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    Quantum Jimmies of Pangaean Are Both Russled And Not RussledYesha
    11/13/17 2:26pm

    Thank you, thank you, thank you for this list. Please do not overlook the Blade movies and TV series.

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      Tim WernerQuantum Jimmies of Pangaean Are Both Russled And Not Russled
      11/13/17 2:40pm

      Sticky Fingaz!

      I took an unreasonable liking to that show back in the day, it was more entertaining than it had any right to be. Naturally it was cancelled after one season.

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      Quantum Jimmies of Pangaean Are Both Russled And Not RussledTim Werner
      11/13/17 2:53pm

      The protagonist(s) of the Blade offerings were driven, unrelenting, unapologetic, and followed their own agendas, all as driven, fierce black males. They were quick to resort to the sword and gun, and embraced violent solutions without holding up the Bible or a borrowed goal from a white lead. US entertainment is still not ready for what Blade (and possibly a good chunk of Black Exploitation movies) offered.

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    Monkeypox0104Yesha
    11/13/17 3:45pm

    Can I just add to this amazing list? Nnedi Okarafor’s book called Who Fears Death is currently in development as a TV series at HBO under the executive production of George RR Martin. She has an entire series of Afro-futuristic novellas including one called Binti. Her name keeps being erased from her work, which is incredibly frustrating and disheartening, but I am excited for this series: http://deadline.com/2017/07/who-fears-death-development-hbo-george-r-r-martin-producing-author-says-1202126229/

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      llaalleellMonkeypox0104
      11/13/17 4:09pm

      Basically everything by Nnedi Okorafor! I like Book of Phoenix even better, which felt so cathartic. But Akata Witch is ace.

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      Monkeypox0104llaalleell
      11/13/17 4:16pm

      I am currently trying to finish reading 4 different books, so I have Akata Witch and Akata Warrior on deck to rotate in next. I can’t wait and I have a feeling I might just give in to my urge and start reading these too.

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    ObscurenounYesha
    11/13/17 4:05pm

    Thank you for this list and intersectional inclusion. I liked Tananarive Due’s African Immortals series and Jewelle Gomez’ Gilda stories. Also, magic realism in Gloria Naylor’s Mama Day and Teryn Williams’ Rose from the Bayou.

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      Petty Baelish AKA Bigly BadObscurenoun
      11/13/17 5:03pm

      I liked Tananarive Due’s series too and have been meaning to give her husband, Steven Barnes, books a read.

      Also looking forward to Marlon James’s Dark Star series, which he envisions as an African ‘Game of Thrones.’ There’s plenty of real-life historical royal successions issues plus African folklore to work with and make something incredible.

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    Jane ErrorYesha
    11/13/17 3:50pm

    Love this list. Looking forward to reading most of the sci-fi books. I couldn’t really get into Octavia Butler - I wish I did, she’s a genius, but I’m irrationally picky about fiction. (It’s not her, it’s me.) So I’m glad to see other Afrofuturist recommendations I can try. 

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      kristinbytesJane Error
      11/13/17 5:58pm

      I like her work and really think Fledgling would make an excellent film, or possibly a series if the writers expanded on the world and covered the backstory as well as moved the story forward.

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      SheeshTheseNamesJane Error
      11/14/17 10:35am

      Which Butler did you read? People who aren’t usually into her crazier stuff usually like “Kindred” or “Fledging” better. “Parable of the Sower” and “Parable of the Talents” tend to be interesting to more people, too.

      Are you a hard sci-fi person? I have a hard time finding hard sci-fi by and about Black people. If you have any suggestions, please share!

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    IamMEYesha
    11/13/17 6:20pm

    Just wanted to make this clear.

    Blade was Marvel’s first box office success, and set the stage for further comic film adaptations. Blade followed the disastrous Howard the Duck as the second Marvel property to get a wide theatrical release in the United States. The Punisher and Captain America both had films made previously, but neither saw a theatrical release in the United States.

    So before there was white men in tights/armor for Marvel it was a Duck and a Black Vampire.

    Blade was the test for Superhero movies.

    Never Forget!

    Oops I forgot, while not Marvel, Spawn beat Blade to the Theatre. Another Superhero of color.

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      YeshaIamME
      11/13/17 6:30pm

      Blade was not created by black people.

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      Chuck DeeYesha
      11/14/17 10:55am

      You know, I was talking with someone who is the epitome of ‘Woke’ the other day about this issue. His response:

      I have enjoyed too many artworks by whites involving blacks to worry about that. I worry about whether it is done well, and whether the characters had “inwardness”.

      I think that says it all.

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    Vulcan Has No MoonYesha
    11/13/17 7:50pm

    More Comics Because You Can’t Have Too Many:

    Aya series by Marguerite Abouet

    Ta-Nehisi Coates run of the  Black Panther comics(something to read waiting for the movie)

    Blade comics run by Afua Richardson

    Pre-WWII African-American speculative fiction

    Bitter Root by Walker, Brown, & Greene

    Icon and Static Shock by the late, great Dwayne McDuffie

    Niobe: She Is Life by Ashley A. Woods 

    The American Way by John Ridley & Georges Jeanty

    Agents of the Realm by Mildred Louis

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    StartingOverAgainYesha
    11/13/17 2:45pm

    When I first read Dark Matter for some reason I thought you were talking about the riveting and timeless Dark Storm.

    While I encourage everyone to purchase and spend several viewings really soaking up the hidden gem that is Dark Storm, I did find it’s inclusion here a little confusing until I realized it was a different movie.

    As woefully underappreciated and excellent as the most talented and accomplished Baldwin brother is in that film, as far as I can tell, the cast is almost as colorless as I always imagined the comeback cruise that Paula Deen did a few years back must have been.

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    NOPE. I'm out. Too toxic.Yesha
    11/13/17 2:31pm

    Dark Matter

    Don’t forget about the sequel Dark Matter: Reading the Bones.

    And thank you for this post. I knew many of these, but then there were plenty I didn’t.

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    llaalleellYesha
    11/13/17 4:17pm

    This is fantastic, thank you! I love so many of these mentions: Concrete Park, Karen Lord, BlerDCon, etc. And now I need to binge on a whole bunch of other.

    I’d add Universal Fan Con in Baltimore next year to the list, which has some great folks associated with it.

    And a plug to Rosarium Publishing that has some excellent titles, including the Afrofuturism collection and Stories for Chip. Cerise Rennie Murphy’s Order of the Seer series is also really entertaining. And Helen Oyeyemi’s The Icarus Girl is a haunting treat.

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    STLOrcaYesha
    11/13/17 2:40pm
    Black Action Tees

    Aaaand there goes my paycheck for the rest of the year. Thanks for making me homeless and divorced, y’all. But my T-shirt game will be TIGHT.

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