“I was attracted to science fiction because it was so wide open. I was able to do anything and there were no walls to hem you in and there was no human condition that you were stopped from examining.” -Octavia Butler
This summer I read the second installment of sci-fi phenom Octavia Butler’s Earthseed series, Parable of the Talents. The series centers the life of a Black woman, Lauren Oya Olamina, from her mid teen years to the end of her life as an 81 year old woman, as she navigates the dystopian future. Set in the US in the 21st century where drugs, poverty, war and religious extremism have ravaged the country and where it is only safe to be a rich white man Olamina finds her truth and spreads her philosophy. Her belief system, Earthseed, centers around Change and its potential to be manipulated for positive purpose despite its equal potential to be a harsh teacher. Here are a few of Olamina’s verses that resonated with me, especially as I find that we are closer to this dystopia than it seems…
From EARTHSEED: THE BOOKS OF THE LIVING
Chapter 21 pg 373-74
At this point in the novel Olamina has endured enormous loss, from losing her family TWICE to being enslaved by Christian extremists who have labeled her and her belief system as heathens. She reminds herself, and us, that the past is a great teacher but we must ultimately let it go, for “what was cannot come again”. Be aware of what is happening around you and be careful not to make the same mistakes twice, the consequences can be fatal.
To survive,
Let the past
Teach you—
Past customs,
Struggles,
Leaders and thinkers.
Let
These
Help you.
Let them inspire you,
Warn you,
Give you strength.
But beware:
God is Change.
Past is past.
What was
Cannot
Come again.
To survive,
Know the past.
Let it touch you.
Then let
The past
Go.
Chapter 12 pg 203
Olamina gives her observations and experiences about ignorance after her first Earthseed community, Acorn, is taken over by Christian extremists. The first act in the seize is to incinerate all of the community’s records, books, art, and any other documents, to erase the community’s history. The extremists are ignorant in their belief of supremacy. They do not attempt to understand others but because of their power they do not have to. Ignorance is dangerous, especially in the hands that also hold the power.
Beware:
Ignorance
Protects itself.
Ignorance
Promotes suspicion.
Suspicion
Engenders fear.
Fear quails,
Irrational and blind,
Or fear looms,
Defiant and closed.
Blind, closed,
Suspicious, afraid,
Ignorance
Protects itself,
And protected,
Ignorance grows.
The First Earthseed Book of the Living
I paired one of Olamina’s first verses, which offers her explanation of Change and its malleability, with a later verse that offers an aid for the unpleasantness of Change. While she admits that Change is scary at times she proposes love and kindness as assistance. She reminds us of a lesson that many Black feminists such as Audre Lorde and bell hooks have preached, Love is Revolution!
Chapter 7 pg 126
All that you touch
You Change.
All that you Change
Changes you.
The only last truth
Is Change.
God
Is Change.
Chapter 19 pg 344
Kindness eases Change.
Love quiets fear.
Books Mentioned
