final blog

The dreamer and the dream.......

When considering the DS9 episode, "Far Beyond the Stars" it is impossible to not note the afrofuturistic elements and implications.

One afrofuturistic message I observed in the episode was the black Baseball player's commentary on how he may be wealthy and a sports hero, but outside of the game he is just another "negro" to whites. He lives in the lower class "black" neighborhood because of this social racial restriction, emphasizing that the class structure is ultimately based on race, and there is nothing that can be done to escape the "fact of blackness". Additionally, this same character is somewhat of a hero in the black community for his success, yet he recognizes that his career is [nearly] the only one which is open for blacks to "make it" in. This is emphasized by his comments to a young black fan, in which he encourages him to work hard and persevere in order to get ahead, but he is being sarcastic- revealing the reality of the condition and potential for social and individual [black] improvement; quickly adding on "hah! who am I kidding? You better learn how to play basketball."

Perhaps more afrofuturistically significant however, is the that the episode itself simultaneously explores imagined realities of both the future and the past with regards to race relations and the roles of Blacks within society.

The main character is transported back to a reality in which racial equality is nonexistent and he , as a writer is instructed to "spread the message" of an optimistic future for blacks in which they will be excelling in vocations presently closed off to them. By imagining both future and past realities, the audience is compelled to map out the time in between, and in doing so prompted into imagining/ mapping the path for such a future.

blog post 7

"I begin, a sentence lover. I'm forever delighted, then, delighted all over, at the things sentences can trip and trick you into saying. I'm astonished -- just plain tickled! -- at the sharp turns and tiny tremors they can whip your thoughts across. I'm entranced at their lollop and flow, their prickles and points."
-- Samuel Delany



1) It was a simple, beautiful, traditional song- I'd heard it fifteen or twenty times on various hunts ("Ihave come to carol my search for guarry of the mind, only to encounter in the mind of another...."); I was both moved and dissapointed. There re flambouyant songs, sung wiwth seven or more toungues at once, full of buzzings, clickings, and poppings, highly rhythmic, where one tongue acctually slaps and vibrtes aginst other tongues-songs designed almost exclusively to impress and excite humans, true.

2) In this passage I think Delany Is talking more bout language rather than "songs". I think he is suggesting that language may be created with motive- the motive and intention of impressing a certin audience, for example. Also, I think Delany is exemplifying this very element within this sentance itsself, the use of descriptive words/ language, as well as employment of multiple various types of punctuation/ grammar constructs a sentnce which is somewhat of a n art form in itsself- perhaps like a song?

post # 6

While the posted criteria for this blog state that I must discuss the story "Space Traders" with another of the assigned texts, I decided to pursue a more pressing element of the text. Yet, the story may be compared to "Brother from Another Planet," in that my interpretation does suggest the condition of the african americans to be comparible to that of a hostage, which is similar to that of the slave state which the "brother" is escaping from. However, the brother is escaping a fate of control by higher authoritative figures, where as the blacks of Space Traders are not......

At any rate:

One aspect of “Space Traders” which we discussed briefly in class was the “visitor’s” adoption and use of “Reagan-esque” English. It was noted in class that President Reagan perhaps had taken some actions during his presidency which may have not been in the best interest for African-Americans. Yet, I feel that the alien’s utilization of this accent was not necessarily an attempt to imply that Reagan had promoted an anti-black agenda. Instead, the events and circumstances of the story seem to be more comparable to the Iranian hostage release which occurred January 20^th, 1981.

For an overview of Ronald Reagan’s Presidency and additional information regarding this event, I consulted Wikipedia:

► During his Presidency, Ronald Reagan pursued policies that reflected his optimism in individual freedom, promoted individual liberty domestically, and pursued freedom abroad.

The "Reagan Revolution" as it came to be known, aimed to reinvigorate American morale, and reduce the people's reliance upon government.

Addressing the economic malaise he inherited, in his inaugural address Reagan argued, "Government is not the solution to our problems. Government is the problem."

The Reagan Presidency began in a historic manner. The first major event happened just thirty minutes into the administration on January 20, 1981. As he was delivering his inaugural address, fifty-two American hostages, held by Iran for 444 days, were set free.

►444 days hostage

The hostage-takers, declaring their solidarity with other "oppressed minorities" and "the special place of women in Islam," released 13 women and African-Americans in the middle of November 1979.

[The other] hostages were held captive until January 1981 and were often paraded blindfolded before local crowds and television cameras. The crisis led to daily, seemingly unchanging news updates.

In the United States, the public was all but unanimously outraged against the perpetrators' taking hostages. The action was seen "not just as a diplomatic affront," but as a "declaration of war on diplomacy itself".

U.S. President Jimmy Carter applied economic and diplomatic pressure on Iran: oil imports from Iran were ended on November 12, 1979, and through the issuance of Executive Order 12170, around USD 8 billion of Iranian assets in the U.S. were frozen by the Office of Foreign Assets Control on November 14, 1979. A number of Iranians in the U.S. were also expelled.

Upon absorbing the information [Wikipedia, above] regarding this event, my impulse was to find out more! Although I am admittedly a helpless sucker for literary endeavors which involve decoding elaborate political messages, I felt restraint out to be shown. Hence, my analysis ought to be considered not as a sound declaration, but more appropriately as a preliminary speculation.

My theory is that the “visitors” are representative not of the Iranian Hostage takers, but of Ronald Reagan and the US government during his Presidency. The United States of the story is conversely cast the role of the Iranian hostage takers, translating the state of African Americans as “hostages”.

If considered at this angle, the text takes on a distinctly Afro-futuristic light, as the visitors are not terrorists but liberators, whom have come to negotiate for the release of all the African Americans being abused and held hostage by the United States.

In Space Traders, the visitors negotiated for the relinquishing of all the African Americans in the US in exchange for national relief from environmental, economic, and social hardships. This is similar to the US government’s conditional lifting of the Executive Order 12170 upon the safe release of the hostages.

The interpretation of the story in this fashion also makes sense because the visitors are actually portrayed positively as a superior race which is eloquent and clearly calmly in control of the situation. Conversely, the US government is in a relatively subordinate state of chaos and conflict.

Also, the condition of the African Americans in the story is marked by confusion, uncertainty, and complete loss of control over their lives. In the story, the fate of all blacks is determined not by them, but through negotiations between the visitors and their nations government. This state is similar to the helplessness experienced by the hostages, whose lives were also completely in the hands of their captors and the authoritative negotiating party [the US government].

Group Blog "Vivid.....! Speculative......!"

Fanon's piece may be read as science fiction in that it utilzes vivid imagry and makes large statements through metaphores and paralells, as well as through symbolism. The language usage also reminded me of Cane, in that it utilized many differnet genres. ANother aspect of the text which struck me as beeing very stylistic was Fanon's usage of [.......] to indicate the trailing off of speech and thought, as well as [!] to indicate high emotion, as in "Blood! Blood!". This leads me to the use of repeating phrases in an almost poetic style, as is the case with the aformentioned quote. Lastly, Fanon's use of description , frequently regarding himself and experience, which describes him in non human language; at one point he states that he feels the negro race is at a symbolic stage of insects and uses first person narrative to make a statement in which he mentions his "anntenna", ascribing the anatonmy of an insect to himself.