In today’s blog for The State of Black Science Fiction 2012, I am paying tribute to science fiction and fantasy icon, James Earl Jones!

Most of you know of Mr. Jones’ acclaimed work as the iconic, menacing voice of Darth Vader in the mega-blockbuster Star Wars films (for which he was paid just $9000.00 for Star Wars Episode 4), however, you might not know that James Earl Jones began his nearly fifty-year film career in a Science Fiction movie and has acted in nearly forty science fiction and fantasy movies, television shows and video games.

I will talk about those in just a second, but I would like to first tell you about my meeting and “conversation” with this incredible actor and great person.

I was living in Chicago at the time. I had just left a downtown Thai restaurant and walking off the delicious Panang Tofu and Tom Yum Goon when I noticed that one of the streets was cut off and a film was being shot. Having worked on a few sets myself and aspiring to write and direct films, I decided to take a closer look.

It so happens that two of the guys working security were friends I played paintball wargames with every weekend. They let me in and told me that James Earl Jones – one of my favorite actors – was shooting a film called A Family Thing. I was excited, to say the least, and one of my friends walked me over to the director – Richard Pearce – during a break in shooting and told him that I was a fan of James Earl Jones, an aspiring screenwriter and director and that I had done executive protection for several celebrities on a few films.

Mr. Pearce took me by the wrist and said “Come with me.”

I complied.

He walked me over to James Earl Jones and Robert Duvall, another stellar actor, and introduced me, telling Mr. Jones I was an admirer of his work.

Mr. Jones signaled me to come over. He held out his hands and I took them in mine and he just smiled warmly, not saying a word. He looked toward Mr. Pearce, who leaned in close, almost pressing his ear to Mr. Jones’ lips and Mr. Jones whispered a few words.

Mr. Pearce turned to me and said “James wants you to know that he has been crippled by stuttering all his life, but he wants you to hold his hand and feel the love and appreciation he has for you.” And I did. I stood there, feeling the kindness of this brilliant, talented man I admired so much.

He looked to Richard Pearce again and whispered to him once more. Mr. Pearce paused for a second, swallowed hard and said: “Mr. Jones says that ‘one of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can’t utter’, but he hopes you really do feel what he is trying to say. With that tears began to flow down my cheeks. Mr. Pearce wiped the tears from his eyes and even Robert Duvall’s eyes welled with tears. With that, I choked out “Thank you. You just made my year.” And I hugged Mr. Jones. I then shook Robert Duvall’s and Robert Pearce’s hands and then departed, telling my friends that I sincerely owed them a HUGE favor for the hookup.

After that meeting, I was so inspired, I began to write screenplays again and I have told this story to nearly everyone I know. I thank James Earl Jones for that moment and will never forget it.

Why do I call James Earl Jones an icon of science fiction and fantasy (even horror)? Well, as I said at the beginning of this blog, his first film role was in the genre of science fiction. Ever heard of Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb? He plays Lt. Lothar Zogg – a B-52 Bombardier – in the 1964 film.

Of course, the Star Wars movies added tremendously to his iconic status as did his portrayal of the villain Thulsa Doom in the 1982 film, Conan the Barbarian.

Mr. Jones has also donated his acting talents to the following science fiction, horror and fantasy works:

• The UFO Incident (1975 TV-movie)
• Swashbuckler (1976)
• Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)
• The Bushido Blade (1981)
• The Flight of Dragons (1982) (voice)
• Faerie Tale Theatre ”Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp” (1984)
• Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1987)
• Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night (1987) (voice)
• Terrorgram (1988) (voice)
• Best of the Best (1989)
• Grim Prairie Tales (1990)
• Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama (1992)
• The Meteor Man (1993)
• The Lion King (1994) (voice)
• Judge Dredd (1995)
• Stargate SG-1 (1997) (voice)
• Merlin (1998) (voice)
• The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride (1998 Direct-to-video) (voice)
• Fantasia 2000 (1999)
• Robots (2005) (voice)
• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) (voice)
• Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey (2009) (voice)
• Jack and the Beanstalk (2010) (voice)

I love and appreciate you, Mr. James Earl Jones. If you ever read this, I pray you smile and feel what I am trying to say.

Next week will be the last day of our blog tour and I and my fellow bloggers are doing a HUGE giveaway for our grand finale. After the tour, please continue to follow my blog and encourage your friends to follow me as well, as I will be discussing exciting topics and giving you the scoop on racial issues, science fiction, fantasy, roleplaying games, films and novels from the African diaspora. Stay tuned!

You can also catch up on past blogs in this blog tour:

http://chroniclesofharriet.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/the-state-of-black-science-fiction-2012/

http://chroniclesofharriet.wordpress.com/2012/01/23/state-of-black-sci-fi-2012-why-i-love-steampunk/

http://chroniclesofharriet.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/state-of-black-sci-fi-2012-why-it-is-important-to-show-race-culture-and-ethnicity-in-our-writing/

http://chroniclesofharriet.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/state-of-black-sci-fi-2012-the-winnerthe-redeemerand-afrika/

http://chroniclesofharriet.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/state-of-black-sci-fi-2012-my-favorite-black-sci-fi-event-is-happily-natural-days-black-speculative-fiction-panel/

Finally, please check out my other fellow bloggers on this tour. They are Blaxsolutely Blacknificent!

Winston Blakely, Artist/Writer– is a Fine Arts/Comic Book artist, having a career spanning 20 years, whose achievements have included working for Valiant Comics and Rich Buckler’s Visage Studios. He is also the creator of Little Miss Strange, the world’s first black alien sorceress and the all- genre anthology entitled – Immortal Fantasy.  Both graphic albums are available at Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and other online book store outlets. Visit him:  http://blakelyworks.blogspot.com/ or http://blakelyworkstudio.weebly.com/

L. M. Davis, Author–began her love affair with fantasy in the second grade.  Her first novel, Interlopers: A Shifters Novel, was released in 2010, and the follow-up Posers:  A Shifters Novel will be released this spring.  For more information visit her blog http://shiftersseries.wordpress.com/ or her website www.shiftersnovelseries.com.

Milton Davis, Author – Milton Davis is owner/publisher of MVmedia, LLC . As an author he specializes in science fiction and fantasy and is the author of Meji Book One, Meji Book Two and Changa’s Safari. Visit him: www.mvmediaatl.com and www.wagadu.ning.com.

Margaret Fieland, Author– lives  and writes in the suburbs west of Boston, MA
with her partner and five dogs. She is one of the Poetic Muselings. Their poetry anthology, Lifelines http://tinyurl.com/LifelinesPoetry/ is available from Amazon.com  Her book, “Relocated,” will be available from MuseItUp Publishing in July, 2012. The Angry Little Boy,” will be published by 4RV publishing in early 2013.  You may visit her website, http://www.margaretfieland.com.

 Valjeanne Jeffers, Author – is an editor and the author of the SF/fantasy novels: Immortal, Immortal II: The Time of Legend and Immortal III: Stealer of Souls. Her fourth and fifth novels: Immortal IV: Collision of Worlds and The Switch: Clockwork will be released this spring. Visit her at:http://valjeanne.wordpress.com and http://qandvaffordableediting.blogspot.com/

 Thaddeus Howze, Author– is a veteran of the Information Technology and Communications industry with over twenty-six years of experience. His expertise is in re-engineering IT environments using process-oriented management techniques. In English, that means he studies the needs of his clients and configures their offices to optimize the use of information technology in their environment. Visit him:  http://ebonstorm.wordpress.com or http://ebonstorm.weebly.com

Alicia McCalla, Author—writes for both young adults and adults with her brand of multicultural science fiction, urban fantasy, and futurism. Her debut novel, Breaking Free will be available February 1, 2012. The Breaking Free theme song created by Asante McCalla is available for immediate download on itunes and Amazon. Visit her at: www.aliciamccalla.com

Carole McDonnell, Author–She writes Christian, speculative fiction, and multicultural stories. Her first novel is Wind Follower. Her short fiction has appeared in many anthologies and have been collected in an ebook, Spirit Fruit: Collected Speculative Fiction.  Visit Carole:http://carolemcdonnell.blogspot.com/  or http://writersofcolorblogtour.blogspot.com/

Ja Ja (DjaDja) N Medjay , Author—DjaDja Medjay is the author of The Renpet Sci-Fi Series. Shiatsu Practitioner. Holistic AfroFuturistic Rising in Excellence. Transmissions from The Future Earth can be found at: www.renpetscifi.com  or on Facebook –www.facebook.com/RenpetSciFiNovel or on Twitter –https://twitter.com/#!/Khonsugo .

