JUVEN
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Untitled Film
by Joseph Griffen
Black.
Zoom out a little bit,
Not Black
But brown.
The color of ground coffee beans
Zoom out a little more
A boy,
No.
A man.
In handcuffs,
lying on the floor,
Eyes closed.
In this dark space,
Sweat somehow gleams on his forehead.
Something seems off…
The realization that his chest isn’t moving,
But his body is.
It’s sliding,
Hitting the sides of this vessel,
No, this Cage.
Zoom out some more.
A van,
The words “Baltimore Police”
Are visible against the glare of the Sun.
Silver and Gold,
Life and death.
Pan to the right a little,
Freeze.
Flames.
Frozen in time,
Burning,
Destroying.
Let’s pan to the left this time.
A woman hides her hair in a knit hat,
A single tear frozen on her face
as she struggles to clutch her sign.
The words:
“Justice fo-“.
The rest hides in her coat.
We zoom in,
Trying,
Needing to read the rest of that sign.
we end up with black.
Pitch black.
Zoom out.
The bright sun.
As we pan down,
We can’t hear
But we feel the crack of the whip.
See the dark red blood
In the torn skin
Dripping into the
White cotton plant.
Staining it forever.
Zoom in
Going from White, to black.
Zoom out
The American flag
Shown on the jumbo screen
Pan to your right
To the field
A man,
With an Afro,
Shining like the sun,
On his knees.
One Knee to be precise.
If we zoom in a little
We can just make out the 7
On his back.
Zoom in
Back to Black
Zoom out
Window shopping
Delicious cakes
Only to find the sign
“We Serve Whites...Only”
Deciding to find something else instead
Zoom in
Black,
Zoom out
A man frozen in flight
The churning sea underneath of him
Screams,
No.
Yells from the ship.
But his face,
So Calm,
Clear.
Wanting death,
More than bondage.
Making the last free choice of his life.
Zoom in
Black.
Zoom out
“I am a man”
“I am a-“
Cut
Nothing but
Black
Black
Black.
Black.
Black.
Zoom out a little bit,
Not Black
But brown.
The color of ground coffee beans
Zoom out a little more
A boy,
No.
A man.
In handcuffs,
lying on the floor,
Eyes closed.
In this dark space,
Sweat somehow gleams on his forehead.
Something seems off…
The realization that his chest isn’t moving,
But his body is.
It’s sliding,
Hitting the sides of this vessel,
No, this Cage.
Zoom out some more.
A van,
The words “Baltimore Police”
Are visible against the glare of the Sun.
Silver and Gold,
Life and death.
Pan to the right a little,
Freeze.
Flames.
Frozen in time,
Burning,
Destroying.
Let’s pan to the left this time.
A woman hides her hair in a knit hat,
A single tear frozen on her face
as she struggles to clutch her sign.
The words:
“Justice fo-“.
The rest hides in her coat.
We zoom in,
Trying,
Needing to read the rest of that sign.
we end up with black.
Pitch black.
Zoom out.
The bright sun.
As we pan down,
We can’t hear
But we feel the crack of the whip.
See the dark red blood
In the torn skin
Dripping into the
White cotton plant.
Staining it forever.
Zoom in
Going from White, to black.
Zoom out
The American flag
Shown on the jumbo screen
Pan to your right
To the field
A man,
With an Afro,
Shining like the sun,
On his knees.
One Knee to be precise.
If we zoom in a little
We can just make out the 7
On his back.
Zoom in
Back to Black
Zoom out
Window shopping
Delicious cakes
Only to find the sign
“We Serve Whites...Only”
Deciding to find something else instead
Zoom in
Black,
Zoom out
A man frozen in flight
The churning sea underneath of him
Screams,
No.
Yells from the ship.
But his face,
So Calm,
Clear.
Wanting death,
More than bondage.
Making the last free choice of his life.
Zoom in
Black.
Zoom out
“I am a man”
“I am a-“
Cut
Nothing but
Black
Black
Black.
Black.
Black.
Joseph Griffin (he/him/his) is a graduating senior committed to Howard University in the fall of 2021. He's primarily an actor and singer but considers himself a creator when he writes the words that keep him up at night. In his free time, he listens to Childish Gambino and idolizes James Baldwin. Joseph has had his work recognized by Scholastic and Afro Literary Magazine. He has work forthcoming in Juven Press. You can reach him @josephsgriffinn on Instagram and @josephsgriffin on Twitter.