A Parallel Road by Amani Willett
Over the past decade I have spoken at length with family and friends about how scary the road can feel and about how they have often thought twice before simply getting in their cars and driving. These conversations put me on a path to explore what I saw as a gaping hole in the narrative of a quintessential American experience: the legendary road trip. Getting behind the steering wheel to experience the exuberant sensations of freedom that such a journey has to offer is an American pastime pursued by many, but shrouded behind the allure of the road is an unsettling and often ignored history of racial strife that persists to this day.
For me, and many other Black Americans, ‘the road’ immediately conjures images of a politically contested space where generations have fought for equal rights, most significantly during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 60s. The road also invites memories of a more horrific underbelly of American society—as a site of racial discrimination and brutality. Lynchings— an early roadside attraction where large mobs gleefully attended to witness or participate in public executions—were a precursor to incidents of horrific violence that we now watch in real-time via social media.
For too long Black and other minority perspectives have been sidelined from our collective memory and by our cultural institutions. I hope this work encourages engagement and dialogue surrounding the ubiquity of violence towards Black Americans on roadways that has persisted alongside the more romantic depictions of what, historically, the road has purported to offer.
A Parallel Road, published by Overlapse, can be purchased here.
Amani Willett lives and works in Boston, MA.
To view more of Amani’s work please visit www.amaniwillett.com