Rasheedah Phillips, Author–is the creator of The AfroFuturist Affair in Philly. She plans to debut her first spec/sci-fic novel Recurrence Plot in Spring 2012. You may catch her ruminating from time to time on her blog, AstroMythoLosophy.com.

Nicole Sconiers, Author-is also a screenwriter living in the sunny jungle of L.A. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Antioch University Los Angeles, and she recently published Escape from Beckyville: Tales of Race, Hair and Rage.  Visit her: http://nicolesconiers.com/index.html 

Jarvis Sheffield, M.Ed. is owner & operator of TheDigitalBrothers.com, BlackScienceFictionSociety.com & BlackCommunityEntertainment.com. Visit him:  http://www.blacksciencefictionsociety.com/profiles/blog/list?user=2stjwb1h216fd

THE CHRONICLES OF HARRIET TUBMAN:

Soulless Cargo

“We done missed the train ‘cause o’ y’all!” Harriet hissed. “Now we gots to wait three days befo’ that train fly back ‘round to get us!”

“We sorry, Moses,” a man said, rising from amongst the frightened men, women and children huddled at the back of the barn. “But the new massa and his overseer kill us all if we even thank about runnin’!”

“There are twenty grown folk in here and y’all scared o’ two men?” Harriet asked, shaking her head and frowning in disgust.

“They ain’t no men,” an elderly woman replied. “Massa look like a skeleton with a blanket o’ cow-skin pulled over it; and that overseer? Lawd…he twice as big as a old bear on two legs. And got a arm made of a iron whip that spit white fire when it hit a slave’s back.”

Harriet shuddered. The barn suddenly seemed very cold. “The massa…what’s his name?”

“Bell,” the old woman said. “Massa Aleister Bell.”

“Damn,” Harriet whispered as she ran to a leather rucksack she had lain at the opposite end of the barn. She placed her lantern beside it and snatched the bag open.

“You right, Aleister Bell ain’t no man,” Harriet said. “He a Lich. A wizard, who dead, but ain’t dead – all ‘cause he eat the souls of the livin’. Y’all ever seen a bracelet o’ his? Gold…with strange markings carved into it?”

“I have,” A young woman replied. “I’s Flora Jean, Moses. I works in the house. I seen him put that bracelet behind a shelf in the library.”

“That bracelet is the mouth he feedin’ y’all souls to,” Harriet said, removing a fistful of large bullets from the bag and tossing them on the floor. It’s drainin’ y’all as we speak. Did the same on a plantation in Mississippi ‘bout five years ago. Left all the slaves like statues…standin’ in the cotton field ‘til they just wasted away. Been huntin’ him ever since.”

Harriet drew a large black steel revolver from her rucksack. The weapon possessed two barrels and a drum-like cylinder that contained twenty chambers, in two rows.

“And what about the overseer,” Flora Jean asked. “You ever seen him?”

“Her,” Harriet replied, loading the large rounds into the revolver. “The overseer is a her…I killed her mate back on that plantation in Mississippi.”

With that, Harriet flung open the doors to the barn and stepped into the shadows of the night and raised her face skyward. “Lawd, once again you done led me into battle with your enemies. I pray that I finds mo’ favor with you than with Old Scratch, Lawd, ‘cause I shol’ done sent mo’ souls his way than yo’s. Amen.”

‘James’ Juke’ was on fire.
Beads of sweat and salty tears rolled down Black Powder’s leathery, midnight-black cheeks and fell upon the yellowed, ivory keys of the old, baby grand piano in time with his haunting melodies.

“Sunday is gloomy,
My hours are slumberless.
Dearest, the shadows I live with are numberless.
Little, white flowers will never awaken you.
Not where the black coach of sorrow has taken you…”

The crowd pressed close together and cried right along with the old blues man.

“Gloomy Sunday.”

Black Powder pounded the last note out of the old, worn baby grand, and then hunched over the piano; his creased forehead hovered a half-inch above the black piano keys. The blues master’s shoulders were motionless. His thin, crooked fingers pressed down upon the keys of the piano and did not move.

The hot, crowded blues club fell silent. Even the bartender dared not pop the top of a bottle of Heineken for fear of desecrating the sanctity of the silence.

Suddenly, Black Powder erupted into raucous laughter as he threw back his shiny, black head. The crowd answered his laughter with thunderous applause, whistles and stomping so hard it made the white candles on the circular lounge tables dance and shake.

Black Powder slowly rose from the piano and limped towards the front of the stage. James Dobbins, owner of the club and Master of Ceremonies, ran onto the stage and gingerly hugged the old man. James turned to the microphone, which rested upon a slightly tarnished chrome mic stand. “Give it up, y’all, for the legendary Witch Doctor of the blues. The Hoodoo Daddy of the Mississippi Delta…Black Powder!”

The club-goers clapped, whistled and stomped even louder. Black Powder blew the crowd a kiss and then slowly limped to the stairs on the left side of the stage. A young woman his wiry arm and helped him down the steps and into his seat at a reserved table, where ice-cold beer and a hot plate of catfish and hushpuppies awaited him.

“Alright, everybody,” James yelled into the microphone. “Next up, we have a young man, all the way from Skokie, Illinois, who’s gonna tear it up tonight.” James smiled widely. His pearly white teeth glowed lavender under the red and blue stage lights. “This boy and his band been shakin’ up the North Side of Chicago for the past nine months. Put your hands together – and let’s give a warm James’ Juke welcome to – the Professor of Bluesology…Howlin’ Maury Steinman!”

Howlin’ Maury darted up the steps and onto the stage. The Professor’s band sprinted closely behind him. Howlin’ Maury raised his thick, pinkish-yellow hands high and waved spastically. His black and red zebra-striped electric guitar bounced wildly on his rotund belly.

Maury looked up towards the ceiling and howled loudly, like a wolf howling at a full moon. “Ow-ow-owoooooh!”

The three, middle-aged black men who made up Howlin’ Maury’s band, responded to his call with a growl, a screech and a roar from an electric bass, a harmonica and a kick-drum.

Maury and his band jumped into an Impressive cover of “Mannish Boy”. The Professor of Bluesology did a great rendition of the classic, despite his nasal, Chicago ‘South-Side Caucasian’ accent.

“…’O’, child…
‘Y’…
That spells ‘mannish boy’…”

In the middle of his set, ‘Howlin’ Maury’s band brought the music down to a whisper. “Are you guys having a good time?” Maury asked.
The sweating crowd answered with claps and whistles.
“It’s time for the Professor to start class,” Maury chuckled.  The crowd’s claps grew louder.

“Let me give you a little blues history, so you leave here with a bit more knowledge about this art form that we love so much.” Howlin’ Maury glanced over his shoulder at his band and shouted “Stool!” The harmonica player pulled a tall, wooden stool from behind a speaker and then handed it to him. The Professor of Bluesology lowered the microphone on its stand and took a seat on the stool.

“Now, contrary to popular belief, the blues does NOT have African roots, as once widely believed.”
Black Powder’s head jerked up from his last piece of catfish. “What he say?”
“The blues was actually created from a synthesis of slave field songs and European music,” Howlin’ Maury proclaimed. “That’s right, European music!”

Howlin’ Maury paused briefly, for dramatic effect, then went on with the lesson. “And the first blues song ever written was ‘Dallas Blues’, a song by Hart Wand, who was a white violinist from Oklahoma.”  Howlin’ Maury snickered as he wiped his fat, sweaty neck with a handkerchief. “So, who says blues is Black music, huh?”

A voice exploded from the crowd. “I do!”

“Who said that?” Howlin’ Maury inquired as he peered into the audience.
Black Powder slowly rose from his chair. “I did.”

“Well, if it isn’t the legendary Black Powder,” Howlin’ Maury said, with a smile. “With all due respect, sir, history does not lie.”

Black Powder shook his shiny, black head. “Naw, it don’t, but you do.”

Muffled snickers rose from the crowd. “You pissin’ in the wind and yo’ leg’s gettin’ wet, boy.” Black Powder said.

The Professor of Bluesology rose from his stool. “I am sure your experiences on front porches and in taverns in the Delta far outweigh my P-H-D in music history,” Howlin’ Maury said. “So why don’t you tell us the true history of the blues?”

Howlin’ Maury tossed the cordless microphone to Black Powder, who plucked it out of the air with surprising speed and ease. He noticed that the old man was standing straighter and seemed, somehow, stronger. A chill slithered up his spine and curled around the crown of his head.

“Hart Wand was not the first person to write a blues song,” Black Powder began. “He was the first person to write a blues song down…on paper. Befo’ that, the blues was on oral tradition.” Black Powder approached the stage. “And wasn’t no blues born from no European music, either.”

