linkspam for Fans of Colour support!

[attack_laurel]

Just a quickie - I may have another post later. Go read this:

http://community.livejournal.com/debunkingwhite/816078.html

And on Monday, May 18th, whether you're a Fan of Colour, or a supporter, please consider posting the banner from that post in your journal to show solidarity with FoC (and check out the 

Comments

[kass_rants]

Lately, I've been reading Kathy Reich's Temperance Brennan novels. Good stuff if you like mysteries with a CSI kinda edge.

The reason I am commenting is because Reichs does this interesting thing. She'll introduce a character and you'll get to know them in context. And then she'll say something like "the mocha colour of her forearms" and you'll realise she's talking about an Africa-American. (For your edification, she uses similar phrasing -- but different colour words -- for Caucasians in her descriptions.)

My point is that she doesn't make a big deal about people of colour. In my opinion, we are all people of colour and Reich seems to have found a good away to express that.

[archerpren]

oh yes yes! i just started these books too! i am really liking them but i had to try to tune out the part of my brain that kept saying "thats not how bones would do it!" cause i have been watching the show for years and although it is "based" on the books the only thing that is the same is that her name is tempe brennan and shes a forensic anthropologist. also i agree with your above stated thoughts about her descriptions of people.

[brickhousewench]

One of my favorite sci fi series is David Weber's Honor Harrington. Queen Elizabeth, ruler of Manticore, is black. We know this not because the author makes a big deal out of it, but because her neice, our heroine's friend, is described as having skin that matches the space black of her uniform. He's so subtle about it that my ex-husband, who is a rabid fan, didn't catch on until maybe 8 books into the series. *sporfle*

And I've always loved Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future in Star Trek. Not just because he put both an african american woman and an asian on the bridge of the original USS Enterprise, but because in the series pilot, the XO was a woman (the late, great Majel Barrett Roddenberry was that original number one).

[attack_laurel]

Ah. The trtouble with that is (and I just checked, since Bob has the books) that on the cover, Honor is painted entirely caucasian (with no African or Caribbean, or even non-white indicators, including skin colour. Even her eyes are a light hazel). Her features - nose, hair, lips, everything, identify her as white. While she may have a black neice, that doesn't infer that she, herself, is black, and the publishers have chosen to identify her as white through all the books, and the author has not corrected this impression on the cover, if he indeed, intended her to be black.

So no, I don't think she is, and for the purposes of readers looking at those covers, they will identify her as white. There is no indication at all that the author cnsiders her black, just her niece.

[redsquirrel]

"Queen Elizabeth, ruler of Manticore, is black. We know this not because the author makes a big deal out of it, but because her neice, our heroine's friend, is described as having skin that matches the space black of her uniform."

There is no indication at all that the author cnsiders her black, just her niece.

According to the post, it's Honor's friend (not niece) who is black, not Honor herself. Said friend is apparently the niece of a ruling queen in that universe. So I don't see a conflict between this statement and the book covers.

I'm such a pedant...

[attack_laurel]

AhA!. attack_laurel, reader comprehension, fail.

Gotcha. :)

[reasdream]

...Bujold apparently didn't read LeGuin's books very closely, did she...

[attack_laurel]

Hells, no. *eye roll* The Earthsea books were the first books I read where PoC were centered. Other books I read around that time were very big on race fail, one in particular that I remember, that made the tall, white, heroic wizard into a small *black-skinned* wizened creature as a punishment. Unbelieveable.

[archerpren]

hi there! i am new to your blog and have commented a few times. i am really enjoying readding your thoughts on all sorts of different things i have to say :0) i have a few questions however:
1) what is qwerty face? it made me giggle and i dont even know what it is- like a smiley?
2) this post is about a book right? (yes i read the links and im still minorly confused) like..a fictional book? while i am a fan of every person white, black purple, or striped, as long as they are nice to me and my friends, this is a fictional story (if im reading it right). the author has the right to do whatever they want. its their book. just dont buy it or read it. i do agree that i wouldnt like a book that was missing a whole race of people just for ease but i dont know why all the froth about it. just dont give that author your money.

ok thanks for letting me voice my thoughts here. and im not trying to step on toes im just curious i suppose and looking for discussion and maybe some clarification. as i am not farmiliar wiht the authors mentioned. :0)

[kyalesyin]

Trust me, I don't think it's possible to miss the point much harder than you just have.

[archerpren]

ouch thats a little harsh. if that is the case then clarify. is this because it is a rampant problem through out all sci fi fantasy books in general? i read alot but not usually that genre. thanks.

[kyalesyin]

It's a rampant problem through ALL media. Every single aspect of media either marginalizes, exploits or ignores people of colour. This is not an isolated incident, and ignoring the problem? That VALIDATES the problem, because if nobody protests about something that is wrong, then the message that gets given is that nothing is wrong.

[albreda]

So - since I am really not up on fandom *at all*, maybe someone can point me at some Sci-fi series starring PoC in positive roles? Pretty please?

(I keep getting thrown by the character Valya in Jack McDevitt's series; my brain keeps making this female starship pilot Black, but he's got her as a fair red-head!)

[attack_laurel]

Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea books are a lovely place to start - her main character is a PoC.

Black Science Fiction Writers

and, of course, the Black SF writers Wikipedia entry, and the Writers of Colour Wikipedia entry.

[albreda]

Wow - I read Earthsea so long ago that I didn't even remember that; characters have expressions and voices in my memory, but rarely skin tones, unless it is *hugely* relevant.

I'll check out those other links - thank you! :)

[stringmonkey]

I've read a couple of books by Butler and Delany, and none of them really worked for me. Hopkinson looks like she might be more up my alley. I'll have to give her a try.