Spotlight
Creative Brother’s Sci-Fi Magazine
I’ve been an avid reader of science
fiction and fantasy for most of my life. It’s ignited my imagination, inspired
my goals and dreams, and provided fuel for the creative fire that has burned
within me since I was a child. Although I didn’t realize it until recent years,
despite the wonder and excitement I found within the pages of these books, the
one thing I rarely found were people like me, people with non-White skin and
culturally diverse backgrounds unlike those of the stereotypical American or
European standards that most literature assumes.
As I later became an artist and then
a writer myself, I found myself often creating works with an Afro-centric
flavor, things that were meant for all to enjoy, but which reflected the
personal style and sentiment of my people and culture. But what I found was few
if any opportunities to sell such work. Though Black/African culture is both
displayed and exploited throughout our everyday lives, anything clearly
alluding to “blackness” seems to be much more difficult to sell.
That’s where Creative Brother’s Sci-Fi
Magazine comes in.
As far as I know, Creative
Brother’s is not only the first, but still the only speculative fiction
market specifically for stories about and for people of color. Though receiving
no fanfare and reaching a limited marketplace, the semi-annual magazine has just
published its tenth issue, thanks to the persistence and dedication of the
magazine’s creator and editor, Cecil Washington, who is himself the author of
several books, including his latest, Void, and Soul of Paris, the sequel to Badlands.
The
current issue has stories from Washington himself and Malon Edwards, two poems from
Paul Blakeford, an analysis of the plagiarism case of author Sophia Stewart
versus the Wachowski brothers, and the underlying theme of the issue is the
ideals on race expressed by Dr. Frances Cress-Welsing and Neely Fuller Jr.,
whose views may be highly controversial to many, but are great fodder for the
very kinds of study and exploration that reflects science fiction at its best.
Creative Brother’s Sci-Fi Magazine is a haven, and maybe even a godsend to
those of us that have tales of being black aching to be told but not having a
place to go. Thanks to Cecil Washington, there is a regularly published venue
where the Black Diaspora has a voice, where for once we are allowed to “call it
as we see it” without fear that our stories will be watered down or rejected
for fear of offending others. A quiet
revolution is taking place due to the power of the Internet and the emerging
technologies enabling each individual to publish their wares without waiting
for the old-guard establishment to grant validation to these non-mainstream
works. Cecil Washington and his magazine are a prime example of what the future
holds for the publishing industry, a new independence from the old establishments and the freedom to express oneself in whatever manner you wish. I encourage all of you to get behind this magazine and help it to
achieve the success that it truly deserves.
This post is part of the Writers of Color Blog Tour spotlighting author Cecil Washington and the milestone 10th issue of his Creative Brother’s Sci-Fi Magazine.
Other posts from this Blog Tour:
An interview at East
of Mars
Carole McDonnell's spotlight on Cecil Washington