Black Powder walked briskly up the stairs and onto the stage. The old man was standing perfectly straight now. “When I was a li’l boy, my gran’mama used to sang me an ol’ song she learned from my great gran’daddy, who was a Muhdinka from Africa. Gran’mama say the song old. As old as the Muhdinka peoples theyself.”

Howlin’ Maury chuckled and winked at the audience. “Looks like someone had a little too much catfish and now he’s burping out fish tales!”

Black Powder tilted his head to the side, closed his eyes and began to slowly rock back and forth.

Back.

And forth.

Until a song escaped his lips. A song in a voice that sounded unlike Black Powder, yet like him at the same time.

“Makay nabilaa
Makay ki ka nabilaa

Foro Bana
Foro Bana

Iye laidu mi tanye
Ki bi dem
Di ne ma
Ningye fro biye
Aiwa makeh ika fro bana

Foro Bana

Iko nyawn fro
Yaye nyawn fro
Iye kuli kro

Foro Bana

Iko malo fro
Soloye malo fro
Iye fon nonon

Foro Bana

Hali fini fro
Finik se
Bonye bele dugu

Foro Bana
Foro Bana

Foro Bina

Foro Bana

…And that’s the origin of the blues, boy!”

James’ Juke Shook from the audience’s seismic applause. Black Powder tossed the microphone to Howlin’ Maury. The Professor of Bluesology was still, like an old, fallen oak.

The microphone struck Howlin’ Maury’s flabby chest with a loud thud, which made the speakers pop. The microphone fell to the stage floor and then shattered into scores of pieces.

Black Powder turned away from Howlin’ Maury, who was still frozen in place, and then slowly limped to the stage steps. The old man’s frailty had returned. Once again, the young woman took the old blues man’s thin arm and helped him descend the stairs.

Without a word, Howlin’ Maury and his band began to pack up and Black Powder sat down to another hot plate of hushpuppies and catfish.

THE UNMASKING OF AUNT TAMMY

            Amy closed her eyes and whispered a prayer as the great, stone mansion drew slowly closer.

The ivory Rolls Royce Phantom crept along the winding road towards the immense structure, which loomed on the horizon.

“Fifteen years.” Amy said.  Her perfect, white teeth reflected the shine from her gloss-moistened lips as she smiled.

“What?”  The chauffeur peered at Amy through the rearview mirror.

“Fifteen years, Tosu,” Amy answered.  “Fifteen years of my fellow Senior Executives’ racist, sexist, bullshit.  Fifteen years of the black employees calling me ‘Aunt Tammy’ behind my back.  It all ends tonight.”

Tosu’s broad shoulders danced back and forth as he chuckled. “Aunt Tammy?”

“Yes, Aunt Tammy, Amy replied.  “A female ‘Uncle Tom’ – and that’s not funny, Tosu!”

“Of course, you are not an ‘Aunt Tammy’, little sister,” Tosu said.  “Just because you prefer Frank Sinatra to Fifty-Cent…or because you prefer quinoa to cornbread…or because you prefer North Face to Baby Phat does not mean you are an Uncle Tom or an Aunt Tammy…It does mean, however, that you have poor taste!”

Tosu and Amy laughed.

The driver looked over his shoulder at his little sister.  “Today, all that you have endured pays off.”

Amy took a deep breath.  “Yes, today it does…for us…”

“And for Malomo,” Tosu whispered, as he fought back the tears that threatened to pour from under his eyelids.

The Rolls Royce Phantom crept into the circular carport on the side of the mansion.

A short, lean, Asian woman – dressed in a blue, silk kimono and ankle length skirt – opened the door of the Rolls Royce for Amy.  “Good afternoon, Ms. Cross,” The Asian woman said, smiling warmly.  “My name is Yuriko Sakuraba.  Mr. Emilianenko is eager to see you.  Follow me please.”

Amy walked briskly behind Yuriko, who escorted her to a pair of double doors within the mansion.  The doors were carved from heavy Asian ironwood and inlaid with gold.  “This is the dining room,” Yuriko began. “There are a few rules I must go over with you before you enter, but first, a quick search.”

Yuriko perused Amy’s face.  She could see the fearlessness in Amy’s eyes.  Fearlessness…and ferocity.  Amy searched Yuriko’s eyes and saw the same.

Yuriko ran her lithe fingers smoothly across Amy’s athletic frame.  Her skilled hands did not leave even the slightest wrinkle on Amy’s black shark-skin business suit. The search confirmed that Amy was unarmed.

“Now, the rules,” Yuriko began.  “First, once you are seated, please remain so, unless you need to go to the restroom.  If that is the case, please inform Mr. Emilianenko.  He will call me on the radio and I will escort you.”

Amy nodded and Yuriko continued.

“Second, please refrain from any sudden gestures, or talking excessively with your hands.”

Amy smiled and nodded again.  Yuriko nodded back at Amy and went on.

“Finally, just remember, I will be right outside this door if any assistance is needed.”

Amy nodded and held her smile.  She knew that the final rule was actually a warning that if she tried to harm Mr. Emilianenko, she would have to deal with Yuriko.  “I understand.”

Yuriko smiled and then pushed the double doors open.  Amy stepped into the huge dining room behind Yuriko.  The room was illuminated by a crystal chandelier, which hovered above a ten-foot long, mahogany table, which Amy figured to be over a hundred years old, judging by the hand-carved craftsmanship.  Aside from the dining table and chairs, which sat in the middle of the room, the dining room was pretty bare, except for tropical plants, which sat on the white marble floor in each corner and gave the room a fresh, pleasant smell that reminded Amy of cantaloupe, sprinkled lightly with black pepper.

At the far end of the table sat Vasiliev Emilianenko, Amy’s boss.  CEO of Biochem, Incorporated.

“Please, be seated.” Yuriko whispered.

Amy sat at the end of the table opposite Vasiliev.

Vasiliev waved a well-manicured hand as if swatting flies with the back of it.  “You are dismissed, Ms. Sakuraba.”

Yuriko bowed and quietly exited the dining room.  Vasiliev turned his gaze towards Amy and grinned.  “Good evening, Ms. Cross.”

“Good evening, Mr. Emilianenko.”

Vasiliev shook his head.  His white, curly hair bounced slightly as his head moved from side to side.  “Please, call me Vasiliev.  May I call you Amy?”

Amy nodded.  “Of course.”

Vasiliev smiled even wider.  “So, Amy, let’s chat while we wait for our meal, yes?”

“Yes, Vasiliev.”

Vasiliev leaned forward in his chair and placed his arms upon the table.  His massive arms strained against the sleeves of his soft, burgundy, silk smoking jacket.  “So, you are my Vice President of International Affairs, yes?”

Amy nodded.  “Yes.”

“And now, you are here to put in your bid for President, now that Radcliff Delmont has retired, yes?”

Amy swallowed and then nodded.  “Yes, sir.”

“Well, Amy, I do not dine with V-Ps…only Presidents.”  Vasiliev grinned and the light from the chandelier danced across his perfectly veneered teeth.

Amy patted her chest.  “What?!  You mean the position is mine?”

“Yes,” Vasiliev said.  “You’ve earned it.  I would be a fool not to promote the person responsible for a two-hundred and twelve percent increase in our international profits.  If I do not promote you, my rivals will steal you away from me.”

Vasiliev laughed and then reached under the table and brought up a long white box.  “Amy, I understand that you are quite the collector of masks.”

“Yes, Vasiliev,” Amy replied.  “I’ve been collecting masks from all over Africa for the past two decades.”

“And I hear there has been one mask, in particular, that you desire, but it has eluded you, yes?”

“Yes, it is called ‘Oya’s Beard’.  It is a rare Yoruba mask that depicts the Goddess Oya with a conical beard.  “It represents women who possess the power of man, as well as woman.”

Vasiliev shoved the box down the table towards Amy.  “I see…open the box, please.”

Amy caught the box as it slid over the edge of the table.  Amy slowly opened the box and peeked inside.  “Oh, my God!  Vasiliev…I don’t know how to thank you!”

Amy gingerly picked up the mask and lovingly caressed its long, spike-like beard and dark, mahogany face.

Vasiliev pounded his fists on his broad chest.  “That is my thanks to you!  You have done so much for Biochem.  This is just a small token of my appreciation…but, please, tell me…why such a fascination with masks, Amy?”

Amy stared into Vasiliev’s grey eyes.  The time had finally come.  “Paul Lawrence Dunbar said: ‘We wear the mask that grins and lies.’  I collect masks to remind me that there are many masks that we wear and I must never allow one of them to become my face.”

Vasiliev leaned forward again.  “Explain, please.”

