Black fantasy is an interesting subgenre for a variety of reasons. Fantasy is a genre where the rules and customs of our society don’t have to be present in the story because the author creates their own. The degree of suspension of disbelief required to read a fantasy story through the lens of the author is high due to the various customs we’re used to. This is what makes black fantasy so intriguing.
Writing a story with black main characters without any mention of slavery, racism, colorism, etc. is obtuse and can minimize the struggles of black people, which is why it’s almost impossible to write stories with Black main characters without mentioning some type of discrimination Black people face. However, fantasy has the tendency to use struggles plaguing our society in the story to familiarize the readers with the themes of the created world. For example, a popular theme in Harry Potter is the discrimination between Muggles, Purebloods and everyone in between. The audience can understand discrimination without need of an explanation, even if the idea of a Muggle isn’t something they can grasp right away.
This is why fantasy is a great medium to talk about black issues, because things like racism and discrimination can be addressed both overtly and covertly. One great example of colorism, an intra-community black issue, addressed in a black fantasy novel is the discrimination certain characters in Tmi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone face. If you’re interested in seeing the ways discrimination and racism are addressed in other black fantasy novels, here are a few titles to check out:
- Oh My Gods – Alexandra Shepherds
- Black Leopard Red Wolf – Marlon James
- Children of Blood and Bone – Tomi Adeyemi
- Kingdom of Souls – Rena Barron
Black fantasy is important because Black people have as much of a right to celebrate their culture through all mediums as any other race does. The beauty of fantasy is that it can explore any aspect of culture, religion, etc. while maintaining the rules for that world established by the author. It provides freedom to explore issues that may be difficult to talk about otherwise and opens doors for black authors to express themselves in a way that is satisfying and easy to consume.
written by Writing Barn intern Madison Cotton