Intersectionality Matters! 74. The Story of Us 2026, Part 1
Feb 12, 2026
Viet Thanh Nguyen, novelist and scholar of war, memory, and diasporic narratives; Ava DuVernay, filmmaker whose work probes race and justice. They trace McCarthy-era erasures of Black and immigrant artists. They debate modern censorship, storytelling pressures around Palestine, and how media power shapes which stories get told.
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Artivism Reframes The National Story
- Artivism uses art as a tool for collective resistance and to center Black experiences.
- It transforms hostile realities by telling authentic stories that reshape the national story.
Blacklisting Left Lasting Cultural Gaps
- McCarthy-era blacklisting erased influential Black artists and narrowed public memory.
- Recognizing that erasure helps us see parallels to today's censorship and resist repeating it.
Paul Robeson’s Rapid Erasure
- Paul Robeson went from global stardom to being unemployable and erased from records.
- Owning his records or mentioning him risked people being questioned for loyalty.
