Rhetorical fractals: an Afrocentric analysis of #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd

ABSTRACT Derek Chauvin’s trial for murdering George Floyd was a flashpoint of public deliberation around justice, accountability, and police reform. Burkean approaches to guilt, and their corresponding Western understandings of language, can be extended through Afrocentric rhetorics. We propose the “rhetorical fractal” to encompass Black ways of knowing and communicating. Unlike a cycle that returns to its starting point, a fractal is endlessly complex and cannot be refined to a single instance. Informed by Afrocentric concepts of nommo, hush harbors, and Black publics, we apply the rhetorical fractal to hashtags that circulated on Twitter during Chauvin’s trial and verdict.