The novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” written by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Harper Lee, is a black American narrative of unfortunate situations that occurred during the depression era of the deep South.

In summary of the novel, the narration follows a black man’s battle with the criminal justice system in being falsely accused of rape. As the protagonist, Scout follows the trial, she encounters internal challenges in her continuous developing interpretation of white America.

In depiction of the internalized struggle of the black community, the novel is an accurate and creative expression of the United States’ systemic and historical political oppression towards its black and brown communities. A theater production of this play would be a physical presentation of the historical realities and struggle of black and brown communities during a time of socioeconomic strife and hardship.

Granted, the novel itself has performed a major part in developing a discussion regarding oppression, as well as in providing American literature with another text that is inclusive of representing the living experiences of minority communities. Yet, the novel itself does not depict all of what the black community is inclusive of being in both socioeconomic placement and living expression.

In a production of the novel in film, playwright or acting, it must be understood that it is a relic of the black American experience. It is not all of what the black community is in living, existing and being a driving force in the United States. There must be a more accurate representation of the community’s development and personal achievements. More representation in the black community’s most modern socioeconomic placement and living expression is needed.

The depiction of the black community being nothing more than an oppressed minority group that has slave ancestry furthers the narrative that we are not deserving of socioeconomic mobility and that the black and brown community is nothing more than a slave. Artistic expression in any format should be eclectic in its presentation and expressive in its international presence.

The black and brown community is diverse in its existence and deserving of a better narrative of its population within the African-American diaspora. The consequence of continuing the narrative that black Americans are nothing more than slave ancestry is a false perception of what is to be understood of the community today.

Today, we are engineers, artists, novelists and performers. Today, we are congressmen, doctors, professors and Supreme Court justices. Today, the modern black American is a citizen with rights and liberties that should and is treated equally to that of the rest of this country’s citizens. Today, the Black American is a multi-talented and educated body of people that are bilingual in vernacular and culture. Today, the Black American is a dominating presence in both music, culture, and political presence.

In acknowledgment of all of its components, the Black American is the embodiment of all things intellectual and creative, especially in the root of our struggle, but we are more than what “To Kill a Mockingbird” portrays us as.