Presentation Title
Peter Shot a Man
Panel Name
Literary Treatments of Tragedy, War, Fear, and Redemption
Location
Lecture Center 15
Start Date
3-5-2019 3:15 PM
End Date
3-5-2019 4:30 PM
Presentation Type
Multimedia/Creative Presentation
Academic Major
English
Abstract
Peter Shot a Man is a fictionalized story about Peter Liang, a Chinese American police officer who shot and killed Akai Gurley, a black man, in 2014. The purpose of the story is to analyze the act of violence through socialization. In doing so, the story investigates the process of racial minorities claiming a place for oneself in America in relation to other racial minority groups and the seemingly inevitable violence involved. To do so, the story is broken into three parts: the first begins when Liang has just arrived from Hong Kong to New York City in 1997, where he begins elementary school. The second part begins in the mid-2000s, when Liang is in high school and applying to college. The final part begins with his graduation from the police academy, which then leads and ends with his shooting of Akai Gurley. Each part investigates facets of the Chinese immigrant experience in relation to black folk in the context of the changing fabric of neighborhoods.
Select Where This Work Originated From
Senior Thesis/Project
First Faculty Advisor
Aashish Kaul
First Advisor Email
akaul@albany.edu
First Advisor Department
English
Second Faculty Advisor
Edward Schwarzschild
Second Faculty Advisor Email
eschwarzschild@albany.edu
Second Advisor Department
English
Peter Shot a Man
Lecture Center 15
Peter Shot a Man is a fictionalized story about Peter Liang, a Chinese American police officer who shot and killed Akai Gurley, a black man, in 2014. The purpose of the story is to analyze the act of violence through socialization. In doing so, the story investigates the process of racial minorities claiming a place for oneself in America in relation to other racial minority groups and the seemingly inevitable violence involved. To do so, the story is broken into three parts: the first begins when Liang has just arrived from Hong Kong to New York City in 1997, where he begins elementary school. The second part begins in the mid-2000s, when Liang is in high school and applying to college. The final part begins with his graduation from the police academy, which then leads and ends with his shooting of Akai Gurley. Each part investigates facets of the Chinese immigrant experience in relation to black folk in the context of the changing fabric of neighborhoods.