Boxes

Abstract

The author takes a critical look at race, class, and local cultural values in two stories linked by the common theme of boxes. In one story, issues of race and class are highlighted through the recounting of a jury duty experience, wherein two defendants of color are on trial for holding a mystery box for a friend. In another, the author speaks about the loss of a relative to AIDS and having to carry a box to the funeral. In reimagining, the author brings the two together to posit what might have lead to the trial and the holding of the mystery box.