“[We’re] normalizing the fact that people do have issues, and that it’s OK to address it and that, it’s OK to even have doubts if therapy is gonna work,” says Glass, who previously worked as a counselor for young people in a group home.
Authors Janell Grace and Malik Glass (left to right). (Courtesy of Janell Grace)
Across the three volumes of Love Conquers All, Grace and Glass explore multiple levels of trauma that can shake one’s foundation. In addition to the personal loss of Kennedy’s sister — which parallels Grace’s own experience of losing a sister of her own — the story also alludes to the global trauma of natural disasters, and the reverberating effects of losing one’s home. After Kennedy’s family is displaced from New Orleans, his parents are in survival mode, putting food on the table by any means necessary.
On an even larger scale, the books and short film also allude to generational trauma. In part one, a character recommends a book to Kennedy: Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome by social work professor Dr. Joy DeGruy, an influential text that unpacks the lasting scars of racist violence. “If you wanna know about Black mental health, read that book,” Grace says. “It gives you a perspective that is not talked about in schools. It’s not talked about amongst our families.”