Why did I entitle this BLACK SCIENCE FICTION?First, we were black a lot longer than we have been African American.
Second, when I ask or tell people about DARK MATTER, the landmark anthology of black science fiction edited by Sheree Thomas, they're surprised. The title hadn't alerted them to its content.
Third, as James Brown says in his recordings: 'I'm black and I'm proud.'
Fourth, black is for all time. The people who came before us were Negroes or Colored. Now we are (some of us) African Americans. Someday, as many of my characters do, we shall move on from this land of hate and racism. My character Ian MacDonald, born a thousand years after the MOTUs destroyed the Earth, never set foot on or even saw America. Hard to call him an African American. But he is black. Even a thousand years from now.
Fifth, while African American is currently politically correct, it is nonetheless an exclusionary term. It leaves out Euro, Caribbean, Canadian, South American, Asian (thanks to Viet Nam and the disproportionate serving of blacks and Latinos in that tragic war) and African blacks. Whatever our languages, wherever we live or when we live, we are all black—even those who have endured the long nightmare of American slavery and rape.
This book is titled BLACK SCIENCE FICTION ... because it is for all the brothers and sisters of the Diaspora.
John M. Faucette Jr.
New York City 2001
Email: john_faucette@hotmail.com