship of slavery’s legacy to the 21st century.
“There’s no moving forward as a community, not just black people, but everyone in America, unless we can talk about the legacy of slavery,” says Dr. Diggs Colbert. “If we can’t have a frank conversation about the reality of where we began, how can we move forward?”
The Psychic Hold of Slavery traces popular representations of African-Americans and how the institution of slavery “congealed” perceptions of African-Americans and their position in respect to “power, economics, opportunities and access.”
Further information on The Psychic Hold of Slavery and Dr.’s Diggs-Colbert and Patterson can be found here.
