Too Many African American Men 'Cut Dead'

Ellison, assistant professor of pastoral care and counseling, invites readers to enter the lives of five young men, chronicling their journeys from a sense of invisibility to a sense of understanding of both themselves and the world around them.
In describing the plight of African American young men, Ellison used a 19th century phrase, "cut dead," an expression from the writings of psychologist William James that touches on the idea of humans as social beings.
"James asserted that it would be a cruel and fiendish punishment for any person to go unnoticed or unseen, to be made invisible," says Ellison, a 1999 graduate of the Emory College of Arts and Sciences. "James recognized that people would rather be tortured than to be 'cut dead'--deliberately ignored or snubbed completely.
Read the full story on the Emory website: bit.ly/10jgbd7
Watch an interview with Gregory Ellison: bit.ly/12JEoZJ
Read Wayne Meisel's Huffington Post column about meeting Ellison: huff.to/191Jcgx