Black Grit: or, Why I Study Race and Racism in Science Fiction

Isiah Lavender III | “Why study race in science fiction?” Answering that personal question, the heart of my professional being, requires Doctor Who’s TARDIS, preferably accompanied by the fourth (Tom Baker) or tenth (David Tennant) incarnation of the Doctor. — I fondly remember watching television shows in my childhood like Doctor Who, Buck Rogers, and V.…

That Old Black Magic: Women, Race, and Post-Millennial U.S. Science Fiction Television

Elyce Helford | Though the present and future of post-millennial American science fiction television varies greatly from program to program, all are arguably driven by a melting-pot white ethic that reveals gains for white women and far less for people of color, especially African American women. While programming remains overwhelmingly produced by white men, white…