In Score, Kennedy Ryan argues that artistic creation is a powerful and necessary act of historical reclamation. By centering the creation of a biopic about the fictional Harlem Renaissance singer Dessi Blue, the novel portrays filmmaking and storytelling as essential tools for recovering the legacies of Black and queer artists who have been deliberately erased from the cultural record. This process of reclamation is presented as a conscious mission, requiring authentic representation and providing the modern-day artists with a deep sense of purpose that connects them to their heritage.

The drive to reclaim these lost stories is framed as an urgent response to historical erasure. Screenwriter Verity embodies this mission through her academic and creative passions. Her reasons for pursuing a double major in film and African American studies resonate with this theme: “I want to know Black history for myself because they’ll rewrite and erase it if we let them.”(47). For Verity, art is a way to “revive and find roots in the old ones—the ones who deserved a shout in this world, but barely got a whisper” (47). This sentiment is reinforced by the book’s structure, which includes a dedication listing dozens of real, yet often overlooked, Black artists from the era. The director of the biopic, Canon, is similarly driven by this impulse after stumbling upon a roadside sign reading “Dessi Blue Was Born Here” (7), which sends him down a “rabbit hole” of research that becomes an artistic obsession. His conviction that he must “do it right” motivates his choice to hire a Black woman to write the script, reinforcing the idea that reclamation requires intentionality.

The narrative further develops this theme by showing how the artistic process itself becomes a site for correcting the historical record, particularly regarding marginalized identities. The screenplay for Dessi Blue undergoes a significant transformation after Verity and Neevah discover a hidden box of letters revealing Dessi’s relationship with her roommate, Tilda. As a bisexual woman herself, Verity feels a deep responsibility to honor this truth, insisting, “Love like theirs deserves light, and I’m glad they’ll finally have it” (187). This discovery moves Tilda from a footnote to a central figure in Dessi’s story, demonstrating how art can restore complexity and authenticity to lives that have been flattened by heteronormative historical accounts. The decision to include this queer relationship is not just an artistic choice but a moral one, recasting Dessi’s life with the fullness it was denied.

Ultimately, the novel suggests that the act of historical recovery provides artists with a powerful sense of purpose and connection. Verity sees the Dessi Blue project as the “opportunity of a lifetime” (173), the culmination of her life’s passion for storytelling and Black history. For her, telling Dessi’s story feels like something she has “been waiting for [her] my life” (182), a mission that validates her unique skills and identity. Likewise, Canon’s journey from seeing a random sign to directing an epic film illustrates how a single forgotten story can ignite a creative calling. Through their collaborative effort, the characters in Score participate in a sacred act of remembrance that heals the omissions of the past and gives their own work deep meaning in the present. Through her characters’ work to honor the fictional Dessi Blue, Ryan pays tribute to real historical and marginalized artists who are often overlooked.