Resisting Erasure: Chinonye Chukwu’s Cinematic Portrayals of Black Women’s Grief

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ID: 314349
2026
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Abstract
Abstract This chapter examines Lemonade (2016) alongside Chinonye Chukwu’s films Till (2022) and Clemency (2019) to argue that Chukwu reframes Black women’s grief as political testimony that resists racial erasure. It situates Till within the activist legacy surrounding Emmett Till, demonstrating how the film centers Mamie Till’s agency, transforms mourning into acknowledgment, and connects historical terror to contemporary movements such as Black Lives Matter. The chapter analyzes Clemency as a study of state-sanctioned violence that foregrounds the psychological toll of capital punishment on Black women, especially prison warden Bernadine Williams, while exposing the moral contradictions of the carceral system. Across both films, it contends that Chukwu rejects controlling images, privileges Black women’s interiority, and renders grief as a demand for empathy and moral accountability. Finally, the chapter positions Chukwu’s cinema as a love letter to Black women that indicts white supremacy while affirming Black humanity.
Reference Key
openalex_W7161985515 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Laura Dubek
Journal Oxford University Press eBooks
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197647424.013.0008
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197647424.013.0008
Keywords Keywords not found

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