A quick signal boost for something awesome:

Arthur Hlavaty (aka supergee) is offering a scholarship for a person of color to attend the IAFA (International Association for the Fantastic in the Art) conference this year. The theme is Race and the Fantastic, with such luminaries as Nalo Hopkinson and Laurence Yep and Takayumi Tatsuki as the guests of honor.

The qualifications for the scholarship are:


The only qualifications are that you have an interest in race and fantastic literature including science-fiction and/or horror, identify and are known as someone who is not white, will be 21 or over in March, want to actively participate in conference activities/discussions, and cannot get money from a university to help you attend. You can be at a university with poor funding, be a grad or undergrad student or someone else who does not qualify for funding, or not be affiliated with a university. We will decide on our own criteria, including (but far from limited to) any writing you have done that we have seen and if we already know you personally; the decision is not subject to debate.

So if you are reading this and you qualify for it, I would definitely urge you to take a shot. The decision will be made on November 12th, which gives you six days. I'd certainly love to be able to go to this conference (eee! Nalo Hopkinson! My inner fangirl shrieks with joy!) and there has never been a topic that needs talking about as much as race in SF/F.

Dear Person Who Is Spamming Me With Their Petition,

You sent me ( this petition, copied and pasted beneath the cut )


Starting your petition with the headline "We Get the Toxic Chemicals Even China Doesn't Want" is actually a way to show me that you're more concerned with making the Chinese look like dirty, morally corrupt people who are foisting their trash on us hardworking, upright, clean (read: white) Americans (I'm surprised you didn't mention those grubby Chinese stealing our jobs!) than being concerned about toxic chemicals. It's amazing how you took an entire range of bigotry, prejudice, and historical mistrust of the Chinese and managed to squeeze it into one perfectly atrocious sentence.

Furthermore, why it is that you're so concerned about these "toxic chemicals" - which you leave conveniently unnamed and unspecified - are coming from China? So, if the chemicals come from England or Canada or France, then that's okay?

If American laws concerning environmental safety are weak and allowing the importation from ANYWHERE of dangerous substances, that's a perfectly legitimate cause. Saying, "The Government Is Not Doing Enough to Protect Its Citizens!" is not only fair, but completely true. Starting a petition to get the government to enforce existing laws and allow the EPA more power to arrest, fine, and punish offenders is completely a good idea.

But pointing fingers at other countries, especially countries that you know have a bad reputation -- fueled by very lopsided media coverage -- is out and out racism. You've just sent out an email to hundreds, maybe thousands, giving them just a little more help in thinking of China as being dirty and weird and full of scary brown people.

The only thing you're raising awareness of right now is your bigotry. And your appalling lack of scientific knowledge with this gem of a sidebar:

It's gotten to the point that every American alive today, including newborn babies, has hundreds of chemicals flowing through their blood.

That is the single stupidest statement that I've ever heard. Of course everyone, even newborn babies, has chemicals flowing through them. If you had no chemicals in your blood, you'd be dead, dumbass. They're called nutrients and hormones and vitamins and minerals and antibodies. Milk, for instance, is so chemically complex a substance that scientists still don't understand it. It hasn't been tested, so far as I know, for safety in any lab. Should we ban babies from drinking milk until the proper studies have been done?

Using the phrase "toxic chemicals" without being specific is stupid. Any chemical in the right level is toxic to a human being. Oxygen at too high a saturation in the blood can kill you. H20, our friend water, has killed many a human being. It's called drowning. And yes, water is a chemical.

I don't know if anyone has tested water or oxygen for their safety in a lab and determined if Americans should still be breathing and drinking. Do you think we should impose a respiration ban until the necessary tests have done?

On behalf of science and humanity in general, I would like to request that you cease and desist sending these emails and, in fact, cease and desist opening your big mouth until you have something intelligent to say.

All My Disgust and Disapproval,
Meg

handyhunter has a must-read Special Guest post on Cultural Appropriation over at Dear Author.

If you need a sample of how true the post is:

It is not diversity to have white people running around in foreign lands without much thought to the people who are native to those lands. I can’t say I find it romantic when they’re in the middle of colonizing another country either; I’m not sure how I’m supposed to root for our heroes when they’re killing or enslaving other people, or condoning/profiting from it

I recommend that you get over there and read it (several times, even) immediately. Bookmark it for later reference. Everything she says is right and true and I couldn't agree more.


Et tu, Amy Poehler? What's so funny about desiring a big, black woman? written by What Tami Said over at Racialicious.

