Overview

How does one begin to source the origin of The Cookout? Looking for the origins of the practice—poring through history books, archaeological articles, and religious texts—it seemed that the ancients themselves considered the tradition ancient, even in their time. Could it be that since the beginning of humanity, in the cradle of the world, where two or more were gathered in the name of food, medicine, love, and community, there one may have found The Cookout? Across the African Diaspora, with the fluctuations of ancestral knowledge and cultural roots, in wealth and happiness, in sickness and danger, in celebration and faith and fierce resistance, in every nook and cranny of the world, "The Cookout" calls to something in our blood that unites us in love and community. And when the world began to digitize itself, this impulse found a foothold in the social media sphere, in the new and mischievous colloquial use of "The Cookout" as well as such innovations as pandemic-style remote feasts with family and friends. As a force, "The Cookout" is unstoppable! So we decided to see just how far it can go. Can it reach the depths of the ocean? Can we put picnic tables in the stars? Gather round the grill in another dimension? Source our seasonings in the furthest realms of our imaginations? Let's see, shall we? For more details, follow the link: The Cookout Anthology

Thanks, Troy! That helps immensly!

Hey man I'm note sure if you are up on BISAC codes, but I did fight for some new ones for Steampunk and a few others.

Hey y'all! I've been away too long. I apologize for lack of attention, but that ends today. I'll be posting at least weekly, and I encourage everyone to do so as well. Though there's been a lot of progress with Black representation in scif and fantasy, we still have a long way to go to reach equity, and the best way to do so is to build among ourselves. Thank you for being here. Let's rise!

The good news is that these authors will have a readership get old with them and they can utilzie the aging readerbase into other books

If there's one fantasy genre where Black authors seem to be making significant inroads, it's young adult fiction. As a matter of fact, it seems that many publishers and authors are guiding Black speculative fiction authors in that direction. That being the case, what Black young adult authors/books do you recommend?

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What is Cyberfunk? It is a vision of the future with an Afrocentric flavor. It is the Singularity without the Eurocentric foundation. It's Bladerunner with sunlight, Neuromancer with melanin, cybernetics with rhythm. Nineteen amazing Black Speculative Fiction authors have come together to share their visions on the pages of this book. Prepare to be mesmerized by their stories. Featuring stories by Eugen Bacon, Zig Zag Clayborne, Gerald L. Coleman, Ashleigh Davenport, Milton J. Davis, Minister Faust, Donovan Hall, John Jennings, Ronald Jones, Nicole Givens Kurtz, Kyoko M, Carole McDonnell, Violette Meier, T.C. Morgan, Balogun Ojetade, Hannibal Tabu, Jarla Tangh, Napoleon Wells, and K. Ceres Wright. Cyberfunk! ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1734627985

https://richardmurrayhumblr.tumblr.com/post/693729651227492352/princess-candace-has-a-monster-partner-it-is-of Here is the link to my status line https://aalbc.com/tc/profile/6477-richardmurray/?status=2044&type=status

no need for apologies

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Subsume talking with black creators https://aalbc.com/tc/profile/6477-richardmurray/?status=1816&type=status

Hello everyone! Hope you're still here. Going to jumpstart things next month and keep them going. Stay tune for new topics, author interviews and other good stuff related to Black Speculative Fiction!

Sorry for the long hiatus. Things have been busy, but we're ready to get this party re-started. Stay tuned for new member and new topics.

I absolutely agree. "The Struggle" didn't always exist. There was a time when there was no such thing. That time could come again at any moment. To me the struggle now is to see ourselves living in a world where justice prevails relentlessly. To paraphrase Dr. King: "Justice everywhere is a threat to injustice anywhere."

Yes! I know of "Aunt Nancy" (Anansi - west african origin) from the research I did for my novel. In fact, that's how I found about many of the African Gods/Goddesses. Funny thing is Western civilization would have us to believe that there's only gods/goddess from North Africa - so we ignore or not realize the greek & roman gods were just ripoffs of the indigenous deities. But for every god/goddess the West claims - there is the original from the motherland. I don't think it's disputed but like in the book and TVshow of the same name "American Gods, " the gods disappear when their people stop believing. So, sadly, colonization left us with jesus while the conquerors took and renamed the African god/ess. But early on, I think it was just translation not theft that turned Shango into Thor. For example, Shango would have been prevalent in the Viking world - because of rough traveling on stormy seas. Recent reports like the one highlighted in the NY Times https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/16/science/vikings-DNA.html indicate that the Vikings - weren't all nordic as previously thought but were made up of several ethnic groups. So, trading stories about weather gods probably helped calm the sailors.

