Most years, we send out an email in June roughly coinciding with Octavia E. Butler’s birthday on June 22nd. Most years, that email has to do with Octavia’s work or with some of the work we do in her memory. This year is a little different, because right now we are living in the world of Parable of the Sower.
You don’t need us to enumerate all the parallels. We know you’ve been watching in horror, maybe writing to your congressional representatives, maybe going to protests, trying to be supportive to people under more stress than you, accepting support from people under less stress than you.
We can’t fix what’s wrong with the United States right now, but we must go on doing the work the Carl Brandon Society exists to do, pursuing our mission and bringing our vision to life. As a reminder, those things are:
Our Mission
The mission of the Carl Brandon Society is to increase racial and ethnic diversity in the production of and audience for speculative fiction.
Our Vision
We envision a world in which speculative fiction, about complex and diverse cultures from writers of all backgrounds, is used to understand the present and model possible futures; and where people of color are full citizens in the community of imagination and progress.
That work continues to be needed, to give hope and help for the future. Stories matter. Stories change the world. Now, more than ever, it’s important that we all tell our own stories, and that we have the tools with which to do that work.
You have helped us before, by donating, attending our classes and parties, by cheering us on. Thanks so much for that support! Help us again by donating at https://carlbrandon.org/donate/.
Sincerely,
Tempest Bradford, Jaymee Goh, Susheela Bhat Harkins, Shiv Ramdas, Victor Raymond, Kate Schaefer, Nisi Shawl, and Yang-Yang Wang
The Carl Brandon Society Steering Committee
P.S. your donation directly benefits our core programs: the Butler scholars you help us send to the Clarion workshop in San Diego and Clarion West in Seattle, the award winners you have us recognize, the online writing workshops you support or attend, the book fairs that get diverse books into kids’ hands. Please give so we can keep doing all of that – and more.