Why My Father Demands There Be Black People in Science Fiction
By Vivian Phillips
**Author's Note: This was written February 11th, but for some reason I published it privately, not publicly, I apologize!!**
This blogpost will commentary on the first half of Dreams in a Time of War and the "A Quest of Relevance" chapter of Decolonizing the Mind. The presence of stories coming from one's community as seen in Dreams illustrates how important it is to a child's development and sense of self. One wonders if Ngũgĩ would have connected to King David so strongly if he didn't have the stories of his half-brother who fought in WWII. Ngũgĩ also recognizes how it can be used to benefit the colonizer as he states in Decolonizing,
"African children who encountered literature in colonial schools and universities were thus experiencing the world as defined and reflected in the European experience of history. Their entire way of looking at the world, even the world of-the immediate environment, was Eurocentric. The images children encountered in literature were reinforced by their study of geography and history, and science and technology where Europe was, once again, the centre.(93)"
One if the things I'm very thankful about my childhood is how my parents shaped my racial identity through storytelling. My father made it a priority to read to me every night and made the distinction of reading to me books that had black people as protagonists or were African/African-American folktale related. Since I was raised on a healthy dose of black protagonists in my youth, like Ngũgĩ, the lack of them in mainstream society makes it that more apparent.
My father loves the science fiction genre. He'll devour it in any medium, however because of that love he's extremely critical of it. Especially in terms of representation in race. He often reiterates, "Ever notice in science fiction movies the lack brown people? I know that's no accident. They can't deny we were there in the past when it comes to historical movies nowadays, there's too much evidence. But the future? We're nowhere to be seen. What kind of message does that send?"
**Author's Note: This was written February 11th, but for some reason I published it privately, not publicly, I apologize!!**
This blogpost will commentary on the first half of Dreams in a Time of War and the "A Quest of Relevance" chapter of Decolonizing the Mind. The presence of stories coming from one's community as seen in Dreams illustrates how important it is to a child's development and sense of self. One wonders if Ngũgĩ would have connected to King David so strongly if he didn't have the stories of his half-brother who fought in WWII. Ngũgĩ also recognizes how it can be used to benefit the colonizer as he states in Decolonizing,
"African children who encountered literature in colonial schools and universities were thus experiencing the world as defined and reflected in the European experience of history. Their entire way of looking at the world, even the world of-the immediate environment, was Eurocentric. The images children encountered in literature were reinforced by their study of geography and history, and science and technology where Europe was, once again, the centre.(93)"
One if the things I'm very thankful about my childhood is how my parents shaped my racial identity through storytelling. My father made it a priority to read to me every night and made the distinction of reading to me books that had black people as protagonists or were African/African-American folktale related. Since I was raised on a healthy dose of black protagonists in my youth, like Ngũgĩ, the lack of them in mainstream society makes it that more apparent.
My father loves the science fiction genre. He'll devour it in any medium, however because of that love he's extremely critical of it. Especially in terms of representation in race. He often reiterates, "Ever notice in science fiction movies the lack brown people? I know that's no accident. They can't deny we were there in the past when it comes to historical movies nowadays, there's too much evidence. But the future? We're nowhere to be seen. What kind of message does that send?"
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