0:00:07.921,0:00:10.361
Following a devastating nuclear war,

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Lilith Iyapo awakens[br]after 250 years of stasis

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to find herself surrounded by a group [br]of aliens called the Oankali.

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These highly evolved beings[br]want to trade DNA

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by breeding with humans

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so that each species’ genes [br]can diversify and fortify the other.

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The only alternative they offer is [br]sterilization of the entire human race.

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Should humanity take the leap into [br]the biological unknown,

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or hold on to its identity and perish?

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Questions like this haunt [br]Octavia Butler’s Dawn,

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the first in her trilogy Lilith’s Brood.

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A visionary storyteller who [br]upended science fiction,

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Butler built stunning worlds [br]throughout her work–

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and explored dilemmas that keep [br]us awake at night.

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Born in 1947,

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Butler grew up shy and introverted in [br]Pasadena, California.

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She dreamt up stories from an early age,

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and was soon scribbling these [br]scenarios on paper.

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At twelve, she begged her mother [br]for a typewriter

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after enduring a campy science [br]fiction film called Devil Girl From Mars.

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Unimpressed with what she saw,

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Butler knew she could tell a better story.

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Much science fiction features [br]white male heroes

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who blast aliens or become [br]saviors of brown people.

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Butler wanted to write diverse characters[br]for diverse audiences.

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She brought nuance and depth to the [br]representation of their experiences.

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For Butler,

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imagination was not only for planting [br]the seeds of science fiction–

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but also a strategy for surviving an [br]unjust world on one’s own terms.

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Her work often takes troubling [br]features of the world

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such as discrimination on the basis of [br]race, gender, class, or ability,

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and invites the reader to contemplate [br]them in new contexts.

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One of her most beloved novels,

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the Parable of the Sower,

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follows this pattern.

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It tells the story of Lauren Oya Olamina

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as she makes her way through a near-future[br]California, ruined by corporate greed,

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inequality, and environmental destruction.

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As she struggles with hyperempathy,

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or a condition in the novel that [br]causes her to feel others’ pain,

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and less often, their pleasure.

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Lauren embarks on a quest with a group [br]of refugees to find a place to thrive.

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There, they seek to live in accordance [br]with Lauren’s found religion, Earthseed,

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which is based on the principle

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that humans must adapt to an [br]ever-changing world.

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Lauren’s quest had roots [br]in a real life event–

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California Prop 187,

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which attempted to deny undocumented[br]immigrants fundamental human rights,

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before it was deemed unconstitutional.

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Butler frequently incorporated [br]contemporary news into her writing.

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In her 1998 sequel to The Parable of the [br]Sower, Parable of the Talents,

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she wrote of a presidential candidate

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who controls Americans with virtual [br]reality and “shock collars.”

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His slogan? “Make America great again.”

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While people have noted her prescience,

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Butler was also interested in [br]re-examining history.

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For instance,

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Kindred tells the story of a woman[br]who is repeatedly pulled back in time

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to the Maryland plantation [br]of her ancestors.

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Early on, she learns that her mission [br]is to save the life of the white man

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who will rape her great grandmother.

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If she doesn’t save him, [br]she herself will cease to exist.

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This grim dilemma forces Dana to [br]confront the ongoing trauma

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of slavery and sexual violence [br]against Black women.

0:03:26.684,0:03:29.334
With her stories of women [br]founding new societies,

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time travelers overcoming [br]historical strife,

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and interspecies bonding,

0:03:33.774,0:03:38.694
Butler had a profound influence on [br]the growing popularity of Afrofuturism.

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That’s a cultural movement where [br]Black writers and artists

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who are inspired by the past, present,[br]and future,

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produce works that incorporate magic, [br]history, technology and much more.

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As Lauren comes to learn in [br]Parable of the Sower,

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"All that you touch you Change.

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All that you Change Changes you.

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The only lasting truth is Change.”