Poehler is about some sort of “girl power.” She launched the “Smart Girls at the Party” Web series to “help girls find confidence in their own aspirations and talents.” Perhaps this kind of empowerment is only for some girls–ones of the right color and size–because I can’t imagine how seeing themselves portrayed as undesireable might empower young, black girls or girls who are overweight. Always being the butt of the joke rarely inspires confidence.

( brief comment on the Et tu, Amy Poehler article. Go read the article, it is better and more important than my comments! )

I'm wondering if anyone knows if there's a list anywhere of new SF/F releases by POC authors. I know there was a list of SF/F short stories by POC each month (and if someone could find that link for me, I would owe them my first born cat) - but is there anything for novel length releases?

If not, is there a list anywhere of major new SF/F releases that I could pick through to find the POC authors? Because I wouldn't mind reporting what I find, I just need to know where that information is. For that matter, is there any place that announces new releases and/or new sales in the genre?

And yes, I'm well aware of 50books_poc and such places, but they aren't focused by date or genre, and those are the two things I'm interested in right now. I wish there was a genre specific version of that community. If there is, someone please let me know.

As always, The Angry Black Woman blog comes through with a post from karnythia about The Do's and Don'ts of Being a Good Ally

( My own thoughts. Karnythia's are better and more important. Go read there first! )

The Rules for Writers based on race. Both hilarious and depressing in it's truth about the way that books are organized in bookstores. Or, as I would call this article, "Like You Needed More Proof that Borders Sucks".

My favorite passage:

Black authors can write books for grownups, but the books must always be about being pitiful and/or magical while being black, even when the characters are white, and it must be a version of blackness that makes white people feel smug and helpful because black people have it very hard and live in a parallel universe full of guns and thugs and characters either played by or loved by Oprah; it is in this universe alone that Little Kim is considered a scribe. These books will be separated from the rest of literature for the safety of everyone involved.

ktempest responds to Kathryn Cramer's proposed WisCon panel "More Oppressed Than Thou".

Just to note, Ms. Cramer has removed the post that started all this, but K. Tempest Bradford has said she will supply screencaps later on.

( My thoughts on the matter. Less important than reading Ms. Bradford's. Go there first! )

Title: The Becoming (Anna Strong Chronicles, Book 1)
Author: Jeanne C. Stein (JeanneStein.com)
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Ace


( Review: The Becoming. Big Spoilers! )

Title: Colors of the Mountain
Author: Da Chen (DaChen.org)
Genre: Non-fiction
Page Count: 320 pages
Publisher: Anchor


( Review: Colors of the Mountain )

I've seen some really good justification 'round and about the blogosphere by PoC who are telling others that they won't be doing Racism 101 anymore.

A few of the highlights:

We Don't Need Another Anti-Racism 101 by Guerilla Mama Medicine. And after what went down a couple of entries back, I really understand what she means by this:

white folks love love love being told the right words and phrases and theory to use. because white culture does not take rhetoric seriously. white culture does not have a function that says: your words and your actions must match.

( Discussion under the cut. No cookies, no derailing. And please read her words before you read mine. Hers are better and more important. Thank you. )

karnythia who is made of ten different types of awesome, discusses the experience of encountering a very obnoxious person who derailed a panel by claiming she was completely colorblind.

This person went on to make one of the most fail-ridden posts I have seen in a while. Let me give you a little sample:

( Samples and dissection of the exact nature of the fail underneath the cut. )

I'm still sorting through IBARW links and posts, and doing a lot of reading, because a whole week of mostly awesome posts is a lot to go through (though a few people did fail so hard it hurt).

I came across this really great link from N.K. Jemisin (aka nojojojo) about the problem of describing characters of color. She cites a lot of good things, including the problems with the Harry Potter books wherein the editor decided for the U.S. version to specifically point out the race of the CoC, but not the race of the white characters in the book.

Her explanation of *why* this is so problematic is very excellent, and you really ought to go read over there. Her words > my words (by a factor of about 100), so I would definitely encourage you to go listen to what she has to say and pay very close attention.

If you're a writer who wishes to pen characters of color, I definitely think this is something you need to print out, keep with you, and periodically re-read.

Oh, and on a non-related note? Why the heck isn't 2010 so I can buy The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms already. Seriously. Great cover + great sounding storyline = DO WANT.

( Discussion of the article and problems in writing describing CoC's beneath the cut )

This is how you DON'T do IBARW, and how you can actually end up disrespecting it and the people it's supposed to be for if you're just out looking for cookies.

I think Avalon's Willow has a really excellent post about it and her post is much better than this one is going to be, so go over there. And she also makes really excellent responses in the LJ in question, and I urge you to go read those.

