Many monthly periodicals are worthy of reading, yet none more so than Wired Magazine. The editor of this fantastic magazine devoted to technology and business, Chris Anderson, has also published two important books.
The Long Tail and most recently, Free, are vital reading to understanding emerging trends in technology and how it will effect business and the dissemination of news. We owe a great debt to the intelligence he brings to these books and the magazine in general
Thus, the news of Wired publishing a story devoted to the best Black characters in Science Fiction piqued our interest here at Stuff Black People Don't Like, especially since this month is devoted to celebrating fictional Black History Month at SBPDL:
The future. Whether 20 years or 200 years from now, the sci-fi genre is all about new possibilities and new ideas. Change. Often, sci-fi TV shows, movies and books give us the perfect opportunity to envision a time when skin color has stopped being a factor in human-to-human relationships. You know, the novel concept of “content of a person’s character.” I can imagine a date in the future, when we refer to each other as Terran (as opposed to Martian or Titanese) or even just human.
Over my lifetime, a few movies and TV shows have got it right by casting a black actor in a particular role, not to get a stereotype on the screen, but because the actor or actress was the right fit for the part; they were the embodiment of the character.
The character was not a slang-talking, gangsta-riding jokester with a background in the ‘hood. Not a sex kitten or ultra-pro-black (or as David Alan Grier says, “Mike Tyson black”), holding the gun sideways. Not a drug-dealing, pimping, dancing and jiving stereotype. They were just another excellent player in said show or movie. They made us forget about race as a divisive issue.
So, in recognition of the first day of Black History Month, here is a list of my top 10 favorite African American sci-fi movie & TV characters of all time.
Holding the gun sideways? That actually does happen in real life... just read about Raymond Martinez!
The writer, Lonnie Morgan, is to be forgiven for neglecting to mention numerous Black characters in science fiction that go above the duty of only being a fictional figure in a movie, but a representative of their race in a profound manner, since few examples from the real world exist to substantiate their inclusion. Look at Miles Dyson from Terminator 2, for example.
Problematic to science fiction writers is the inclusion of Black characters in highly technical roles in their prose or films runs counter to reality. History is the only judge that supplies a sound verdict which to predict the future upon. With this dictum, the future isn't going to be the city of Zion (Matrix Reloaded), but images from South Africa, Detroit and Zimbabwe provide a more accurate portrayal of Black people and the future.
Futuristic societies - such as the one depicted in Star Trek - exist in a world of complete racial harmony, which runs counter to the history of the world's different populations and the apparent disharmony that diversity creates.
If we use today's Black Run America (BRA) as example of what to expect in the future, could a nation hoping to master interstellar travel and the hope of colonizing planets or moons really work when hiring quotas are practiced and official policies of diversity among employees is mandated.
Would a color-blind society - as we are constantly told the United States operates under the rubric of - continuing policies that mandate companies be majority owned by Black people if they are to get government contracts?
Could the construction of trillion dollar space ships and space stations be performed without bidding wars erupting between majority owned Black companies that are legally mandated to get the work?
Recently, when stimulus money was divided, the usual howls of protest were deafening as Black people voiced their concern for the lack of minority owned businesses being deprived checks:
The utter lack of Black scientists, inventors, pilots and individuals who have the right stuff, does not bode well to a future as envisioned by science fiction writers who weave racial harmony into their narratives, nor for minority owned business getting any of those contracts.
The wanton criminality of Black people is never discussed in science fiction, nor do any of the characters in the Wired list of great Black science fiction characters have any basis for their existence, other than the need to include a token Black.
A disparate impact exists in science fiction and in the futuristic representations of how the world might work. Writers and directors do not take into account current trends that create the opportunities for Black people to advance to positions of authority, as policies are in place that look to promote any Black person of moderate ability to positions that they are not prepared to take, which in turn jeopardize the effectiveness of the whole operation they are tasked with promoting.
It is a vicious cycle and one that has no peaceful remedy.
