Talking About Black Representation in Books and the Power of Storytelling with Writer S.R. Toliver. скачать в хорошем качестве

Talking About Black Representation in Books and the Power of Storytelling with Writer S.R. Toliver.

"In my work, I focus on Black people. Because I think that not a lot of people do," says Routledge author, S.R. Toliver. Representation is a powerful tool that can inspire communities and amplify the voices of marginalized groups. So what happens when important stories go untold, and voices go unheard? We spoke with S.R. Toliver about the importance of Black representation in literature and how speculative fiction can offer a bit of hope. Stephanie tells us why she thinks black representation in speculative fiction is necessary: "I didn't ever see myself in those books. White girls could be the princesses and could ride dragons and go into battle. And there were white men who were magicians...but then, when it came to me, if we were even present, we were the villain. If Black people were present, we were the sidekick that never went home. You never see that they have a life outside of the white best friend. And it really bothered me." "...the moment that I found Black speculative fiction existed, my world changed..." "I remember the only books I had that featured Black people were civil rights, enslavement, somebody got shot, somebody is dead. Just really sad and hard. I can deal with that. That's life, right? There's definitely realness to those stories, and they need to be told, but that can't be the only stories we get told…that we are going to die or we're going to be enslaved or we're going to have to fight for someone to see us human. In the speculative, there's still a lot of the social issues we see in the modern world that are in there, but in that, I can have the magic to fight back. I can have a magical dragon or other being or creature to help me to go against the patriarchy or go against an oppressive society. To me, the speculative brings hope." In this interview Stephanie also explains how we can use speculative fiction and other types of storytelling as research tools. As well as why is it important to foster Black children's creativity in the classroom. Read our blog and find out more: https://bit.ly/SRToliverBlog