The original post makes me angry, and this is why:

( Reasons for my anger under the cut )

Title: Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among the Ghosts
Author: Maxine Hong Kingston (Maxine Hong Kingston @ Wikipedia)
Genre: Nonfiction
Page Count: 224 pages
Publisher: Vintage International (reprint)

( Review: Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among the Ghosts )

This being International Blog Against Racism Week, I feel like I have been woefully behind in reading. I don't feel guilty for not posting, because my words? Not worth much. There are smarter, better people out there. Go check them out in the links at ibarw

But I wanted to post a thought I had.

( Okay, my contemplation isn't *that* brief. But thoughts about academia and racism are beneath the cut )

Oyate needs some help. They have a generous grant being offered to them that would help them do a lot of good things with their website (which I have used many, many times), but they're a little short on the cash to match it (it's a matching grant).

What is Oyate, you ask? In their own words:

Oyate is a Native organization working to see that our lives and histories are portrayed honestly, and so that all people will know our stories belong to us. For Indian children, it is as important as it has ever been for them to know who they are and what they come from. For all children, it is time to know and acknowledge the truths of history. Only then will they come to have the understanding and respect for each other that now, more than ever, will be necessary for life to continue.

The great Lakota leader, Tatanka Iotanka—Sitting Bull—said, “Let us put our minds together and see what life we will make for our children.” The great Cuban revolutionary, José Martí, said, “We work for children because children know how to love, because children are the hope of the world.” Our work is to nurture in our children a sense of self and community. Our hope is that they will grow up healthy and whole.

Our work includes critical evaluation of books and curricula with Indian themes, conducting of “Teaching Respect for Native Peoples” workshops and institutes; administration of a small resource center and reference library; and distribution of children’s, young adult, and teacher books and materials, with an emphasis on writing and illustration by Native people.

Our hope is that by making many excellent books available to encourage many more, especially from Native writers and artists. Oyate, our organiztion’s name, is the Dakota word for people. It was given to us by a Dakota friend.

You can help them out by going here and donating whatever you can. A dollar, five, ten, fifteen. Anything you've got. They're currently (according to popelizabet, who has a great write up about the whole thing here) about $1783.00 short of their $5000.00 goal, and the deadline is on Saturday, August 1st. Come on, that's totally doable, people!

I know money it tight right now for a whole lot of people, and even if you can't donate, pass the links and the info on. But if you can give anything, please do. This is a really great cause, a great site, and a great goal they're working towards.

After MammothFail, I think it's apparent to us all how important things like this are, so that Native children and youth can have their peoples' stories and histories back in their own hands instead of twisted around and then thrown in their faces by non-Native writers who, while well meaning, may do more harm than good for them. Sites like Oyate help with that.

That's $1783 dollars. That's not unreachable, but only if people get in there and really donate and help!

So, donate whatever you can. Signal boost and pass this on. Let's help them out. Crazy as you may be, internets, you can be a force for good.

If you've ever watched the new Doctor Who, particularly the 9th Doctor's run, you'll see there's a bit where the Doctor gets into an argument with one of the people running a game station where the games actually result in the deaths of those who lose. And that person, who otherwise seems like a decent human being, says, "We were just doing our jobs!"

In that moment you hear an echo of every person who's ever decided to keep their head down and maintain the status quo at someone else's expense. You hear the trials of the Nazis at Nuremberg, the the people in America who rounded up the Japanese into internment camps, the slave traders and slave owners, the soldiers who massacre civilians and all the others who have been just cogs in the great machine of someone else's oppression and devastation.

And the Doctor (so very brilliantly) says, "And with that sentence, you just lost the right to even talk to me!"

So it shall be with anyone who feels the need to come to me and argue that racism isn't a problem in this country or in the SF/F genre, or wants to ask me why I make such a big fuss over these "race things", or that it doesn't matter.

( Reasons and links beneath the cut, if you need that kind of explanation. )

1. The Top 10 Geeky Things You Don't Know About Romance Writers.

fashionista_35 gets a mention for her Gambit love (which I share). I want to be her when I grow up.


2. I love The Book Barn. Despite the humidity this go, I found some real winners! My finds for this trip:


Snake Agent - Liz Williams
The Demon and the City - Liz Williams
The Becoming - Jeanne C. Stein
Heart of Stone - C.E. Murphy
Happy Hour at Casa Dracula - Marta Acosta
*The Changing Face of China: From Mao to Market - John Gittings
*Colors of the Mountain - Da Chen
*The Woman Warrior - Maxine Hong Kingston
*The Rise of Modern China, Fifth Ed - Immanuel C.Y. Hsu

The starred books are those that I got for basic research on the UF!2Girls novel. The Book Barn had a surprisingly large section on Chinese history, though their selection was more skewed towards pre-1800's history. And while I find the Warring States Period fascinating, it's not as relevant to the material I'm writing as more modern, post-Revolution books are.

