Howard Thurman famously wrote:
MANY and varied are the interpretations dealing with the teachings and the life of Jesus of Nazareth. But few of these interpretations deal with what the teachings and the life of Jesus have to say to those who stand, at a moment in human history, with their backs against the wall.
I grew up in a family that papered the walls of our house with our backs—that’s how pressed against we all were. I come from generations and generation of trauma, oppression and racism wallpapering our walls. The sweat of our fear and anguish plastering us “against the wall”.
Michael Oher’s mother too lived within those same walls of grief and desperation. Sure, the movie The Blind Side was Michael Oher’s story (with the Touhys front and centered). But away from the camera, beneath the narrative that was carefully crafted into a screenplay and book, both written by White men, there is a Black mother, Denise Oher.
The story was always her story—a Christian story that we pretend doesn’t exist. She is the woman at the well and the Syrophonecian mother—mothers at the margins on the outside looking in.
As often happens in our cultural history, whiteness photoshopped Denise Oher out of the picture. It did this when the movie first was released. And now, here we are—almost 15 years later—erasing her once again.
Here’s Part 1 of my take on the story. Be sure to also check out Part 2.
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