Lately there’s been a lot of talk surrounding the depiction of African-Americans in Hollywood films and whether our present time will mark the end of Black slave films. Last month Nick Cannon ranted on Twitter that he was tired of slavery-based films, and other celebs/public figures followed suit.  But, the question that I had to ask myself was: How are we are going to create a new era in Black film-making if we continue to pass down the same ideologies and imagery to our children?  I believe the only way to alleviate the Hollywood paradigm that creates such movies is to allow our children to explore new modes of thinking, as well as expand their historical timelines to include the great African empires of Kush, Timbuktu and Ethiopia. This is easily done using Black science-fiction and adventure books.  With organizations like the Black Science Fiction Society so readily available nowadays, opening up a new portal of imagination to your children is as easy as 1-2-3.  So in the spirit of that, here are 3 science fiction/adventure books that my 12-year-old son has read (or will read)  that have really expanded his imagery and introduced him to some great authors with greater African historical context:

1. Shades of Memnon by Gregory L. Walker

2. Dawn by Octavia Butler

3. The Genesis Anthology by the Black Science Fiction Society

Check out the Black Science Fiction website for a list of Black comic books to get you started.

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