I didn't find any books on learning Mandarin, but I may have looked in the wrong area. I'm trying my best to learn as much about the language and get it in my headspace while I'm writing.

Right now, I can't competently say "hello" - but man it makes me miss school. I forgot how fun learning things is, especially when it's something you knew nothing about previously.


3. I have gone over to the dark side. Sorry, guys, they had cookies. And by dark side, I mean Twitter. Yes, I have a Twitter account, @wordroot. I've actually had it for a couple of weeks, but I haven't been using it as a blog or a social networking tool or anything. I've been using it more for a quick way to make small research notes and keep track of my progress on this novel as I go along. I don't expect it to be interesting to anyone, but I thought I'd let you know in case I friend you on there and you're all, "WTF? Who is this crazy person?"

Fear not, though. I will NOT EVER be shipping my Tweets to LJ. Nor will I be using Twitter as my main blogging venue. So if you hate Twitter, don't worry. I'll be keeping my peas and potatoes on separate sides of the plate.

Like I said, mostly just a tool for making quick notes which are easily put together in one source. Feel free to ignore it.


4. Yes, I have been keeping up with the epic race failings of Harlan Ellison and all the ways that ktempest is made out of pure awesome, and I'll make a post about it later when I won't be derailing or taking anything away. However, if you haven't heard about the situation, get the story straight from her. Also nojojojo has a really great post about the first letter he wrote and an even better breakdown of exactly what made Harlan Ellison's "apology" for the EPIC FAILURE.

Honestly, I hate to say it, but I'm not surprised. I'm sorry that Ms. Bradford had put up with this, that she had to deal with such rank, rancid unprofessionalism from someone who should know better. More than that, I'm sorry that this is not an isolated incident. This is not just Harlan-Being-Cranky. The thing I'm sorriest about is that this is part and parcel of the racism and sexism that embedded in SF/F as it stands, because it shouldn't be like that.

Like I said, a coherent post later. Go read those links, because they are written by far smarter ladies than I.

Title: Thunderbird Falls (Walker Papers, Book 2)
Author: C.E. Murphy (mizkit; CEMurphy.net.
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Page Count:
Publisher: Luna (Harlequin)


( Review: Thunderbird Falls by C.E. Murphy )

Black and Latino children turned away from a swim club because they might change the "complexion" of the pool. (Thank you to scififanatic for the link).

This is why I get upset when white people come to this journal and try to act like white privilege doesn't exist. This, my friends? Is white privilege in action. Don't you dare tell me that racism is dead, or try to throw the dictionary definition of racism at me as though somehow cutting and pasting something from Webster makes things like this suddenly stop existing. Racism = power + prejudice. Don't agree? Fine, be it on your own head. But do not even attempt to come here and argue that point with me, because I have no interest in listening to you deny reality when it stares us all in the face.

This is why I don't tolerate people who want to come here and deny to me that racism still affects people's lives daily in this nation. No matter how many Black presidents we elect or Latina justices get appointed, so long as things like this are even imaginable, much less a reality, in this country, we will not have moved forward the way we must. Token symbols are not enough. Equality, diversity, and mutual tolerance and respect need to come from the ground up.

This is why I examine everything I read and write and ask myself to examine my own privilege as a white person, and why I feel that I cannot justify doing anything less.

This is why I get pissed when I see my fellow white people pretending they know bugger all about racism and how it works, and why I get pissed when white authors who act like they're so enlightened about race try to derail conversations about racism, when they think themselves somehow worthy to teach everyone else about racism and tell us all to shut up about it, because it makes them just slightly uncomfortable. Because they don't have to worry about their kids getting kicked out of a pool they paid to swim in for "changing the complexion" - because THEY haven't had the thorn of racism digging in their sides their entire life. Because rather than be uncomfortable for five goddamn minutes in order to help someone else, they tell us all to shut up about it so they can wander back to White Privilege Land, without realizing they're living there at someone else's expense. And who think that crocodile tears on the internet will fix everything, but still keep writing books that erase people of color or whitewash them. We white people have already had plenty     of    teachers    to    teach    us. What we need now are students. People willing to shut the sweet lovely fuck UP and listen. Starting with me. Because for all that I post about this? I know I need to listen twice as much to the people who suffer from this oppression, this racism, this unreasonable, unconscionable state of affairs in ways that I never will.

