Dunn, StevenGaines, Madison2023-08-142023-08-142023Gaines_washington_0250O_25917.pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/1773/50113Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2023Blackness is not a performance, and yet a performance has been demanded. In Studio 9, Hazey has been corrupted by faux intimacy and the burden of observation as the talk show host of a national TV show. The various performances on and off the stage have severed her from the Black community and left her susceptible to manipulation. The challenge becomes confronting the horrific truths of her actions, and the result—of community, of companionship, of true vulnerability—can be the alteration of values once believed to be unwavering.application/pdfen-USnoneAfrican AmericanAfrican American literatureBlack literaturecreative writingfictionCreative writingThesis