When They See Us and The Conversation of Intended Audience

After watching Ava DuVernay’s powerful When They See Us about the exonerated 5 and the crime they were framed for, I’m left with a question — one I’ve been thinking about a lot more often; whom exactly is the audience for work based on marginalized trauma?

The story of Yusef Salaam, Antron McCray, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson and Korey Wise is many things. One it’s a necessary history lesson, a reminder of reality, a statement to racial injustice, hope, and…there’s not enough words to describe.

I’ll get straight to the point, if you aren’t Black and Brown, you’ll never completely understand how this series strikes to the heart. This is an experience unique to us that we are reminded of daily. This isn’t really my focus for this piece. It’s about if we should interact with work based on the painfully realities we are aware of.

When it comes to these stories; especially those created by marginalized people about our own trauma — whom are they meant for exactly?