Griots: Sisters of the Spear
Griots:
Sisters of the Spear picks up where the ground breaking Griots Anthology leaves
off. Charles R. Saunders and Milton J. Davis present seventeen original and
exciting Sword and Soul tales focusing on black women. Just as the Griots
Anthology broke ground as the first Sword and Soul Anthology, Griots: Sisters
of the Spear pays homage to the spirit, bravery and compassion of women of
color.
Seventeen authors and eight
artists combine their skills to tell stories of bravery, love, danger and hope.
The griots have returned to sing new songs, and what wonderful songs they are!
SPEARING
STEREOTYPES
By Charles R.
Saunders
The woman in
Andrea Rushing’s evocative painting that graces the cover of Griots: Sisters of
the Spear symbolizes the essence of the anthology. Although the painting is not
a direct depiction of any of the characters in the stories, the spirit of this
woman imbues all of them. She is a teller of truth, and a slayer of
stereotypes.
As is the
case with black men, black women have been subjected to invidious stereotyping
for centuries in real life and fiction alike. For the most part, these
characterizations have ranged from the condescending to the downright hostile –
from the faithful “Mammy” of Gone with the Wind to the scornful “Sapphire” of
Amos ‘n’ Andy to the degraded “Ho” made infamous in all-too-many rap-music
lyrics. The fantasy-fiction genre is no exception. Until recently, black women
have been either non-existent, or portrayed in ways that made absence the
preferable alternative.
Real life
defies the stereotypes. Throughout history, there has been no dearth of strong
and courageous black women who have stood alongside – and sometimes in front of
– their men and children during the course of a 500-year-long struggle against
oppression in Africa, and the places in the rest of the world to which Africans
were taken against their will to fuel economies with their forced labor.
A few
examples: The Candace, or queen, of Kush defied the legions of ancient Rome.
Queen Nzinga of Ndongo in central Africa fought to protect her people from the
depredations of European slavers. Harriet Tubman risked her life to lead slaves
to freedom in the years before the U.S. Civil War. Fannie Lou Hamer endured vicious
physical abuse from the authorities in her non-violent quest to win basic civil
rights for black Americans. Women such as these – and many more like them –
stand as living contradictions to the misrepresentations that persist to this
day.
So do the women
in Sisters of the Spear. When Milton Davis came up with the idea of a
woman-themed sequel to our first anthology, Griots, I co-signed immediately.
Like Griots, Sisters of the Spear presents an opportunity to bring more black
representation to a genre that’s still in need of more color. Thanks to Griots,
we knew there were more than a few writers and artists of all racial
persuasions who would embrace our theme of powerful black womanhood and create
stories and illustrations that would be excellent by any standard.
Our
expectations have been more than fulfilled. Our modern-day griots came through
with – not to belabor the point – flying colors. The fictional warrior-women
and sorceresses you will meet in the following pages can hold their own and
then some against the barbarians and power-mad monarchs and magic-users of both
genders who swing swords and cast spells in the mostly European-derived
settings of modern fantasy and sword-and-sorcery. The reach of sword-and soul
has expanded greatly with Sisters of the Spear.
It’s time now
to allow the woman on the cover serve as your guide through the anthology. The
light she carries will illuminate the truth that is always inherent in the best
of fiction. And her spear will slay the stereotypes.
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