The Truth In This Art: Stories That Matter

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Dr. Lawrence T. Brown!

Who is Dr. Lawrence T. Brown: Research scientist at Morgan State University’s Center for Urban Health Equity and author of The Black Butterfly: The Harmful Politics of Race and Space in America.

In our conversation, Dr. Brown traces a line from West Memphis, Arkansas, to Baltimore’s neighborhoods, explaining how a racial dot map led him to say, “that looks like a butterfly,” and name the pattern “The Black Butterfly.” He walks through what he found in local archives—mayors’ letters, municipal journals, urban renewal files—and how those records show displacement and segregation written into policy. We talk historical trauma, “urban apartheid,” and institutions that turn one era’s rules into the next—“slavery becomes Jim Crow and Jim Crow is the new Jim Crow.” He also shares how board games and comics—Urban Cipher and the Black Butterfly Dream Lab—let people feel these systems in practice, not just read about them.

Dr. Brown’s point is clear: show the evidence, make it experiential, and give communities tools to see—and change—the structures around them.

The Truth In This Art is supported by William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund, the Maryland State Arts Council's Creativity Grant and Mayor's Individual Artist Award - Creative Baltimore Fund (Baltimore). 

Host: Rob Lee
Music: Original music by Daniel Alexis Music with additional music from Chipzard and TeTresSeis.
Production: