they dont know what i am

Magical Negro takes its title from the cinematic trope first identified and named by director Spike Lee, referring to the familiar Black stock character in movies who has one, sole narrative purpose: to aid the white protagonist with their mystical or extraordinary abilities. (Think Oda Mae in Ghost or John Coffey in The Green Mile.) Parker’s collection redefines the age-old archetype by imbuing it with new interpretations of magic in relationship to Blackness. “I’ve always thought of it as this straw man for white people,” Parker explains. “I was playing with that idea and that viewpoint, but also thinking about ‘Black Girl Magic,’ which is cool, but I’m also a real person, so I wanted to explore what is magical about us according to us.” – Broadly. My limited edition collaboration with Morgan Parker in celebration of her new collection of poems “Magical Negro“, takes & strips down phases that stayed with me long after I read them.