Jan 13, 2025
Dr. Phil Allen, Jr. returns to
Resiliency Within to discuss his journey since the release of his
documentary and his first book, Open Wounds: A Story of Racial
Tragedy, Trauma and Redemption.
In this encore episode, he will
explore the themes of his second book, The Prophetic Lens: The
Camera and Black Moral Agency, from Martin Luther King to Darnella
Frazier, which examines the role of the camera in the fight for
racial justice.
Allen highlights both the
prophetic potential of the camera and the context of Blackness as a
liminal existence amid a context dominated by
whiteness.
He states, “Martin Luther King
used news cameras to expose anti-Black violence by white mobs in
the 1950s and 60s. Darnella Frazier used her phone to record and
post the murder of George Floyd by Derek Chauvin in May 2020. These
are just two of many people who have captured images of injustice
for the world to see. The Prophetic Lens delves into the
camera's role as an indispensable prophetic tool for the security
of Black lives and the pursuit of racial
justice.”
Using Walter Brueggemann's
Prophetic Imagination as a framework, Allen demonstrates how the
camera can be a catalyst for cultural change.
He chronicles the use of the
camera in film, from J.D. Griffiths' Birth of a Nation to Spike
Lee's Do the Right Thing, revealing how this technology has
effectively achieved the goals of its respective
storytellers.
Dr. Phil Allen, Jr. will also
share the work of the nonprofit organization he founded, the Racial
Solidarity Project. This organization aims to promote anti-racist,
pro-community activism, and racial solidarity through its four
pillars of sustainable activism: justice and equity advocacy,
education, wellness, and intentional
community-building.
The Racial Solidarity Project
believes that justice work requires solidarity, and solidarity
invites healing. They emphasize the term “solidarity” because it
reflects God’s work and is the central witness of God’s
relationship with humanity.
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