To most people in Nigeria that is the face of FESTAC (Festival of African Culture). In actuality she is Iyoba Idia Esigie. It is a belt buckle made of Ivory honoring the Queen mother of Benin. https://guardian.ng/life/the-untold-tale-between-oba-esigie-and-iyoba-idia-of-benin/

Not really but Spidey in the comics is a smart aleck. @Nnamdi Azikiwethe style is similar without the lines that Kirby drew. I wasn't found of Kirby for that very reason. Also do you know the name of that piece of sculpture on the book cover? Season two of American Gods really showcased the Ananzi and the Black Gods, then he was removed from the story.

I don't know that. I know Anansi was in American Gods. I know Hulk is the Jewish golem. Iron Man was a European myth. The Fantastic Four are Earth Wind Fire and Water (The Thing, Invisible Girl, The Human Torch and Mr. Fantastic) of course Thor is the Nordic/Viking God. I do know Hugo Canuto did something special with the Tales of the Orixas. I'll never get over how close he emulates Jack Kirby's style. https://hugocanuto.com/gallery/contos-dos-orixas-tales-of-the-orishas/ Joseph Campbell tried to redeem himself at the end and take back his claim that there was only one story...being told by everyone except people in Africa. I was really annoyed by that. Apparently I was not the only one. Clyde Ford put the issue to rest with The Hero with An African Face. https://aalbc.com/books/bookinfo.php?isbn13=9780553378689

I absolutely agree. "The Struggle" didn't always exist. There was a time when there was no such thing. That time could come again at any moment.

@Mel Hopkins you know Spiderman is a rip off of Anansi who is very clever.

Had vaguely heard about Raising Dion until this day. Thank you @Delano for making me watch what I guess was the Pre-viz.

Maybe it was. In fact, I might have subconsciously been motivated by my disappointment in Stan to write what I call Keyamsha the Awakening for that same reason. We live in a world of infinite possibilities of which we are living only one. In a parallel universe I might have tracked down Stan before he ventured into the great beyond and put some of this to him so we can get a definitive answer. Or maybe the answer lies somewhere in a book we haven't explored yet. It is kind of hard to let ol' Stan off the hook knowing that in 1960 appeared an English language version of a story by Michael Verne attributed to his father Jules with a bit more than a passing similarity to the idea of Wakanda...except with Tarzan framed characters added in for good measure. Of course Verne was a compatriot of the notorious Felix Dubois, the first Europen to enter Timbuktu. The 1960 publication of City in the Sahara/The Barsac Mission puts us back in the Silver Age of Marvel, in Africa with high technology isolated from the rest of Africa. Possibilities. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_City_in_the_Sahara/jYwd1jgmSKkC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=city+in+the+sahara+jules+verne&printsec=frontcover You just described the theme of Stephen King's "On Writing." He didn't know he was going to write Carrie until he wrote it. Then he threw it in the trash. His wife found it and made him finish it. Carrie might have been struggling, but the struggle wasn't King's own. It was a composite of several people culminating in a coming of age story that many people relate to. We want Carrie to win because King made us care about her and her struggle became ours. For instance instead of racism, what about the emotions it produces. Make it something unconnected to it but sparking the same emotions. Rod Serling tried going away from Emmett Till in "A Town Has Turned To Dust." He got the same effect, emotionally, but was dissatisfied with the story. "Noon on Doomsday" was supposed to be his retelling of Emmett Till but the sponsors didn't go for it.

What if that was the point? What if Stan Lee made Wakanda separate for that very reason. In hopes, someone like you to come along and raise this point. Our content, our literature, always ask a question. This is what makes literature (comic books included) the best conceptual teacher! So, for example, you come to the aalbc community and teach / remind us about the Berlin conference - and now we are able to build our knowledge with that piece of the puzzle. One thing I learned after publishing my debut novel and gathering intel on my readers is that comic book aficionados are a “rare intelligent breed.” Stan Lee knew his audience and subconscious or not - if you want to keep a secret, hide it in a book. So, maybe Wakanda was a wink and a nod conversation starter. As you’ll see here in this forum - there are facts, perception and perspective and they rarely meet. But I do like conversations that help me understand the world a bit better. I like the short film that led to Raising Dion - better than Netflix’s version. The short was a true allegory of how to raise a black boy in a world that wants to steal his power. I have a hard time with Thor. I’m still mad at that one @Delano because Thor is a ripoff of “T'shango, the Yoruba god of lightning & thunder. He is a warrior god and wielded a wicked hammer and thunderstones according to legend.

The Director of Black Panther also did Fruitvale Station with Michael B Jordan. Raising Dion is also interesting which is produced by Michael B. Jordan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6koPaImHzY