ABSTRACT
Trauma caused by active bigotry and structural racism has had an intergenerational effect on the health of black people in the United States. Churches too often have neglected to address the trauma in healthy and practical ways to inform, equip, and heal black people who suffer with such trauma. This existing trauma has been compounded during the COVID-19 pandemic with the hardships that it brought. Film has long been a medium people have integrated into their personal liturgies not simply for entertainment but also as narratives in which they locate their own stories. This essay asserts American churches generally, and black churches especially, should utilize film as a pedagogical tool to allow African Americans to see their stories, reclaim their narratives, name their traumas, and be affirmed in their resiliency. More than a mere art form, film can curate a space for lament, empathy, hopefulness, and healing.