We all wear masks and many times we wear them so long and so often that the mask becomes indistinguishable from the person.  The mask has become the face.  Thankfully, mine has not.”

Vasiliev smiled.  “So, what mask do you wear, Amy?”

Amy patted her chest and then ran her hands across her face.  “This is my mask.  Amy Cross.  Conservative…capitalist…loyal to the establishment…an Aunt Tammy.”

Vasiliev’s right hand crept closer to the two-ray radio that sat at the corner of the table.  “Continue, please.”

“But my face, Vasiliev, is Esusanya Ogunlana.  Former operative of the OPC, or Ododuwa People’s Congress…aunt of Malomo Ogunlana, who was a victim of the Atlanta Child Murders…remember those!?”

Vasiliev grabbed the two-ray radio.  Amy hurled the Oya’s Beard’ mask towards Vasiliev.  The spiked chin of the mask tore through Vasiliev’s esophagus and pierced his spine.

The tip of the mask’s chin protruded from the back of Vasiliev’s neck.  His shoulders bounced up and down involuntarily and his legs jerked back and forth in a sardonic tap-dance.  The two-way radio was frozen in Vasiliev’s right hand.  Vasiliev’s eyes stared, unblinking, at Amy’s – or Esusanya’s – chest.

Esusanya was a blur as she sprung from her chair and silently darted across the room until she was directly behind Vasiliev.  She placed her full lips to Vasiliev’s ear and whispered:  “Within the next ninety seconds, you will be dead, so let’s make this brief.  I know you were responsible for the death of my nephew and all those other boys.  I know that you had those boys kidnapped and murdered in order to harvest their melanin and sell it to the highest bidder to use in their tanning lotions, sunblockers and contact lenses.  I know you, Vasiliev Emilianenko…your mask has been removed!”

Vasiliev’s eyes rolled back in his head, his body spasmed once…twice…and then slumped forward until his head rested on the dining table.

Esusanya walked to the double doors and placed her hands upon the door-knobs.  “I’ll have to soak in Epsom salts after this.”  She then opened the doors to face Yuriko Sakuraba…and a life with no masks.

I am part of a group on Facebook called State of Black Science Fiction. Many stellar authors, artists, filmmakers and fans are part of this Blacknificent group and many contribute, making it one of the more intriguing and informative groups on the internet.

Recently, a question was posed by renowned novelist and writer for television, Steven Barnes – “How  do members of this group define ‘science fiction’? As opposed to mainstream fiction? As opposed to fantasy? “

Only two people even dealt with the question. I suppose it is because most writers and fans of science fiction find it difficult – if not impossible – to define it and among those who have attempted to define what the genre is, they rarely fully agree with each other.

Many authors – in an attempt to make sense of what they do and to explain themselves to friends, family and fans – lump fantasy, horror and science fiction together under umbrella terms. One such term is fantastika. Fantastika? Really? That may work for some, but as far as Black Speculative Fiction is concerned, that term is, honestly, just too corny.

Another term, The Fantastique,  is a French term for a literary and cinematic genre that overlaps with science fiction, horror and fantasy. While it sounds better than fantastika, the fantastique deals with  the intrusion of supernatural phenomena into an otherwise realist narrative. It evokes phenomena which are not only left unexplained but which are inexplicable from the reader’s point of view. While this would fit some works, it does not fit all.

Afrofuturism is defined as “a literary and cultural aesthetic that combines elements of science fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, Afrocentricity, and magic realism with non-Western cosmologies in order to critique not only the present-day dilemmas of Black people, but also to revise, interrogate, and re-examine the historical events of the past”. This term has not really taken off because futurism confuses people. When we read or hear futurism we think future, not really the present and certainly not the past. Personally, though, I like the term.

The most widely used term, by Black authors – not to be confused with readers, who are still confused by this term – is Black Speculative Fiction. Speculative Fiction is used as an umbrella term for the genres of fantasy, horror and science fiction, however, speculation is the stuff of science fiction, but generally not fantasy. To speculate is to ask “what if”. “What if faster than light space travel was possible?” “What if an alien race populated earth before humans and had now returned to reclaim the planet?” “What if people of African descent all possessed a gene that gave them extraordinary abilities and could be awakened by an enhancement of their melanin?” Rarely does the fantasy author ask “What if magic was real?” It is a given in most fantasy that magic is, indeed, real in that world. In fantasy and even horror, there may be instances of “what if”, but it is not the dominant question. Thus using the term speculative puts a great deal of importance on science fiction and sort of delegitimizes fantasy and horror.

Furthermore, we must ask why we would call our work Black speculative fiction. Is it for us to better understand what we do? Is it to make what we do more understandable by the “three F’s” (Friends; Family; Fans). If so, the term speculative fiction is no help because you still have to define that for them. So you might as well be specific about what you read and write, because you’re going have to explain it anyway. If you write and / or read Sword & Soul, dang it, call it Sword & Soul. If you write or read Science Fiction, call it Science Fiction! If you write or read it all, say so! If someone has asked you, they will give you the few seconds it takes to tell them what you read / write. In fact, it takes less time to say “I write fantasy, science fiction and horror” than to explain what speculative fiction is. Go ahead…try it.

See. Told ya!

The State of Black SciFi 2012: My Favorite Black SF event is Happily Natural Day’s Black Speculative Fiction Panel

In August, 2011, I was blessed to moderate a panel on Black Speculative Fiction. However, before I share my experiences at this Blacknificent event, let’s define just what “Black Speculative Fiction” is.

Speculative Fiction is now – erroneously – used as the umbrella term for Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy. I won’t deal with how much in error this term is right now, however, I will deal with it in the blog that follows this one. Suffice it to say that now, in writers’ circles, at least, Speculative Fiction is accepted as the umbrella term.

Black Speculative Fiction is Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy that features main characters that are of African descent and have authors that too are of African descent. “So, if a Caucasian author writes a science fiction novel that has a Black protagonist, it isn’t Black speculative fiction?” You ask. Nope.

Most Black people I have spoken too (children through adult) say they would read speculative fiction if there were main characters in them they could relate to.  Those of us that read speculative fiction would also like to see main characters of African descent. In fantasy, many of us are turned off by, or tired of, the medieval European setting. We seek settings that take place in Africa and other places other than some world that is obviously Anglo-Saxon.

Can a Caucasian write the aforementioned stories? Of course. Can they write them in a way that touches Black people on a deep level? No, because they can only go so deep in their understanding of the Black experience. This might sound harsh to some, but it is true and to see it otherwise can lead to disrespect of another’s culture. I can write a story about an Asian boy who discovers a sword that gives him the power of his ancestors. I can research Asian swords and Asian boys and Asian languages and Asian beliefs. And I still will be unable to relate to all these things as an Asian would. To say I could is to show disrespect to a people who live and breathe the culture; who are the very thing I am merely researching.

Thus, I had the pleasure of moderating the Black Speculative Fiction Panel for Happily Natural Day, a three-day festival held every August simultaneously in Atlanta, Georgia and Richmond, Virginia (for more on this incredible event, go to www.happilynaturalday.com). The panel took place at the Atlanta festival. On the panel were four Blacktastic authors: Dada Aum Ra; Nicole Kurtz; Alicia McCalla; and Milton Davis. The panel was lively and the questions were thought-provoking. The authors answered the questions from yours truly and from the audience brilliantly. They also shared excerpts from their works. The audience left wanting to learn more and eager to read what, before the panel, they didn’t even know existed – Black Speculative Fiction! The entire discussion can be found on videos here, on my blog, at http://chroniclesofharriet.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/black-speculative-fiction/.

We have now taken this show on the road, further developing it into the State of Black Science Fiction presentation. The first presentation will be held at Georgia Tech on February 16, 2012 at 6:30pm. The presentation – and each one to follow – will include a reading of each author’s work, a panel discussion, a Q & A session and an exciting performance. For more information on this event, please check out: http://www.facebook.com/events/340113679342798/.

Check out the other authors and artists that are a part of this blog tour (many of whom are also part of the State of Black Science Fiction presentation):

Winston Blakely, Artist/Writer– is a Fine Arts/Comic Book artist, having a career spanning 20 years, whose achievements have included working for Valiant Comics and Rich Buckler’s Visage Studios. He is also the creator of Little Miss Strange, the world’s first black alien sorceress and the all- genre anthology entitled – Immortal Fantasy.  Both graphic albums are available at Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and other online book store outlets. Visit him:  http://blakelyworks.blogspot.com/ or http://blakelyworkstudio.weebly.com/

L. M. Davis, Author–began her love affair with fantasy in the second grade.  Her first novel, Interlopers: A Shifters Novel, was released in 2010, and the follow-up Posers:  A Shifters Novel will be released this spring.  For more information visit her blog http://shiftersseries.wordpress.com/ or her website www.shiftersnovelseries.com.

