Date of Award

5-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in English and Writing Studies

Department

English

First Reader/Committee Chair

Adebayo

Abstract

This paper is a critical examination of collective and public memories of public events that impact Black lives as constructed in news, social, and academic writing. Using Black mundane life to explore and build localized context and attitudes towards these events, I examine whether the collective memory of an event, as framed by public discourse, accurately portrays how Black communities experienced them. This paper explores what it means for Black people, to experience a disconnect with written accounts of public events that do not properly account for the many layers of Black experience, highlighting where there’s a failure to tell Black stories within the proper context or representation of Black reality that results in a difference of opinion in the treatment and progression of Black American life. Timothy Vercellotti and Paul R. Brewer’s existing research exploring the relationship between the national Black community and media, affirms that media representation of Black lives is riddled with negative stereotypes and Black people, led by media distrust, often challenge America’s concepts of progression (Vercellotti and Brewer). Using Black discourse acquired through interviews, this paper addresses the retelling of public events in various genres of writing and the inevitable dangers of excluding the points of view produced within Black discourse communities and finds that the context in which Black discourse retells public events is not featured in public texts in a way that is meaningful or representative of Black lived experience.

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