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Black artists could be seen as a product of Trump’s
presidency, which boldly highlighted the centuries
of crimes against Black people in the U.S. that con-
tinue today. But now Joe Biden is President, and
Kamala Harris, a Black woman, is Vice President.
And the Wicked Witch is gone. Does that mean
we’ve achieved racial equality?
Hell the f-ck no. The societal failures that led
to Trump’s election in the first place remain. But
the symbolic healing of Biden’s victory may re-
duce the appetite for Black voices and ideas. Every
time I received a Happy InauguratIon Day text
on Jan. 20, I wondered, Will those book deals and
greenlights all soon fade away?
ALEXIS HUNLEY
PHOTOGRAPHER
HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO
RECONCILE navigating the
dehumanization of my racial
identity “trending” with the
sobering reality that trends
end? Am I only deserving
of care, of opportunities,
when my pain can be easily
commodified? Some days, I
endure the tokenization and
move confidently. Other days,
I give myself permission to
choose peace and decline.
Much of my documentary work
acts as an unconscious mir-
ror into my emotional state.
Throughout 2020, photogra-
phy allowed me to process my
personal trauma as well as
the collective trauma so many
Black people experienced.
This image represents the
self-awareness that when
the public outcry softens
to a whisper, we will have
each other to call on; when
the police terrorize us, when
employers tokenize us, when
doctors ignore our pain, when
elected officials fail us time
and again: we are all we have.