This is why I am trying so hard to be a good ally. I believe my country is better than this. I know that the people of my country deserve better than this. Especially those kids in Philadelphia. I cannot control the actions of others, but I can start with myself. I can learn, I can listen, I can do better, I can be better, I can help, I can support, I can speak out. And above all, I can keep my eyes open.





ETA: Typos, grammar, coding. I should *so* not type when I'm pissed off.

It's a hard thing, sometimes, when you realize just how ingrained racism is in SF/F literature, especially the mainstream. Especially when, if you're like me, you come from the blind, privileged section of the world that has been able to overlook such things and still can, if they choose to.

I try to choose not to, but sometimes that means that I can't feel as warm and fuzzy about books which other people seem to get a kick out. Which is a small thing compared to what fans of color have gone through, and believe me I'm not here to harp on my poor White Woman Pain (oh, the hardship of being white! *swoons dramatically*).

Case in point? Not only did I just get finished with a book about thousands of alternative universes, none of which included a universe in which White/European was not the dominant culture, but I picked up "Dead Witch Walking" by Kim Harrison and got kind of a nasty surprise in a few passages both in terms of race and queerness.

( The bits of text and the problems I find in them and a discussion therein. As always, no cookies and constructive discussion only. )

A great overview of Indian speculative fiction, past and present by Mihir Wanchoo over at fantasybookcritic.com. I like that site (though it's cluttered and ad-filled), and I really loved his article. Also I didn't know the Mahabharata was available for free on sacred-texts.com's site

I learned stuff I didn't know!

But it made me ask a question: is there a database or list anywhere of short speculative fiction written by authors of color that's freely available on the internet? And would it be a good idea to collect these links in one place?

I debate this, because while I am all for signal boosting and encouraging people to read the works of authors of color as much as they can, I'd also hate to feel like such a collection of links would somehow discourage people from paying for those works, or from seeking out fiction by those authors which isn't freely available. Part of me hopes it would be free advertising for those authors, and maybe a good way to start a word-of-mouth buzz if they were to come out with, say, a novel. But I wouldn't want to be doing something inadvertently harmful.

I wonder if there's a list somewhere of new and upcoming works (novels, short stories, graphic novels, etc) to be released by authors of color. Now, that I'd love to have available. Plus, also it would be a buzz generating tool to make people aware that these awesome works are out there for the reading (and preferably buying).

I know there's a non-exhaustive list of authors of color working in the SF/F field with bibliographies that can be found here (compiled by madam_silvertip. And check the comments for additional writers that others have suggested), but I don't think simply collecting name, rank, and bibliography is the same as a free-for-all linking to free fiction.

Thoughts, internets?

In light of the remark that Ms. Bujold made (just go two entries back!) about the magical non-existence of fans of color before the internet (which actually is older than Bujold would seem to believe), I felt compelled to say something that I didn't say in comments.

( Some meditations on PoC SF/F fans and how that's intersected with me. Then some other things. As always, it's a cookie free zone here, folks. I'm on a diet. Don't feed me. And yeah, cut for length. Because this went to a TL;DR place in a hurry. )

I imagine some kind of buzz is getting started concerning just how much FAIL is inherent in Patricia Wrede's new novel The Thirteenth Child in which she decides to retell the history of the Americas by erasing the people who were here long before Europeans decided to come. Instead of finding people, the Europeans who come over find magical animals and as a bonus, none of those troublesome native peoples who so stubbornly refused to see that they were dirty, ugly, and wrong and standing in the way of shiny new WHITE progress!

There are probably a lot of people who are saying things about this much better than I am. And there is some very useful links about the entire situation compiled by naraht on DW.

But the smartest and most accurate comment is from holyschist on DW who said:

Basically, to imagine an America (perhaps a world) without genocide and slavery, she erased the victims.

( More discussion on race, erasure, literature, history and other things. Also, RaceFail09. )

Dear Authors of the World,

If I read one more novel where the only openly gay, lesbian, trans, or bi character in the book dies, somebody's getting a fucking slap. I'm getting tired of this. That makes two books in a row, and I've lost count of how many in total.

I'm not asking that no GLBT characters ever die. But maybe if there's only one in the whole book, they could, I dunno, live to see the sequel. Or you could have more than one token queer. Whichever.

And yeah, same goes with race and gender. If the straight, white males or straight white people or straight males (or any permutation therein) have a higher survival rate than everyone else? Then the problem is with you and not me and you need to get some help for that.

Because I promise you that it will translate into your sales being at least one book less than they would have been.


Love Conditional On Compliance,
Me