NOTE: The following is an article that I submitted to Publisher's Weekly for their "ethnic" sf edition, the week of April 13, 2009. PW contacted me and said they liked it but could only use parts of my story and not the entire piece. I wanted to share with the BSF SOCIETY my complete thoughts on how the mainstream industry should approach the development and promotion of Black SF.
What Makes Science Fiction and Fantasy Afrocentric?
The publishing world has seen the swelling growth and profitability of Black romance and urban novels. Booksellers and public libraries are stocking their shelves with publications that offer gritty tales of the dark mean streets or outrageous Black gangsters. But there is another wave on the horizon; another genre that may soon rival the expensive cars, dangerous pimps and desperate ex-cons; a rising tide of titles that offer hi-tech space ships, cunning barbarians, and savvy time travelers featuring African Americans characters in Black sci-fi and fantasy.Black Science Fiction (or Afrofuturism) as well as “Sword-and-Soul” loosely can be defined as an intellectual and cultural movement that explores the African American relationship with new technology, musings of the future, and heroic fantasies.Sci-fi and its cousins featuring characters of Caucasian background have been around since Jules Verne and H. G. Wells in the 1800s. But today what defines “Black” sci-fi? It is more than simply putting a dark tan on Flash Gordon or giving Superman kinky hair. In my humble opinion (IMHO), before any fantasy, sci-fi, or other speculative fiction story can be classified as Black or African American oriented it must meet at least three of the following five conditions:1) The author should be of African heritage2) The main character should be Black3) The setting should be in Africa or Harlem4) Historical or current social conditions should be unique to people of color5) The narrative or dialogue should resonant with “Blackness”The Author Should be of African HeritageAn obvious indicator that a sci-fi novel truly may be Afrocentric is if its author is Black. Samuel Delany, Charles Saunders, Octavia Butler, Steven Barnes and many others are Black authors who write afrocentric sci-fi. Yet, all good writers have the ability to offer stories told from a variety of viewpoints. Delany, winner of the Nebula Award for 1966 and 1967, offers stories where skin color is not an issue and is not even mentioned. In Butler’s Xenogenesis Series, aliens are the main characters with only an occasional appearance of a person of color. Conversely, Mike Resnick a white author who has won 5 Hugo awards, creates well crafted sci-fi tales about Africa and people of African descent in Kirinyaga: A Fable of Utopia and Ivory: A Legend of Past and Future.Main CharacterAfrican American readers yearn for strong Black characters in their sci-fi and fantasy literature; male or female, hero or villain. On the web at the Black Science Fiction Society ( http://www.Blacksciencefictionsociety.com ) or the Black Author Showcase (www.Blackauthors.ning.com ) bloggers complain of not having enough Black Superheroes. Personally, I’d rather see more Black villains; more would-be-world-conquerors, psychotic punishers seeking bloody revenge, and mad geniuses constructing grandiose schemes of self-gratification. Without the Joker, Batman would be a sad vigilante chasing purse snatchers in dark alleys. Strong Black sci-fi villains, give us even stronger Black heroes and noteworthy, award-winning authors. My vote for the strongest Black villain to date would be Doro in Octavia Butler’s Wild Seed and Mind of My Mind.The Setting: Africa or HarlemMost Sword-and-Soul is set in Africa or an analogue of an Africa-like place on a different planet or other reality. Harlem, New York, or a similar urban neighborhood can be a proper geographic location for Black sci-fi. George Schuyler’s Black Empire uses Harlem and Africa as important backdrops. These locales allow characters to interact with people of color and be closely involved with the problems and solutions at the street or village level. Of course, Black people inhabit every corner of the planet, but its where Black communities have traditionally endured and prospered that makes this type of setting an important element in Black Sci-Fi. It is impractical, however, for a novel to include only one setting, but at the very least, the main characters should travel and have some significant interaction in Africa or in an urban community.Historical or Social Conditions Unique to People of ColorUntil around the 18th Century, slavery was not inflicted upon a person solely because of color or race. Anyone who lost a war or the favor of the king or chief could be tossed into slavery. However, in America, the heartless bondage of human beings became an uniquely Afrocentric institution. Jim Crow and Civil Rights issues also most adversely affected African Americans. Using time-travel, Butler’s Kindred was an illuminating example of the effects of slavery on Black people, past and present. Furthermore, African Americans have a special influence on world culture but not just limited to music (blues, jazz or hip hop) and sports (basketball, boxing); for instance, Black soldiers faced unique circumstances on the homefront and on the battlefield. Black fiction should employ a variety of special circumstances in a story.Narrative and DialogueThank the lucky stars, that most first-rate, modern writers don’t over populate their work with slang, jargon, or southern dialect that makes reading tedious: “You wants to keep 'way fum de water as much as you kin, en don't run no resk, 'kase it's down in de bills dat you's gwyne to git hung.” – Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Yet, good writers can subtly select the right words and context to let readers know that a Black character is speaking. The very best writers can create characters who change their patterns of speech depending upon to whom the characters are communicating. Moreover, the language and description of events in a Black speculative work must be “hip” as well as reflect the collective mind of the Black diaspora.SummaryThis assessment of what makes fiction “really” Black is by no means a rigorous dissertation nor critical analysis of the conditions that must occur to guarantee the ethnicity of a literary work because there are so many exceptions to the rules. Consider these thoughts to be general guidelines to make the promotion of Black Sci-fi and Fantasy more profitable.About the Writer:Stafford L. Battle is the author of Insane Messiah (22nd Century Press, 2009); Afrocyberspace:1000+ Websites That Will Enrich Your World (22nd Century Press, 2009); The African American Resource Guide to the Internet and Online Services (McGraw-Hill, 1996). According to Mr. Battle, his sci-fi novel Insane Messiah best satisfies the following conditions. 1) The author is an African American; 2) The main characters are Black, and 3) Africa is a primary setting in the book.Copyright 2009, Stafford Battle & 22nd Century Press, LLC
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