Page 23 - BCALA Summer 2018

their racial and gendered identities influenced how they selected SF books, and many stated that they wished to see more diversity in the subgenre. Thus, although they loved reading many books within the subgenre of SF, they also wanted
to see diverse characters, including protagonists who were Black women and girls. This made me think of
my own SF reading history, and
how the books mentioned in the survey were the same ones I had read. It also made me wonder how libraries, as sites of SF introduction and recommendation, can offset the dominant narratives by introducing Black girls to Black female SF authors before they become adults.
Of course, the number of diverse
SF books distributed in the United States is not solely a library
issue, as the publishing arena has systematically excluded people of color from publishing, especially in the speculative fiction genres. This has created what Myers (2014) calls the apartheid of literature in which characters of color are often relegated “to the townships of occasional historical books that concern themselves with the legacies of civil rights and slavery but are never given a pass card to traverse the lands of adventure, curiosity, imagination or personal growth” (para. 7). Due to the apartheid of literature, comments such as, “I didn’t know that people
of color writing science fiction was
a thing,” are not surprising. Access
to all imaginative books, including
SF stories, is often shut off for Black girls, so it makes sense that many Black women did not know that there were Black female authors writing SF stories.
This is where libraries, librarians, and media specialists can assist. As
I mentioned in the RYDL article, publishing houses often participate in “a systemic cycle that affects every literacy stakeholder involved, and it excludes any reader whose choices may not align with conventional, realistic stories. Those who choose
to go against the cycle... must rely on other methods to select their novels (Toliver, 2018, p. 15). Libraries/ librarians can be one of those methods because, as the survey shows, they are a major resource for Black girls looking for SF texts. With the influx of diverse young adult SF by Black authors (Hood, 2009), it is possible to ensure that Black girls
are not forced to wait until adulthood to learn that there are Black
women who are writing SF with them in mind.
This will take some work on the part of all literacy stakeholders because publishing is still a major gatekeeper in the printing and distribution of children’s and young adult texts. However, because over half of the respondents noted the primacy of race and gender in their SF text selection, it is essential that Black girls have access to SF books by Black authors. It is especially important for them to have access to Black female authors to show Black girls that the
BCALA NEWS | Volume 45, Issue 3 | 23 subgenre is being written and created
by, for, and about them, too. Authors like Malorie Blackman, Constance Burris, Zetta Elliott, Justina Ireland, Nnedi Okorafor, Maiya Williams, and many others are adding to the corpus of SF literature and creating new hopescapes through which Black girls can envision futures and broaden their realities.
Yet, Octavia Butler, Virginia Hamilton, Nalo Hopkinson, and Tananarive Due were doing the same thing decades ago, and Black girls like me and the women in the survey still did not have adequate access
to their stories. Thus, there needs
to be a concerted effort to ensure that modern Black girls have access to these stories. The girls may want to read them, or they may want to read more stories written by Ray Bradbury or Suzanne Collins, but
the important thing is that they have a way to find these stories if that is their preference.
Libraries and librarians are influential in this respect, as they are one of the main spaces through which many Black women found their SF books. As the gates of literature
have often been closed to Black girls looking for SF stories, libraries and librarians can be the locksmiths who can ensure that Black girls will always have a key.
CITATIONS
Bishop, R. S. (1990). Mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors. Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books for the