The webinar series ‘Octavia Tried To Tell Us: Parable for Today’s Pandemic' is dedicated to discussing Octavia Butler’s Parable books in the context of 2020.
This weekend's 'Octavia Tried' conversation took place on Saturday, May 30th and addressed the Black Lives Matter protests growing across the country following the murder of George Floyd by police officers.
The empowering and emotional discussion centered around the theme “No One Is Coming to Save Us," and featured authors Monica A. Coleman and Tananarive Due exploring the survival strategies put forth by Butler in Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents.
RELATED: 16 Octavia Butler Books: The Complete Canon
Watch the full recording of Saturday’s conversation below.
As Due and Coleman discussed Saturday, America does not have a social or political structure that is working for justice. To address the racism intrinsic to this country, we must mourn the savior trope we've been taught to idolize—and realize that the potential for change rests on our own shoulders.
Thankfully, Butler left us a guide for this painful process in the form of the Earthseed series (also referred to as the Parable series), which offers an example for how to move beyond American hierarchy towards healing.
For more Butler wisdom, you can watch a recording of the previous webinar here.
Download Butler's seminal classic Parable of the Sower now.
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Featured photo of Octavia Butler: Alchetron