Milton Davis, Author – Milton Davis is owner/publisher of MVmedia, LLC . As an author he specializes in science fiction and fantasy and is the author of Meji Book One, Meji Book Two and Changa’s Safari. Visit him: www.mvmediaatl.com and www.wagadu.ning.com.

Margaret Fieland, Author– lives  and writes in the suburbs west of Boston, MA
with her partner and five dogs. She is one of the Poetic Muselings. Their poetry anthology, Lifelines http://tinyurl.com/LifelinesPoetry/ is available from Amazon.com  Her book, “Relocated,” will be available from MuseItUp Publishing in July, 2012. The Angry Little Boy,” will be published by 4RV publishing in early 2013.  You may visit her website, http://www.margaretfieland.com.

Valjeanne Jeffers, Author – is an editor and the author of the SF/fantasy novels: Immortal, Immortal II: The Time of Legend and Immortal III: Stealer of Souls. Her fourth and fifth novels: Immortal IV: Collision of Worlds and The Switch: Clockwork will be released this spring. Visit her at:http://valjeanne.wordpress.com and http://qandvaffordableediting.blogspot.com/

Thaddeus Howze, Author– is a veteran of the Information Technology and Communications industry with over twenty-six years of experience. His expertise is in re-engineering IT environments using process-oriented management techniques. In English, that means he studies the needs of his clients and configures their offices to optimize the use of information technology in theirenvironment. Visit him:  http://ebonstorm.wordpress.com or http://ebonstorm.weebly.com

Alicia McCalla, Author—writes for both young adults and adults with her brand of multicultural science fiction, urban fantasy, and futurism. Her debut novel, Breaking Free will be available February 1, 2012. The Breaking Free theme song created by Asante McCalla is available for immediate download on itunes and Amazon. Visit her at: www.aliciamccalla.com

Carole McDonnell, Author–She writes Christian, speculative fiction, and multicultural stories. Her first novel is Wind Follower. Her short fiction has appeared in many anthologies and have been collected in an ebook, Spirit Fruit: Collected Speculative Fiction.  Visit Carole:http://carolemcdonnell.blogspot.com/  or http://writersofcolorblogtour.blogspot.com/

Ja Ja (DjaDja) N Medjay , Author—DjaDja Medjay is the author of The Renpet Sci-Fi Series. Shiatsu Practitioner. Holistic AfroFuturistic Rising in Excellence. Transmissions from The Future Earth can be found at: www.renpetscifi.com  or on Facebook –www.facebook.com/RenpetSciFiNovel or on Twitter –https://twitter.com/#!/Khonsugo .

Rasheedah Phillips, Author–is the creator of The AfroFuturist Affair in Philly. She plans to debut her first spec/sci-fic novel Recurrence Plot in Spring 2012. You may catch her ruminating from time to time on her blog, AstroMythoLosophy.com.

Nicole Sconiers, Author-is also a screenwriter living in the sunny jungle of L.A. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Antioch University Los Angeles, and she recently published Escape from Beckyville: Tales of Race, Hair and Rage.  Visit her: http://nicolesconiers.com/index.html

Jarvis Sheffield, M.Ed. is owner & operator of TheDigitalBrothers.com, BlackScienceFictionSociety.com & BlackCommunityEntertainment.com. Visit him:  http://www.blacksciencefictionsociety.com/profiles/blog/list?user=2stjwb1h216fd

STATE OF BLACK SCI-FI 2012: The Winner…The Redeemer…and Afrika!

Today, it is my pleasure to announce the winner of the first big giveaway for the State of Black Sci-Fi 2012 Blog Tour!

And the winner is (djembe drum roll, please)…

Marsha Prescod!

I will contact you soon for a shipping address.

I would like to thank you all for your comments, adds, follows,  retweets and mentions on my blog, facebook and twitter.  Mo dupe! Mo dupe! Mo dupe-O (“I emphatically thank you!” x 3)! And remember, we will have another big giveaway for our last blog on February 27^th and the rules are still the same. To review the rules, check out  http://chroniclesofharriet.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/the-state-of-black-science-fiction-2012/.

This week is all about our most recent work. I am excited that I have a few things coming out soon. First, author Milton Davis, a team of Blacktastic artists and I are releasing the first ever African-based roleplaying game – Ki-Khanga: The Sword & Soul RPG. Ki-Khanga is in late stages of development and will be available soon, along with a companion short story anthology. Folks are really excited about this one…me included!

I also have two novels releasing this year: Redeemer (Mocha Memoirs Press) and Once Upon A Time In Afrika (MVmedia). Redeemer is what I call a sci-fi gangster epic. Think American Gangster meets The Time Machine. Here is an excerpt:

The assassin slid out of his vehicle and assessed his surroundings.  Satisfied that no one was watching, Ezekiel sprinted toward the largest warehouse, at the end of the cul-de-sac.

His movement was swift…silent.

He found himself thanking God again – this time, for Chagga Mutwa, patriarch of the Tokoloshe guild of assassins and expert in the arts of invisibility and quiescence.

Ezekiel had spent two years of harsh training, at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, under the tutelage of the sapient old master.

In those two years, he had learned much.

Ezekiel tested the front door.  The steel entryway creaked open.  No surprise.  Engineers’ Row – or, ‘The Twilight Zone’, as the youth called it – was patrolled and protected by fearsome and efficient Nano-Drones.

Swarming an intruder by the thousands, these nearly microscopic, cybernetic organisms invaded a victim’s body through his orifices.  The minuscule drones would then connect to the victim’s nervous system and shut the intruder down, rendering him comatose until the arrival of the police.

Of course, when your boss is Danny Sweet – owner of the company that created the Drones – the little terrors presented no problem at all.

Ezekiel crept into the warehouse.  Through the dim light, he could see rows of crates, filled with wires, computer parts, electronic gadgets, rods, gears and motors of various sizes.  The hangar-sized warehouse reeked with the smell of copper and axle grease.

Suddenly, voices came – low and in a staccato rhythm.  Ezekiel crouched low and tilted his head toward the sound, as if to bring his right ear closer to it.  No, not voices, Ezekiel realized.  A voice.  A woman’s voice…rapping a tune from his early childhood.

His father would play the song and talk about the rapper performing it as if the man was a god.  “Biggie is a genius!”  His father would proclaim.  “The mad scientist of hip-hop!”

The name of the song came to Ezekiel – ‘Warning’.

The assassin moved across the warehouse in a quick, zigzagging shuffle.

The woman’s voice grew louder.

“…I got the Calico with the black talons loaded in the clip.”

The voice was coming from a small office at the rear of the warehouse.  Ezekiel rushed toward the office door, aimed his pistol and snatched the door wide open.

He rolled into the room, quickly popping up to a kneeling position, with his pistol at the ready.

The room, however, was empty, save a large plasma television in the corner of the room.  On top of the television sat what appeared to be a gold watch.

Suddenly, the door slammed shut.  Ezekiel whirled around to face it.

The low click that followed told him that the door had locked.

Ezekiel aimed his pistol at the doorknob.

The television came to life with a soft hum.  “I wouldn’t do that if I was you.”

Once Upon A Time In Afrika is Sword & Soul. Here is an excerpt:

Tayewo sailed through the air, thrashing like a mackerel on the floor of a fisherman’s boat.  He landed on a row of large, wooden bata drums – his buttocks, elbows and the back of his head pounding out a thunderous tune before he slid to the floor.  Tayewo grunted as his ebony-toned back smacked the cold marble.

Ṣeeke smiled.  It was the first time she had thrown someone with a wheel kick and she had executed it perfectly.  “Mistress Oyabakin would be proud,” she thought.

Ṣeeke’s smile faded as she found herself hoisted into the air by her brother, Kehinde, who had trapped her in a powerful bear-hug from behind.

Though identical in size and appearance to Tayewo, Kehinde was nearly twice as strong and knew how to use his strength to do damage.

Ṣeeke hooked her left foot around Kehinde’s left ankle and then reached behind her, pressing her palm into the middle of Kehinde’s back.

Try as he might, Kehinde could not throw his sister, who seemed to be stuck to him like palm oil to white cloth.

Suddenly, Ṣeeke bent forward, grabbing Kehinde’s right ankle with both hands.  She continued her forward momentum, rolling over into a seated position, which sent Kehinde careening over Ṣeeke and onto his back, beside his sister, with his right leg trapped between both of hers.

