Tag Archives: Octavia Butler

Kindred’s Race Lessons

By Robin Bates | Published: December 13, 2022

Butler’s “Kindred” awakens us to our racial blindnesses.

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Butler’s Nightmare Climate Change Vision

By Robin Bates | Published: September 11, 2022

In “Parable of the Sower,” Butler foresees the human toll of climate change but also looks for hope in our response.

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Butler’s Theology in Parable of the Sower

By Robin Bates | Published: August 27, 2022

Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” shows new ways of imagining God.

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Our Most Prescient Sci-Fi Writer?

By Robin Bates | Published: July 31, 2017

A “New Yorker” article argues that Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Seed” wins out over “1984” and “Handmaid’s Tale” in “the ongoing contest over which dystopian classic is most applicable to our time.”

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Butler & Grappling with White Privilege

By Robin Bates | Published: October 2, 2016

The figure of the white husband in Octavia Butler’s “Kindred” captures many of the blind spots of white privilege. Examining him led me to examine how I myself have benefitted from America’s slave past.

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We Must Revisit Slavery To Find Healing

By Robin Bates | Published: September 29, 2016

After attending some remarkable reconciliation events dealing with America’s history of slavery, I now have a better understanding of Octavia Butler’s time travel novel about slavery–and about why the protagonist doesn’t escape back to the present unharmed.

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Butler’s 1998 Sci-Fi Novel Predicted Trump

By Robin Bates | Published: August 1, 2016

Black sci-fi author Octavia Butler predicted Donald Trump through her depiction of a rightwing demagogue in her 1998 novel “Parable of the Talents.” Her figure even promises to “make America great again.”

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