Category: Literary/ Cultural Musings
-
Not in Mixed Company 😭: The Role of Audience in Burn Down Master’s House by Clay Cane
This isn’t a review of Burn Down Master’s House by Clay Cane, a historical fiction novel, published by Penguin Random House in January 2026. The story itself is fine. This is a post that questions the novel’s position as a neoslave narrative when the novel centers the white gaze, something the genre rejects in both…
-
It’s Infuriating When Folks Say, “I Read to Escape”
I know some folks want to push back on this type of intentional reading, but in 2026, we need a change. We are losing our rights and critical-thinking skills en masse, and I need folks to combat this trend. So, acknowledge this for the rant that it is as I explain why escapism must be…
-
Octavia E. Butler Didn’t Want A Survivor Reprint
I was shocked when I heard that Octavia E. Butler’s Survivor was returning to print. For a few seconds, I couldn’t figure out what to do with my body, my hands, this news. I went to check the official Octavia Butler Website, Hachette’s website, and their social media accounts, hoping this wasn’t true. But there…
-
No, White Booktok, I Don’t Want To See Your BBC (Black Book Collection)
I don’t want to see white folks with a stack of books by Black authors for Black History Month. Every year, it’s the annual showcase of all the Black stories the white reading community plans to read in February. They morphed into a version of Vanna White, parading their Black Book Collection to the interwebs,…
-
I’d rather be an Eldritch Horror: Early Morning Musings
“If given the choice, what legendary monster would you choose to become? A vampire, werewolf, dragon? As he’s listing more and more monsters, I cut him off and I say, “an eldritch horror.” Hubby pauses his actions, looks thoughtfully into the ceiling, and then looks down at me, asking, “Like a Cthulhu?”
-
Your Bookshelves Tell Us Your Truth: Personal Ethics in Literature
Because who are we if not the art we consume? Literature is art. Art is political; therefore, literature is political.
-
Hello God, Are You There?: The Intersection of Religion and Subversion in Godpunk
My parents weren’t particularly religious until it was time to place judgment on others. But that didn’t stop my aunt from trying to convince me otherwise. I remember one of the few times she took me to her church. We woke up before sunrise to make a trek from Brooklyn to the Bronx to an…
-
Sankofa: Learning from Our History for a Better Tomorrow
I fear we don’t process the past, even the recent one, enough to properly understand and grieve to create and reimagine better and sustainable futures. As I learn about the meanings and history of the adinkra symbols, I realize one that resonates with me at this stage of my life: Sankofa. We must look back…
-
Shakespearean Scholar to Afrofuturist
While I was privileged to live in a predominantly Black neighborhood and went to public schools where most of my teachers and staff looked like me, and I gravitated to Black film and TV, I was still profoundly impacted by the white-washed American curriculum.
-
Taboo Begets Inquiry and Change in BIPOC Speculative Fiction
As someone who struggles with human interactions, I’ve always found the function of taboo in society intriguing. Mostly because I wonder if people know why they are reacting to the taboo. I usually follow a line of questioning that goes: Why do we need to fit into molds made by these societal norms? Yes, you should…
-
Welcome to The Blerd Library: A Space for Speculative Fiction
Well, I am here. Writing again. I am almost embarrassed to say it has been years since I wrote anything outside of a video or photo caption. Former English professors are shaming me right now. My English Literature degree is definitely side eying me. But, I figured in my year of delusion/ intentional self-confidence and…