Ṣeeke held Kehinde’s foot tightly to her chest as she propelled herself backward, until she lay beside her brother.  She then thrust her pelvis upward, against Kehinde’s knee, as she arched her back and expanded her chest.

Kehinde screamed in agony as his knee hyper-extended and the ligaments stretched to their limits.

“Release him Ṣeeke!  Now!”

Ṣeeke immediately recognized the bellowing, baritone voice.  “Yes, Baba.”

Ṣeeke released her grip on her brother’s ankle.

Kehinde rolled onto his side, massaging his aching knee.

“Is Kehinde’s knee dislocated?”  The Alaafin asked.

“No, father,” Ṣeeke said, as she sprang to her feet.  “He should be fine in a day or two.”

“How does the knee feel?” The Alaafin asked Kehinde.

“It hurts when I do this, Baba,” Kehinde replied, extending and then bending his knee in a stiff, choppy rhythm.

“Then, don’t do that,” the Alaafin said.

Want to know more about either of these novels or about the Ki-Khanga role-playing game? Be sure to visit me here often for exciting updates, excerpts, artwork and even more giveaways! You can also find me on facebook http://www.facebook.com/Afrikan.Martial.Arts. I post tons of stuff on there as well.

Winston Blakely, Artist/Writer– is a Fine Arts/Comic Book artist, having a career spanning 20 years, whose achievements have included working for Valiant Comics and Rich Buckler’s Visage Studios. He is also the creator of Little Miss Strange, the world’s first black alien sorceress and the all- genre anthology entitled – Immortal Fantasy.  Both graphic albums are available at Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and other online book store outlets. Visit him:  http://blakelyworks.blogspot.com/ or http://blakelyworkstudio.weebly.com/

L. M. Davis, Author–began her love affair with fantasy in the second grade.  Her first novel, Interlopers: A Shifters Novel, was released in 2010, and the follow-up Posers:  A Shifters Novel will be released this spring.  For more information visit her blog http://shiftersseries.wordpress.com/ or her website www.shiftersnovelseries.com.

Milton Davis, Author – Milton Davis is owner/publisher of MVmedia, LLC . As an author he specializes in science fiction and fantasy and is the author of Meji Book One, Meji Book Two and Changa’s Safari. Visit him: www.mvmediaatl.com and www.wagadu.ning.com.

Margaret Fieland, Author– lives  and writes in the suburbs west of Boston, MA
with her partner and five dogs. She is one of the Poetic Muselings. Their poetry anthology, Lifelines http://tinyurl.com/LifelinesPoetry/ is available from Amazon.com  Her book, “Relocated,” will be available from MuseItUp Publishing in July, 2012. The Angry Little Boy,” will be published by 4RV publishing in early 2013.  You may visit her website, http://www.margaretfieland.com.

Valjeanne Jeffers, Author – is an editor and the author of the SF/fantasy novels: Immortal, Immortal II: The Time of Legend and Immortal III: Stealer of Souls. Her fourth and fifth novels: Immortal IV: Collision of Worlds and The Switch: Clockwork will be released this spring. Visit her at:http://valjeanne.wordpress.com and http://qandvaffordableediting.blogspot.com/

Thaddeus Howze, Author– is a veteran of the Information Technology and Communications industry with over twenty-six years of experience. His expertise is in re-engineering IT environments using process-oriented management techniques. In English, that means he studies the needs of his clients and configures their offices to optimize the use of information technology in their environment. Visit him:  http://ebonstorm.wordpress.com or http://ebonstorm.weebly.com

Alicia McCalla, Author—writes for both young adults and adults with her brand of multicultural science fiction, urban fantasy, and futurism. Her debut novel, Breaking Free will be available February 1, 2012. The Breaking Free theme song created by Asante McCalla is available for immediate download on itunes and Amazon. Visit her at: www.aliciamccalla.com

Carole McDonnell, Author–She writes Christian, speculative fiction, and multicultural stories. Her first novel is Wind Follower. Her short fiction has appeared in many anthologies and have been collected in an ebook, Spirit Fruit: Collected Speculative Fiction.  Visit Carole:http://carolemcdonnell.blogspot.com/  or http://writersofcolorblogtour.blogspot.com/

Ja Ja (DjaDja) N Medjay , Author—DjaDja Medjay is the author of The Renpet Sci-Fi Series. Shiatsu Practitioner. Holistic AfroFuturistic Rising in Excellence. Transmissions from The Future Earth can be found at: www.renpetscifi.com  or on Facebook –www.facebook.com/RenpetSciFiNovel or on Twitter –https://twitter.com/#!/Khonsugo .

Rasheedah Phillips, Author–is the creator of The AfroFuturist Affair in Philly. She plans to debut her first spec/sci-fic novel Recurrence Plot in Spring 2012. You may catch her ruminating from time to time on her blog, AstroMythoLosophy.com.

Nicole Sconiers, Author-is also a screenwriter living in the sunny jungle of L.A. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Antioch University Los Angeles, and she recently published Escape from Beckyville: Tales of Race, Hair and Rage.  Visit her: http://nicolesconiers.com/index.html

Jarvis Sheffield, M.Ed. is owner & operator of TheDigitalBrothers.com, BlackScienceFictionSociety.com & BlackCommunityEntertainment.com. Visit him:  http://www.blacksciencefictionsociety.com/profiles/blog/list?user=2stjwb1h216fd

In this blog, I will be addressing authors and soon – to – be authors directly, however, as readers of Black Sci-Fi, it is good to learn the creative process, so as to become more savvy readers, better able to discern good literature from not so good – thus saving yourself valuable time and money.

How different is your speculative fiction world from the present-day “real” world?
The closer your world is to the present, “real” world, the more you can rely on the reader to make correct assumptions about racial, cultural and ethnic identity in your novel. The less it is like the present world, the less you can rely on the reader to make correct assumptions; you will have to do more work to situate the reader’s experience in this different world; particularly, writers of fantasy (e.g. Sword & Soul; Steampunk), which – in most readers’ minds – defaults to Eurocentric settings and main characters.

Every book is an experience that is shared by at least two different people: the writer and the reader. Every writer has a different perspective on how much they are willing to be influenced by readers’ expectations. Certain aspects of the story will be read differently by different readers.

You cannot guarantee that every reader will get the same thing out of your story; in fact, it’s pretty much guaranteed that won’t happen. However, there are certain things that do need to be clear. Of course, the main elements of the plot need to be clear to every reader. If a character is meant to be an anti-hero, that needs to come across clearly.

When it comes to race, you have to decide if you are cool with the reader assuming that any given character might be white. If you are cool with that, then you don’t need to describe your characters’ race(s). If you are not cool with it, then you need to make their racial identity clear. Which raises the question: How do you make a character’s race clear without sounding ignorant or racist?

My writing students often debate about which words to use when describing someone’s skin tone. In an attempt to be more “marketable”, they will describe a character of African descent as “swarthy” or an Asian character as “deep olive”. I tell them that readers might believe that the character just has a tan rather than being from Nigeria or Mongol Uls (“Mongolia”).

If the character is a main or supporting character, to use “African” or “Asian” in their description is fine. However, if the character is a minor character (or “extra”, for you screenwriters) it’s not okay, unless you have written in the first person and your narrator is racist or ignorant as hell. “The Asian girl at the counter turned to look at me,” would make your character (or you) seem overly racially conscious, as the girl’s ethnicity has nothing to do with her being at the counter – unless she’s at a “White’s Only” restaurant or something.

That said, however, writers cannot be slaves to political correctness. If a word fits, use it! Yes, you have to be careful about which words to use, but you should be careful about which word to use in every line…in every sentence, if you want to write good fiction.

If your story is a set in an alternate history or world or is set far into the future, you need to think about how race is experienced in that world. Is it a multiracial world? Do people notice others’ race when they first see them? Are different races exotic or normal; friend or foe? Figuring this out will help you to describe your characters’ races and their reactions to other races. It is also important to remember that race is only superficially about skin color. It’s also about cultural practices, beliefs, rituals, food, language, etc.

Some authors believe you can signal race quickly through a character’s name. However, typical names of characters from the Diaspora (i.e. The Americas, the Caribbean and Europe) do not necessarily sound any different from Caucasian-American or European names; Willie Brown could be black or white. Now, if the name is atypical, such as “Bonquisha Tanqueray Robinson”, well…

And on that note, while giving your character an African name usually does evoke images of your character’s race, it does not denote place of birth. You might name your character Efunsegun Ige (which happens to be part of my full name), assuming your readers will quickly grasp that the character is Nigerian (thus Black). However, if they know someone like me – born and raised on the West Side of Chicago, with parents from Mississippi – your readers might not be so sure, so if you want your readers to know a character’s place of birth, be sure to reveal that at some point in your story.

