【undersanding eroticism through humiliation】

This recap contains spoilers for the Season 1 finale of Queen Sugar,undersanding eroticism through humiliation titled "Give Us This Day."

Queen Sugarinvites viewers to reimagine what popular culture has taught us about the lives of black people. The stories of black lives have often been told through the lens of white supremacy. Even black writers, producers, and directors who’ve internalized messages of white supremacy have told the stories of black lives with limited stereotypes and tropes.

Charley

When we first met Charley, it would’ve been easy to assume that she was the light-skinned bourgeois basketball wife. We know her kind. As her story developed, we discovered that her socio-economic privilege does not emancipate her from struggles inherent in the life of black women.

Charley reclaims her sense of self as she takes on the Landrys and the Boudreauxs, and she continues to transform as she navigates the tension of her life with Davis and what she longs for with Remy. Life doesn’t always have clear-cut starts and stops — often we have one foot in one life and one in another as we try and navigate transition.

Nova

Nova illuminates the struggles that many antiracist activists face. She wrestles with incongruence in her life. Is there a cognitive dissonance between the work we do and our personal lives? She is fully human in her black liberation work; she is fully flawed in her work as well. Her Afrocentric style, her spiritual connection to her ancestors, and her identity and love of the black community is juxtaposed against her love affair with a white police officer.

Nova’s relationship is layered and problematic. Does her connection with Calvin make her dedication to the liberation of her people illegitimate? How does Nova navigate her romantic feelings toward Calvin while understanding the ways in which his whiteness continues to harm her and her people? The scene with Nova leaves viewers where we started, wondering about the ties Nova has to Calvin. Nova cries along and uses Calvin’s shirt to wipe away her tears.

Aunt Vi

Black women are socialized to believe that good love isn’t an option. Often we choose between having our socioeconomic needs met (if that), over love. Vi’s story embodies this aspect of black women’s conflict. In closing herself off to Hollywood and his attempts at repair, she may have missed a chance to reconcile with him. A phone call between Hollywood and Vi reveals that he took a 6 month assignment on the rigs to center himself. We are left hoping that Vi and Hollywood can mend their hurt places, even if it requires a six-month wait.

Ralph Angel

Ralph Angel and Darla continue to heal and co-parent Blue. The viewers are challenged, yet again, to reimagine the narratives around black sex and intimacy. The shower scene between Ralph Angel and Darla is powerful. The subdued camera angles and glimpses of curves and water call us to embrace the clean start between the lovers.

Ralph Angel discovers a letter from Ernest that outlines Ernest’s most recent decisions about their land. Not only does the letter detail how Ralph Angel, alone, is to inherent the land -- thus giving him power to confront the ways in which Charley has underestimated him -- the letter breathes life into Ralph Angel. We watch as Ralph Angel tearfully reads his father’s words. Only time will tell what will become of the Bordelon land.

The season finale ofQueen Sugar was a love letter to black people. The series is a departure from the ways our stories have been told because the storylines offer a view of deeply complex and robust people.

The Bordelons are beautiful and gritty, cacophonous and melodious, focused and yet opaque. The stories of their lives are a provocation to embrace the full humanity of how black lives intersect. Ernest’s words, the lives of the Bordelon siblings, and the genius of Ava DuVernay call us all in. We are coaxed out of our dependency on harmful narratives of black lives we’ve become accustomed to.

Ernest’s letter is a letter to all black folks. We have an inheritance that is full of possibility if we tend to it and let it thrive. “You are more than you know. You are better than you think.”