But Wired is to be congratulated for recognizing the top Black characters from science fiction. We at Stuff Black People Don't Like will continue to work hard to showcase the fictional Black History Month Heroes, to provide Black people with great men and women to work hard to emulate in real life.
The writer, Lonnie Morgan, is to be forgiven for neglecting to mention numerous Black characters in science fiction that go above the duty of only being a fictional figure in a movie, but a representative of their race in a profound manner, since few examples from the real world exist to substantiate their inclusion. Look at Miles Dyson from Terminator 2, for example.
Problematic to science fiction writers is the inclusion of Black characters in highly technical roles in their prose or films runs counter to reality. History is the only judge that supplies a sound verdict which to predict the future upon. With this dictum, the future isn't going to be the city of Zion (Matrix Reloaded), but images from South Africa, Detroit and Zimbabwe provide a more accurate portrayal of Black people and the future.
Futuristic societies - such as the one depicted in Star Trek - exist in a world of complete racial harmony, which runs counter to the history of the world's different populations and the apparent disharmony that diversity creates.
If we use today's Black Run America (BRA) as example of what to expect in the future, could a nation hoping to master interstellar travel and the hope of colonizing planets or moons really work when hiring quotas are practiced and official policies of diversity among employees is mandated.
Would a color-blind society - as we are constantly told the United States operates under the rubric of - continuing policies that mandate companies be majority owned by Black people if they are to get government contracts?
Could the construction of trillion dollar space ships and space stations be performed without bidding wars erupting between majority owned Black companies that are legally mandated to get the work?
Recently, when stimulus money was divided, the usual howls of protest were deafening as Black people voiced their concern for the lack of minority owned businesses being deprived checks:
Since President Barack Obama signed his stimulus package into law in February, the U.S. Department of Transportation has handed out more than $150 million in contracts to companies for street, highway and bridge construction.This story regards money for the construction of new roads. Just imagine the outcry over the allocation of government resources to private companies tasked with building the components of an interstellar space craft.
New statistics released this week by the Transportation Equity Network (TEN) show that from that pot of money not a single dollar had been allocated to any African-American owned business.
“Stunning,” is how TEN’s media director Stephen Boykewich described his organizations’ findings.
“What we’re seeing all over the country is that in spite of stated language in the stimulus bill that this was supposed to go to disadvantaged communities hit hardest by the recession, those communities are having incredible difficulty gaining access to those funds.”
TEN, a 22-state network of more than 300 community organizations fighting for an equity-based national transportation system, crunched numbers publicly available on-line at the Web site of the government’s federal Procurement Data System (www.fpds.gov) in making their findings.
The federal Department of Transportation had so far given out $163.8 million in direct contracts, they found, and of that only $16.8 million, or about 10 percent, had gone to all minority-owned businesses; $4.7 million, or about 3 percent, had gone Hispanic-owned businesses. Not a single black-owned firm had received a contract from the DOT.
The utter lack of Black scientists, inventors, pilots and individuals who have the right stuff, does not bode well to a future as envisioned by science fiction writers who weave racial harmony into their narratives, nor for minority owned business getting any of those contracts.
The wanton criminality of Black people is never discussed in science fiction, nor do any of the characters in the Wired list of great Black science fiction characters have any basis for their existence, other than the need to include a token Black.
A disparate impact exists in science fiction and in the futuristic representations of how the world might work. Writers and directors do not take into account current trends that create the opportunities for Black people to advance to positions of authority, as policies are in place that look to promote any Black person of moderate ability to positions that they are not prepared to take, which in turn jeopardize the effectiveness of the whole operation they are tasked with promoting.
It is a vicious cycle and one that has no peaceful remedy.
But Wired is to be congratulated for recognizing the top Black characters from science fiction. We at Stuff Black People Don't Like will continue to work hard to showcase the fictional Black History Month Heroes, to provide Black people with great men and women to work hard to emulate in real life.
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