Hey all! Welcome to my stop at the A Blade So Black blog tour, hosted by my wonderful friend Aimee! For my stop, we have a guest post from the author, L.L.McKinney, who discusses the need for diverse retellings.
The need for diverse retellings. Man, this...this is a heavy
one for me. I’ve spoken about it in the past, so I’ll just revisit what I’ve
said before, if you don’t mind. It’s a difficult subject and it’s just easier
for me that way.
I feel people in the diaspora should be allowed to tell the
stories they grew up knowing and loving before they learned the tales of their
ancestors. Some of us don't/didn't have the capacity to hunt down and make
those connections to where we come from back down the line. That being said, we
read, we loved books as kids, we grew up on those western fairy tales, not
knowing our homeland equivalents. If we choose to embrace those beloved tales,
do they not count when a tally is made of "our" stories? Are
retellings or reimaginings featuring our people any less authentic?
Being part of the Black diaspora—I’m speaking my experience
in being Black American here—my family is working its way back through the
fractures of slavery, and we're discovering stories of those times, but not
before. I don't know what deities my ancestors may have worshiped. I don't know
of our magic. Of our legends. Of our heroes. That oral history didn't survive
the way it might have for other cultures and their people who are part of the
diaspora. That was taken from both sides of my family.
I spend a lot of time thinking about all this because I
reimagined one of the western fairytales I loved, from the culture I grew up
saturated by because of assimilation. Is that not my story? And is that story
not fundamentally altered by my reimagining? Does it then not count as my
folklore? Having infused this tale with Black culture, is it now not part of my
heritage? What about other stories written by Black authors that don't
necessarily reflect the rich and rooted histories of a motherland many of us
may never know?
I have seen the pushback people who're part of the diaspora
of other cultures have received. I have seen the intra-community gatekeeping.
It's harsh, and it sucks, and I wish no one had to prove they are
"enough" to take hold of their story. But I kinda wish I could have
that, because that would mean I knew my people, even if I had to fight with
them. Even if they tried to call me "not really this" or "not
enough that." Those would be my people, whether they want me or not.
Let me clarify, Black people my people, and I love my
people. Our culture is prevalent and rich. It grew from a combination of our
ancestors’ survival and their refusal to let every part of their homeland be
lost to them. My people made a culture out of bits and pieces of what folk
thought was the worst of us, a culture so popular now everyone want a taste.
Still, I wonder if—in this relatively new culture, compared to other cultures
that've been around for thousands of years—we get to craft new folklore, new
mythologies, and not have the authenticity of said stories questioned. I don’t
believe this questioning would come from judgement passed on us as being
"not enough," but from not having that connection to the land of our
ancestors, those roots.
I say these cultural reimaginings are valid. They may not
have the deep seeded resonance of direct connection to the past—no, my
ancestors did not worship the Mad Hatter—but they matter. Stories come from
people, and when you got your people, you got your stories. A BLADE SO BLACK, a
Blacked up Alice in Wonderland, is one of those stories.
Title : A Blade So Black
Author : L.L.McKinney
Publisher : Imprint
Release Date : September 25th 2018
Synopsis :
The first time the Nightmares came, it nearly cost Alice her life. Now she's trained to battle monstrous creatures in the dark dream realm known as Wonderland with magic weapons and hardcore fighting skills. Yet even warriors have a curfew.
Life in real-world Atlanta isn't always so simple, as Alice juggles an overprotective mom, a high-maintenance best friend, and a slipping GPA. Keeping the nightmares at bay is turning into a full-time job. But when Alice's handsome and mysterious mentor is poisoned, she has to find the antidote by venturing deeper into Wonderland than she’s ever gone before. And she'll need to use everything she's learned in both worlds to keep from losing her head . . . literally.
Giveaway
One finished copy of A Blade So Black
US Only
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