In the early 1960s, my family ran a small roadside attraction in Florida called Dog Land, a zoo of dogs with over 100 breeds on display, where we became part of the civil rights effort. When word went out that the Ku Klux Klan would burn us down, we couldn’t get fire insurance. Dad taught me how to carry the shotgun to him in case they came. They never did, perhaps because the business was failing and we had to move, perhaps because they knew about Dad’s shotgun, perhaps because they finally realized that history would count them as the losers in that struggle.
When I write about working class folks, I draw on this:
I was born in an army hospital. My first home was a trailer house. For most of my childhood, I shared a bedroom with my brother and sister. One of my best friends lived in a shack by a railroad track; the other lived in a trailer that I thought luxurious because it was so much nicer than our cinderblock home. Our second-hand refrigerator usually held powdered milk, powdered orange Vitamin-C drink, and the cheapest “cheese food” because they cost less than real milk, orange juice, and cheese—one reason I loved school was the food was better.
My education was mostly in public schools. I graduated from an inner-city public school in Washington, DC that was 80-90% black. For half of my adult life, I rented apartments because I couldn’t afford to buy a home. Today, I live in a working-class neighborhood, and my wealth is almost exactly the same as the average American’s, which is less than the wealth of the average white American.
When I write about rich folks, I draw on this:
I spent fourth and fifth form—the equivalent of tenth and eleventh grade—at Choate, one of the US’s elite prep schools. I graduated from Beloit, a private liberal arts college. For several years, I was engaged to a woman who lived in a chateau on the Riviera. In a country where most people live or die in the economic class in which they’re born, I’ve bounced more than most folks, never hitting top or bottom, but coming close enough to each to wonder if that was where I would end.
When I write fiction, I’m never explicitly political—tracts bore me—but it’s impossible to write well without revealing your sympathies. In the 1980s, when most fantasy worlds were set in vaguely European lands inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien and Robert E. Howard, Emma Bull and I edited an anthology series set in a world inspired by the Arabian nights. I created the first female black superhero who had her own series from a major comics publisher. My second novel was about a dark-skinned adventurer wandering through a land of pale-skinned people. I wrote a semi-autobiographical novel about racial conflict in the 1960s. The Feminist SF Wiki says my “work features strong women characters and people of color”, which pleases me, but also surprises me. I don’t try to write strong characters. I try to write characters like the people I know.
Possibly of interest: How racist am I? and What kind of feminist am I?
Possibly of interest: How racist am I? and What kind of feminist am I?
a few favorite quotes
"There's only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you've got to be kind." —Kurt Vonnegut
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." — Jesus (according to Luke)
“My country is the world, and my religion is to do good.” ― Thomas Paine
"I never could believe that Providence had sent a few men into the world, ready booted and spurred to ride, and millions ready saddled and bridled to be ridden." — Richard Rumbold
“I believe in recognizing every human being as a human being--neither white, black, brown, or red; and when you are dealing with humanity as a family there's no question of integration or intermarriage. It's just one human being marrying another human being or one human being living around and with another human being.” ― Malcolm X / El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz
"Call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all God’s children." — Martin Luther King
