Notes from the Abyss

MECHANICSVILLE, Va. (Oct. 27, 2023) — The Afrofuturism movement offers a uniquely African lens on what some call science fiction and others call speculative fiction, offering diverse perspectives on such staple questions of the genre like “What if?” or alternate explanations that illuminate why things are like they are now.

The three stories we read in the Afrofuturism vein—“Bloodchild” by Octavia Butler, “Give me cornbread or give me death” by N.K. Jemisin, and “The comet” by W.E.B. Bu Bois—offer insights into different aspects of African American history and, in some cases, glimpses of parallels in the experiences of other oppressed groups.

Of the three stories, “The Comet” is the easiest to explain. Set in New York City after a cosmic disaster wipes out most of the population of the city, the story follows the travails of Jim, a Black man who was underground in a bank vault and survived the disaster, as he searches for survivors. He rescues a white woman, Julia, and they begin to bond—until people, including Julia’s father and apparent boyfriend, arrive on the scene. (They were outside the city and somehow unaffected by the disaster.)

Jim should have been regarded as a savior. Instead, he was dismissed by the apparent boyfriend as a “nigger” and offered a job as a token of gratitude (but not the real thing) by the father. In reality, Jim is essentially dismissed as an inferior to them, despite the dangers he faced that the others didn’t.

The story reflects our nation’s disregard of people of color during the Jim Crow era.

“Bloodchild,” a story set in another world dominated by arthropod-like beings, graphically illustrates the parasitism of slavery and segregation. The way whites exploited Black labor (free or otherwise) for profit is illustrated in the egg parasitism of the dominant creatures, the Tlic. They lay their eggs in human hosts, and the larvae consume human flesh until they are ready to pupate and emerge from their hosts. The hosts are at best sickened. At worst, they die as their vital organs are consumed by the ravenous larvae.

“Give me cornbread or give me death” is the most optimistic story of the three stories. The Blacks are resisting the people of the towers’ attempts at suppressing them. The people of the towers deploy horrific weapons in the form of dragons to kill as many Blacks as they can, but the resistance win over the dragons with African foods and, by extension, culture. In time, the dragons join the resistance in toppling their would-be masters.

Decades ago, the rap group Public Enemy released an album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. African Americans were and are still suffering the effects of centuries of slavery and segregation, but artists like Chuck D. of Public Enemy fight back—with art, not violence—and nowadays hip-hop is the dominant musical genre in terms of sales worldwide. Africans may face great oppression, but their culture spreads and conquers all.

Editor’s Note: This piece was originally written for an American literature class at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College on Oct. 27, 2023.