Starting in 1985, Michael J. Fox netted a boon for his performances in the “Back to the Future” movies.
If you recall, the premise of the movies was a man who had to go back to the past and make sure events played out so that he could exist in the future.
The concept was definitely interesting, but it was not original.
In 1979, Octavia Butler, an African-American, female science-fiction writer had already penned this concept in her book, Kindred.
The main character, a 26-year-old black female named Dana, had to go back to the past in order to repeatedly rescue a white relative, who owned her ancestors during slavery, or Dana would cease to exist in the future.
One of the most interesting twists in the story is that Dana, in her lifetime in history, is married to a white man, who latches on to her when she is pulled back to America's slavery past. Dana and her husband have to pretend to be master and slave, which makes for an interesting turn of events.
In December 2022, a miniseries adapted from the book debuted on FX.
If you didn't catch Season 1 on FX, you can watch it on Hulu.
You can learn more about Octavia Butler by clicking here to go to her official website.
Ms. Butler is a much more prolific writer than she's been given credit for, and you owe it to yourself to give her whole collection a look.
If you're interested in some excellent sci-fi writing, with an African-American flavor, check out Ms. Butler's collection:
Standalone Novels
Patternist Series
- Patternmaster
- Mind of My Mind
- Survivor
- Wild Seed
- Clay's Ark
- Seed to Harvest: Wild Seed, Mind of My Mind, Clay's Ark, and Patternmaster
Lilith's Blood Series
- Dawn (Xenogenesis, Book One)
- Adulthood Rites (Xenogenesis, Book Two)
- Imago (Xenogenesis, Book Three)
- Lilith's Brood: Dawn, Adulthood Rites, and Imago
Parable Series
Short Stories
Links in this article take you to Amazon.com. If you make a purchase after following one of these links, the African-American History Archives will receive a small commission from Amazon.com for referring you.
