On The Flip Side

Meet Saphia, a young bell hooks fanatic trying desperately to build a good life in New York City, a place famous for making life unlivable for anyone but the uber wealthy. Constantly immersed in the latest idea she has discovered while reading hooks, Saphia is determined to figure out how to apply these liberatory ideals to her own life. But the one thing she doesn’t account for is a little surprise encouragement from the legend herself. 

Click here to learn more about this new series from Edge studios, and follow @npquarterly and @offthehookshorts on social to see episodes of “Off the Hook” as they are released. 

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(Ominous music plays. Saphia sits in the middle of the screen, adorned in an orange nightdress, her reflection visible at her feet, as if sitting at the edge of a pool of water. She is engulfed in blackness, and staring back at us. Suddenly, the word GENTRIFICATION appears written in white chalk on the black wall behind her. Then, more words appear beneath this one: OG. GENTRY—AM I GENTRY? She erases these words. In their place appears: INFLUX OF RESOURCES VS DISPLACEMENT. She stares at us again. Suddenly, this phrase too is replaced by a single word: HOME. Suddenly Saphia is holding two stuffed animals. They appear at her sides, and she instead holds a Russian nesting doll. This doll appears in front of her, and she stacks its smaller counterparts in a row beside it. Suddenly,  Saphia has a vejigante mask over her head, a symbol of Puerto Rican culture, handmade by her great-uncle. The mask suddenly appears in her lap, then is replaced by a painting of two people dancing Bomba, a traditional Puerto Rican song and dance form. This painting was also created by a family member, Saphia’s third cousin. Suddenly, Saphia is gone from the frame, and on the same black wall a question is written upside down. In the reflection at the bottom of the screen, we can see it right side up: WHERE DO WE BELONG? Then, suddenly, it reads: HOW DO WE BELONG? Fade to outro.)