Now, I’d like to touch briefly on metaphor. It is very important to remember, when writing any speculative fiction, that metaphor is powerful. Even though the world of your story may be extremely different from our “real” world, that story is being read by a reader who dwells in the “real” world, so you must be aware of how race in your speculative fiction world might be interpreted through the lens of that reader.

Be aware of the metaphor you’re broadcasting if you make all of your evil people a certain complexion, and all your heroes a certain different complexion. Be aware of the metaphor in play if a rugged, ruddy-complexioned hero saves all the sepia-toned natives – a la Tarzan.

Peter Jackson’s 2002 film “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” opens with a scene of the Uruk-Hai (“Orcs”) running toward Isengaard with the hobbits Merry and Pippin. For those of you who have seen the film, you will remember that the Uruk-Hai are tall, black, and muscular with long coarse dreadlocks – an image that evokes stereotypical portrayals of black men. The racism was such in this film that at one point, Legolas the elf comments on how quickly the Uruk-Hai move. He says: “They run as if the very whips of their masters were behind them” (P. Jackson).

Tolkien’s original language was actually much more neutral: “The Orcs have run before us, as if the very whips of Sauron were behind them” (Tolkien 35). This makes it apparent that Peter Jackson’s portrayal of the Uruk-Hai – and Legolas’ comment were meant to hammer a metaphor into the viewer. For more on “Orcs” and how they represent people of African descent, please check out my blog, “Racism in Role-Playing” at http://chroniclesofharriet.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/racism-in-role-playing/.

Ultimately, we must be aware of the words we choose. There is no shortcut here. Do your research, and think about every word you use.

Remember, February 6th is the date of our first Blacktastic Giveaways! Here is a link to what I am giving to a few lucky winners for being so Blacknificent: http://chroniclesofharriet.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/the-state-of-black-science-fiction-2012/

Also, please check out my friends and what they have to say on their blogs. Oh yeah, and they are giving away a lot of cool stuff too!! Here are their links:

Winston Blakely, Artist/Writer– is a Fine Arts/Comic Book artist, having a career spanning 20 years, whose achievements have included working for Valiant Comics and Rich Buckler’s Visage Studios. He is also the creator of Little Miss Strange, the world’s first black alien sorceress and the all- genre anthology entitled – Immortal Fantasy. Both graphic albums are available at Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and other online book store outlets. Visit him: http://blakelyworks.blogspot.com/ or http://blakelyworkstudio.weebly.com/

L. M. Davis, Author–began her love affair with fantasy in the second grade. Her first novel, Interlopers: A Shifters Novel, was released in 2010, and the follow-up Posers: A Shifters Novel will be released this spring. For more information visit her blog http://shiftersseries.wordpress.com/ or her website www.shiftersnovelseries.com.

Milton Davis, Author – Milton Davis is owner/publisher of MVmedia, LLC . As an author he specializes in science fiction and fantasy and is the author of Meji Book One, Meji Book Two and Changa’s Safari. Visit him: www.mvmediaatl.com and www.wagadu.ning.com.

Margaret Fieland, Author– lives and writes in the suburbs west of Boston, MA
with her partner and five dogs. She is one of the Poetic Muselings. Their poetry anthology, Lifelines http://tinyurl.com/LifelinesPoetry/ is available from Amazon.com Her book, “Relocated,” will be available from MuseItUp Publishing in July, 2012. The Angry Little Boy,” will be published by 4RV publishing in early 2013. You may visit her website, http://www.margaretfieland.com.

Valjeanne Jeffers, Author – is an editor and the author of the SF/fantasy novels: Immortal, Immortal II: The Time of Legend and Immortal III: Stealer of Souls. Her fourth and fifth novels: Immortal IV: Collision of Worlds and The Switch: Clockwork will be released this spring. Visit her at: http://valjeanne.wordpress.com and http://qandvaffordableediting.blogspot.com/

Thaddeus Howze, Author– is a veteran of the Information Technology and Communications industry with over twenty-six years of experience. His expertise is in re-engineering IT environments using process-oriented management techniques. In English, that means he studies the needs of his clients and configures their offices to optimize the use of information technology in their environment. Visit him: http://ebonstorm.wordpress.com or http://ebonstorm.weebly.com

Alicia McCalla, Author—writes for both young adults and adults with her brand of multicultural science fiction, urban fantasy, and futurism. Her debut novel, Breaking Free will be available February 1, 2012. The Breaking Free theme song created by Asante McCalla is available for immediate download on itunes and Amazon. Visit her at: www.aliciamccalla.com

Carole McDonnell, Author–She writes Christian, speculative fiction, and multicultural stories. Her first novel is Wind Follower. Her short fiction has appeared in many anthologies and have been collected in an eBook, Spirit Fruit: Collected Speculative Fiction. Visit Carole: http://carolemcdonnell.blogspot.com/ or http://writersofcolorblogtour.blogspot.com/

Rasheedah Phillips, Author–is the creator of The AfroFuturist Affair in Philly. She plans to debut her first spec/sci-fi novel Recurrence Plot in Spring 2012. You may catch her ruminating from time to time on her blog, AstroMythoLosophy.com.

Nicole Sconiers, Author-is also a screenwriter living in the sunny jungle of L.A. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Antioch University Los Angeles, and she recently published Escape from Beckyville: Tales of Race, Hair and Rage. Visit her: http://nicolesconiers.com/index.html

Jarvis Sheffield, M.Ed. is owner & operator of TheDigitalBrothers.com, BlackScienceFictionSociety.com & BlackCommunityEntertainment.com. Visit him: http://www.blacksciencefictionsociety.com/profiles/blog/list?user=2stjwb1h216fd

For those that don’t assume I am too stupid, too lazy, or too uninventive to create a viable and enjoyable game mechanic I am next asked what type of dice we are using for resolution of actions like combat, running, jumping, building a ship, etcetera. When I answer that we are not using dice, we are using cards, I am met with either joy, pity for my soul, or outright animosity. One brother said with disgust: “Oh, another Amber.” I reminded him that Amber does not use any type of random generator. I also told him that Ki-Khanga™: The Sword and Soul RPG is not “another” anything. As an author, I take pride in my creativity. There is no need to be another Dungeons & Dragons, Tunnels & Trolls, Palladium, Vampire: The Masquerade, or any other game. We are giving the gamer a unique experience or nothing at all. My co-creators feel the same. If we were going to base our game mechanics on someone else’s we’d just create a game supplement.

At this point you might be saying “All that rhetoric sounds good but, hey, cards and dice are both means of generating a random number, so why not just stick to pulling out a few dice and getting people to roll a few random numbers? Stick to what everyone else does, man!”

Because I have no desire to do what everyone else does. If I did, I would not have chosen to be an independent author and filmmaker. I would have – and could have – gone “mainstream”; I have no desire to do so.

Before you roll dismiss me as insane, or plot my death for such sacrilege, I would like to put in my two cents for the playing card.

1. Playing Cards have a greater subtlety than dice. It doesn’t matter how many sides your die has, a 5 is just a 5. In a deck of cards, 5 could be one of two colors (red or black) or one of four suits (spades, clubs, hearts, diamonds). You can just use the 5 as a five but the color or suit could also indicate something about the particular 5 that has been drawn.

2. Playing cards also come with court cards. These unique cards (Jack, Queen and King) could be wild cards, have augmentation properties or indicate automatic successes or failures.

3. Playing cards come with a greater number of interpretations. There are 10 numbers and three courts per suit… and Jokers!

4. Dice need tables, cards only need hands. Dice need a surface to bounce off so that they can reveal their secrets. A player can sit on a couch in a room with no table and pull cards from a deck he is holding in his hands. With dice, he’d have to hunch down to roll them on the floor. Back pain…poor posture…shame.

I recommend a card-based system over a dice based one but, to each is own. The essential point is that your conflict resolution method should be intuitive. Here are some intuitive ways of measuring:

Numbers
Your random chance will be expressed as a number. When you test you will do some light mathematics and end up with a number. This will be compared to some other number and success or failure will thus be determined. Dice can do this too, but let’s examine the cards further:

Suits
This is one thing dice can’t do. A 6 in a deck of cards could just be a six, but it also possesses a Suit and that Suit could have significant meaning. A six of diamonds could be very different from a six of clubs.
Each Suit can deal with a different aspect of life, attribute, power type, school of magic and so on. For example:
• ♠: Intellect
• ♥: Emotion
• ♣: Spiritual Growth
• ♦: Wealth

You may note that the four categories described here present all sorts of possibilities for bonuses and plot effects. Anything that will give you, as the GM, a break in interpreting what a result means has to be a good thing.
Suits can also denote effects on plot, characters, world events (e.g. weather) or treasures. And don’t forget that cards come in two colors. This expands the possible meanings of the Suit even further. For example, red cards could mean “yes” and black cards mean “no”.

