Live Breaking News & Updates on Dark Threats

Stay updated with breaking news from Dark threats. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.

Can Black Pain in Books Bring About Black Joy?


I heard a powerful interview on CBC Radio’s literary show, The Next Chapter one day, and I’ve been thinking about pain ever since.
Shelagh Rogers, the host, was interviewing Joshua Whitehead, an Oji-Cree, Two-Spirit scholar from the Peguis First Nation on Treaty 1 territory in Manitoba. He’s also the acclaimed author of the novel
Johnny Appleseed. At some point in the interview, he talked about pain but not in the way you think.
The main character of his novel, the titular Johnny, is a reflection of the kinds of violence indigenous youths are subjected to, and particularly the kind of sexual trauma indigenous communities continue to deal with as a result of Canada’s residential school system. But Joshua voiced a way of thinking about pain I hadn’t considered. As he explains, Cree language imbues various ‘objects’ with spirit: rivers, rocks and even the planet itself. But what about pain? Joshua poses the question to Shelagh: “if we can animate our pain ....

New York , United States , Kwazulu Natal , South Africa , Sierra Leone , Johnny Appleseed , Sarah Raughley , Nisi Shawl , Carl Peters , Shelagh Rogers , Hanna Arendt , Angie Thomas , Toni Morrison , King Leopold , Liselle Sambury , Joshua Whitehead , Mahmood Mamdani , Sarah Baartman , Sherene Razack , White Knights , New York Times , Chalkbeat National , United Nations , Next Chapter , Peguis First Nation , Sonja Cherry Paul ,