DuBois and Science Fiction

W. E. B. DuBois wrote science fiction?  It is clear that this shocks folks when they learn that the legendary figure, who was an author, scholar, historian, and activist, also wrote a science fiction text. Entitled "The Comet" and published in 1920, DuBois's story addresses racism, gender relations, and racial identity.

DuBois utilizes the form of the short story, and the tropes of science fiction, to employ his theory of double consciousness in a thought-provoking way.  The text follows Jim, an African American man who works at a bank in New York.  After a passing comet's deadly gas trail seems to leave most of the world dead, Jim struggles to find another living soul in the city.  He stumbles upon a white woman, Julia, who accompanies him on the journey to find survivors.

Over the course of the afternoon and evening, Jim and Julia are forced to consider the possibility that their loved ones are gone, as is the rest of humanity.  In the US in the early 20th century, what will become of this new Adam and Eve?

DuBois establishes the distance between the characters based on race and class - Jim is a working class Black man who was only saved from the comet's gases because he was accidentally locked within the safe of the bank, a place that "was too dangerous for more valuable men." The white woman is working in her darkroom, developing photos when she realizes the staff of her household is dead.  Jim notes that the day before she "would scarcely have looked at him twice" while the woman, as DuBois writes, considers Jim an other who "dwelt in a world so far from hers."

After a fruitless search of the city, the characters begin to accept their fate and forced companionship. DuBois writes, about Jim, that the "shackles seemed to rattle and fall from his soul.  Up from the crass and crushing and cringing of his caste leaped the lone majesty of kings long dead."  This moment is short-lived for Jim, for seemingly out of nowhere arrives the woman's father and friend, who immediately re-establish the boundaries of race and class.  Still, DuBois ends the story with Jim and Julia embracing after their torturous day.

What does it mean to consider DuBois a "science fiction author" in addition to all of his other myriad accomplishments?  The genre has certainly been a space for authors to address societal issues in creative ways, and DuBois utilizes the notion of a deadly comet to uniquely explore race and racism.

DuBois's short story is one of many in the incredible collection Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora, which also includes works by Octavia Butler, Evie Shockley, Samuel R. Delaney, Walter Mosely, Derrick Bell, and Nisi Shawl.

Coates on Writing and Education

Okay, okay.  I realize that Te-Nehisi Coates's book, Between the World and Me, has been the focus of  conversations for months now.  He won the National Book Award for this text and has received high praise for his writing.  But there are various points in the text, written as a missive to his son, that are particularly useful to me as a professor and scholar.  I hope to work through some of those ideas in future entries, but the topics of writing and education seem a relevant place to start.

Coates notes that his mother made him write about issues at school and how these were important moments in his life because “these were the earliest acts of interrogation, of drawing myself into consciousness” (29).  I’m especially interested in what he is developing here because in teaching composition, it’s important for students to find meaning and importance in their own work, and Coates is talking about writing as both a useful, everyday activity, but also a revolutionary one.

His early experiences about writing become a transition into describing his father, and his father’s dedication to reading and keeping texts written by, about, and for Black people.  As a leader in Baltimore chapter of the Black Panther Party, his father raised awareness not only through his work in the Party, but also as a librarian and archivist for those varied publications.  Earlier, Coates offers a scathing indictment of schools and the educational system for its inability to address the difficulties experienced by the Black students in Baltimore when he grew up.  He turns the indictment of institutional education into a discussion about the necessity of community education and knowledge, with his father as a key educator.

Coates addresses myriad important topics and issues within his book, and I look forward to continuing my own "acts of interrogation" as I read.

Reunion

I was thrilled to run into a former student, Jerry, in the hallway this morning.  Always cheerful, he excitedly shared some incredible news with me - he was on the Huffington Post!  He explained that a call went out on Facebook for stories of long-term friends who maintained platonic relationships.  He submitted information and is now included in a story on the news site.

Jerry and his friend, Gwen, have maintained a strong friendship since high school.  We talked about the topic and marveled at the notion, perpetuated by pop culture and society, that men and women simply cannot establish and sustain friendships over time.  Clearly, their friendship defies this idea.

It is always wonderful to run into folks after a semester ends and to hear how things are developing in their lives.  Our students are so busy, but those moments in the hallways, offices, or out in the courtyard always leave me smiling.

Octavia Butler's Archives

If you are like me, you eagerly awaited the time when the Huntington Library opened the archives for Black feminist science fiction author Octavia Butler.  It took some time for those dedicated library folks to go through the collection, which initially contained "two four-drawer file cabinets and about 35 cartons." Going through such large numbers of items is certainly a daunting task, but if you've spent any time within any library's special collections, you know that archivists are dedicated to respectfully handling materials with the goal of organizing those items for interested visitors. 

Scholars of Butler now have the opportunity to spend time with her draft and other ephemera now housed at the library.  This is important because as readers, we are only hop to part of the equation – we only see the final product.  Moving through archival materials means that we can gain more insights and understanding about the choices Butler made, what influenced her writing and ideas, and we can even find pieces in the collection that reveal details about the author that lead us towards new levels of appreciation.

Draft of Butler's novel Kindred
The Huntington Library

As an instructor of both literature and composition, the above draft page is remarkable; not only is it an early page from the novel that would become Kindred, but it contains Butler's notes and edits.  Students who are able to view these kinds of materials can see clearly that producing writing is a process and not something that published authors don't create perfect drafts from the start.  Crafting a novel takes intense effort, along with the willingness to let go (delete) some of that work in order to further a story or idea.

Another benefit of archival research is that there is always the possibility of discovering an item that is remarkable.  The piece below is just that - a wonderful discovery, written on the back of a composition book by Butler and now housed at the Huntington Library.  Considering the amount of visitors who have been through the archival collection, it is my hope that more incredible discoveries are on the way.

Butler's hand-written notes
The Huntington Library

Campus Words Event - Spring 2016