"Belle Lettres" by Nafissa Thompson-Spires enhances my sense of what a black story is because it features relatable black characters interacting with each other over something mundane. There is no trauma, abuse, or violence that requires the exploitation of black bodies or the manifestation of the "exceptional negro". It's just two educated middle class women communicating to each other via letters in a very passive aggressive and petty manner that incites laughter in readers (or at least me). A black story can simply depict black people doing black things, which can be as simple as letter correspondence between two mothers about their children as demonstrated by "Belle Lettres."
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