MELANIN 

A NOVEL

I have always enjoyed Sci-Fi and what is now called “speculative fiction”, but missing from the genre was any real representation of our people within those landscapes. Certainly, there are the Octavia Butlers, Stephen Barnes and Tananarive Dues out there, as well as writers like Brandon Massey (mostly horror and suspense), and now, new on the scene is Ajali Shabazz (This Black and This Black NATION), T.J. Riley (The Path to Brightness), and others. But still, our people have been woefully underrepresented in the genre. When we are present, we’re listed in the category of AfroFuturism”—a moniker I have rejected. Why? Because just as with the much celebrated, fictional “Wakanda” of Black Panther—the term was coined by a white man (Mark Dery) Now, how, exactly did THAT happen?!. It is odd and disturbing to me that every other race seems to have the ability to control their own narrative and terms pertaining to them, but when BLACK people seek to do so, it’s seen as some kind of a problem. That said, part of being Unapologetically Black - or PRO Black - means that we seek our own terms and control of our own narrative, future and direction. Thus, I use the term “THEORETICAL EBON FICTION” to describe the body of my work that falls into that speculative fiction by Black authors catagory.

NOVELLA

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