Court Cards
This is where cards really start to take off into a whole different stratosphere when compared to dice. No other randomizer has extra elements built in the way a pack of cards does. Here you have three cards per Suit that essentially have no numeric value.
They are “special” cards. They could mean something or nothing. You can even remove them if you feel they are unnecessary.

Aces
With dice, a roll of 1 is either great (on testing systems that go low) or disastrous (on testing systems that go high). Cards have tended to indicate there is something special about the number ‘one’. It’s called the “Ace”, after all – as in ‘acing’ a test, or an ‘ace’ pilot. One of the distinct problems of dice based systems is that once players are used to the system, they can tell, from a roll, what kind of result they’ve achieved. Cards allow for more flexibility in this case.

Jokers
Just when you thought a single randomizer couldn’t get any cooler, along comes a card without a numeric value or a suit. A card that essentially represents a kind of “all bets are off” concept. The power and versatility of the Joker card is exemplified by how the card itself has stepped out of the deck and into unrelated games like quizzes. The Joker symbolizes that some extraordinary game event has been introduced. Whether you harness this power for your own adventures is up to you.

Multiple Decks
If you take a die, add another die what do you have? Well, two dice. Take a deck of cards and add a second deck of cards and you could have a couple of things – Firstly, you have one HUGE deck of cards. Secondly, you could buy two packs of cards which are of different brands. Then, you have two different decks. You could use one for straight numeric randomizing and the other as a kind of fate deck and/or fortune deck. The possibilities are many.

Hopefully, I have helped to open your eyes – and mind – to the power of card decks as a randomizer in role-playing. Ki-Khanga™: The Sword & Soul RPG uses playing cards quite ingeniously for fun, exciting and versatile play.

Airships…steam-trains…top-hats…goggles, gears, clockwork and floating, mechanical castles. These – and much more – are the stuff of Steampunk!

Still stumped as to just what Steampunk is? Well, you could just pick up a copy of my book – Moses: The Chronicles of Harriet Tubman (Book 1: Kings) (www.mochamemoirspress.com) – and enjoy a pretty cool Steampunk novel, if I may say so, myself – or read on and I will define Steampunk for you (feel free to still get the book, though – I won’t be mad at ya’).

Steampunk is a literary genre – a marriage of science fiction and fantasy that features the technological and social aspects of an Age of Steam. In the world of Steampunk, steam is the “nuclear power” of an industrial era – whether that era takes place during the Victorian Period of the 1800s, in ancient Egypt, or in a future in which electricity and steam takes the place of fusion power.

The funny thing is – I was writing and enjoying Steampunk long before ever hearing of the genre. I – and many of you, I am sure – was a fan of Steampunk for decades before the term “Steampunk” existed. From 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen; From A Series of Unfortunate Events(Lemony Snicket) to The Golden Compass; from the old Wild, Wild, West television show to Warehouse 13 – all of these are Steampunk. Van Helsing, Sherlock Holmes and even Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein – all Steampunk!

I have always loved Steampunk because it is so damned cool! I mean, in what other genre can you find a team of superheroes with a roster that includes Mr. Hyde, the Invisible Man, Captain Nemo and Tom Sawyer?
In what other genre can you find Harriet Tubman in a thrilling game of cat-and-mouse with John Wilkes Booth?
In what other genre can you find a brother as cool as Catcher Freeman(or as frightening as his alter-ego – Catch – a – Freeman)?

I love Steampunk…for the most part.
What I do not love is the lack of main characters of African descent (hell, the lack of main characters of any descent, other than European). The literary genre, as well as the design aesthetic, is wrought with racism and sexism (as is the fantasy genre, in general). A few authors of African-descent are changing this; and, as we discover how much fun it is to write in this genre, many more of us will join in.

I already mentioned my book, Moses: The Chronicles of Harriet Tubman – available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, or directly through www.mochamemoirspress.com – and there are a couple of other Blacktastic Steampunk tales that I know you will love as much as I do:

The Switch, by Valjeanne Jeffers: http://mochamemoirspress.com/the-switch/
The Delivery, by Milton J. Davis: http://www.scribd.com/doc/76098823/The-Delivery

For a short story I wrote that combines Steampunk with the Sword & Soul fantasy subgenre, check out The Hand of Sa-Seti: http://www.scribd.com/AuthorBalogun/d/78886474-THE-HAND-OF-SA-SETI-A-Ki-Khanga-Tale

Oh, and for those few of you who do not know where to find the aforementioned cool-cat, Catcher Freeman – a character who made his first appearance on The Boondocks animated series – check out this video homage I made in his honor a while back: http://blackcommunityentertainment.com/videos/36/catcher-freeman

For more authors and the genres of fiction theylove, check out:

Winston Blakely, Artist/Writer–is a Fine Arts/Comic Book artist, having a career spanning 20 years, whose achievements have included working for Valiant Comics and Rich Buckler’s Visage Studios. He is also the creator of Little Miss Strange, the world’s first black alien sorceress and the all- genre anthology entitled – Immortal Fantasy. Both graphic albums are available at Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and other online book store outlets. Visit him: http://blakelyworks.blogspot.com/ or http://blakelyworkstudio.weebly.com/

L.M. Davis, Author–began her love affair with fantasy in the second grade. Her first novel, Interlopers: A Shifters Novel, was released in 2010, and the follow-up Posers: A Shifters Novel will be released this spring. For more information visit her blog http://shiftersseries.wordpress.com/ or her website www.shiftersnovelseries.com.

Milton Davis, Author –Milton Davis is owner/publisher of MVmedia, LLC . As an author he specializes in science fiction and fantasy and is the author of Meji Book One, Meji Book Two and Changa’s Safari. Visit him: www.mvmediaatl.com and www.wagadu.ning.com.

Margaret Fieland, Author–lives and writes in the suburbs west of Boston, MA
with her partner and five dogs. She is one of the Poetic Muselings. Their poetry anthology, Lifelines http://tinyurl.com/LifelinesPoetry/ is available from Amazon.com Her book, “Relocated,” will be available from MuseItUp Publishing in July, 2012. The Angry Little Boy,” will be published by 4RV publishing in early 2013. You may visit her website, http://www.margaretfieland.com.

Valjeanne Jeffers, Author –is an editor and the author of the SF/fantasy novels: Immortal, Immortal II: The Time of Legend and Immortal III: Stealer of Souls. Her fourth and fifth novels: Immortal IV: Collision of Worlds and The Switch: Clockwork will be released this spring. Visit her at:http://valjeanne.wordpress.com and http://qandvaffordableediting.blogspot.com/

Thaddeus Howze, Author–is a veteran of the Information Technology and Communications industry with over twenty-six years of experience. His expertise is in re-engineering IT environments using process-oriented management techniques. In English, that means he studies the needs of his clients and configures their offices to optimize the use of information technology in their environment. Visit him: http://ebonstorm.wordpress.com or http://ebonstorm.weebly.com

Alicia McCalla, Author—writes for both young adults and adults with her brand of multicultural science fiction, urban fantasy, and futurism. Her debut novel, Breaking Free will be available February 1, 2012. The Breaking Free theme song created by Asante McCalla is available for immediate download on itunes and Amazon. Visit her at: www.aliciamccalla.com

Carole McDonnell, Author–She writes Christian, speculative fiction, and multicultural stories. Her first novel is Wind Follower. Her short fiction has appeared in many anthologies and have been collected in an ebook, Spirit Fruit: Collected Speculative Fiction. Visit Carole:http://carolemcdonnell.blogspot.com/ or http://writersofcolorblogtour.blogspot.com/

Rasheedah Phillips, Author–is the creator of The AfroFuturist Affair in Philly. She plans to debut her first spec/sci-fic novel Recurrence Plot in Spring 2012. You may catch her ruminating from time to time on her blog, AstroMythoLosophy.com.

Nicole Sconiers, Author-is also a screenwriter living in the sunny jungle of L.A. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Antioch University Los Angeles, and she recently published Escape from Beckyville: Tales of Race, Hair and Rage. Visit her: http://nicolesconiers.com/index.html

Jarvis Sheffield, M.Ed. is owner & operator of TheDigitalBrothers.com, BlackScienceFictionSociety.com & BlackCommunityEntertainment.com. Visit him: http://www.blacksciencefictionsociety.com/profiles/blog/list?user=2stjwb1h216fd