DPL Author Series Presents Horror Scholar Dr. Robin R. Means Coleman

Socially conscious messaging is far from new in Black horror (“horror noire”) movies. Over the decades, Black horror cinema has tackled the most pressing social issues impacting Black culture, pushing its quotient for inventive, frightful responses to racism. In this talk, Dr. Coleman asks the challenging question, ‘What does it mean for Black horror and for us, its audience, to reject more respectable, civil approaches to disobedience to secure social justice’? She will detail how Black horror makes the case for liberation through the annihilation of oppressors, a kind of The First Purge (2018), but in reverse, motivated by the destruction of anti-Blackness. To answer these questions, she will focus her reflection on Jordan Peele’s Get Out (2017), Jamaa Fanaka’s Soul Vengeance (1975), and Nia DaCosta’s Candyman (2021).

Note: No scary scenes from horror movies will be shown.

Dr. Robin R. Means Coleman is Northwestern’s vice president and associate provost for diversity and inclusion. An internationally prominent and award-winning scholar, Dr. Coleman’s work focuses on media studies and the cultural politics of Blackness. Dr. Coleman is the author of Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror Films from the 1890s to Present and African American Viewers and the Black Situation Comedy: Situating Racial Humor. She is co-author of Intercultural Communication for Everyday Life. She is the editor of Say It Loud: African American Audiences, Media, and Identity and coeditor of Fight the Power: The Spike Lee Reader. She is also the author of a number of other academic and popular publications. Dr. Coleman is featured in, and executive produced, the critically acclaimed documentary film Horror Noire which is based on her book Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror Films from the 1890s to Present. Her latest book, The Black Guy Dies First, is co-authored by Mark H. Harris.

After the presentation, books will be available for purchase from Detroit's own Source Booksellers. Dr. Coleman will also be available to sign copies of her books.

This talk will take place in the Main Library's Galleria. For those who cannot attend in person, the talk will be simulcast on Zoom.

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