Dr. Chesya Burke
Afrofuturist and Assistant Professor at Stetson University
What's going on my brothers and sisters? Today, for "Black Writer of the Month," I will be highlighting a writer who made me reevaluate how I read fiction in its entirety: Afrofuturist Dr. Chesya Burke.
Dr. Burke always made sure that her passion for African diasporic literature as well as sci-fi pop culture was known. She enrolled at Agnes Scott College to double major in English and Africana studies. She then earned her master's degree in African-American studies at Georgia State College. Fun Fact: Dr. Burke wrote her master's thesis on Marvel Comic's character Storm from the X-Men. This aspect of her will become more important later in the article, but for now, all that I'll say is, she's so real for that. The last step in Dr. Burke's educational journey was earning her Ph.D. in English at the University of Florida. She now works as an assistant professor at Stetson University.
The majority of Dr. Burke's bibliography consists of her short stories, the first of which was released in 2004. A lot of her short stories revolve around a powerful woman being forced to make decisions, or one key decision, that would compromise some aspect of their character which seems to be a critique of how women are depicted in most media. For example, her character of Queenie in the short story I Make People Do Bad Things, written in 2011. Queenie was the ringleader of a numbers racket, which is a form of illegal gambling. Queenie grew to be a very powerful influence in the community due to her operation, especially because she had a girl who worked under her named Shiv who acted as her weapon, eliminating competition or threats to her establishment with lethal force. Throughout the story Queenie seemed to be protective of Shiv, first being reluctant to let her be her weapon and even once she did she was clearly distraught over it and feared for Shiv's life. However, near the end of the story, she allowed Shiv to be killed in order to reinforce her power and influence which has slowly been dwindling. Queenie allowed a child who was implied to be a daughter in her eyes, to be killed for the sake of her power, sacrificing both her independence and integrity.
Another example that I can use is Dr. Burke's short story Please, Mama, written in 2015, where an older sister, named Sissy, has to sacrifice her younger sister's soul to a demon-like creature called Onírárà for the sake of her own and her mother's lives. Granted, the younger sister sacrificed herself willingly but she needed her older sister's approval for the transaction to be done which definitely compromises her own view of her integrity. Even though, objectively she was correct in her actions. Now Sissy isn't powerful in the traditional sense, but in being an older sister there is a great responsibility that is attached to that familial role. And of course, we should all know what begets great responsibility. P.S: It's great power, with great power comes great responsibility. Just in case you didn't know.
Let's Play White is a short story collection written by Dr. Burke that is available on most online shopping platforms. Well, the ones that sell books, don't go looking through the Forever 21 website looking for a copy. I do also want to talk about Dr. Burke's critical analyses, more specifically her book Hero Me Not which came out in April of this year and critically analyzes (as critical analyses do) how Black Women are depicted in modern forms of media. For most of the book, Dr. Burke uses Marvel Comic's Storm as her example, seeing as she has been put in multiple different forms of media. See, I told you guys it would come back up again.
Hero Me Not goes through nearly every comic book and live-action interpretation of the Wind-Rider and analyzes the ways where the character is used against that black community and for the benefit of white supremacy. There are many instances in media where Storm puts down other black people or is viewed as a "better Black Person" due to her demeanor, submissive actions, and Euro-centric features like Ororo's straight hair and blue eyes. Hero Me Not addresses depictions of Black Women in a broader sense, using other books, movies, and even points in Dr. Burke's own life to further the message. Dr. Burke explains that there are certain archetypes that modern media will force Black Women to fill. She goes into detail on each of these archetypes, what they mean, how they harm the black community, and how they help to push forward the 'white man's' message. Reading this book really shifted my perspective on how I absorb media. Of course, I was aware of these tropes at a base level but seeing them explained in detail and reading through examples of their use made me realize how widespread this issue is. Even though the book is primarily about Storm, these issues can be seen in nearly every form of media depicting black women. In all other forms, the issue is that they don't depict black women at all, which is arguably worse.
Dr. Burke has her own website which contains a detailed map of all of Burke's published works, interviews, as well as other aspects of her professional life. She is also active on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok where you can learn more about Dr. Burke and any of her future works.
If there are any black writers you'd like me to feature in future posts, DM the blog on Instagram and I'll respond within 24 hours. Keep reading and writing, Broncos!
-Obadele
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