Summary: The day-to-day is a grind, especially for working-class people, Black people, people of color, and organizers. When and how do we find time and space to exercise our radical imaginations? What IS a radical imagination? And what does fiction have to do with it? In Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements, co-edited by adrienne maree brown and Walidah Imarisha, we are gifted twenty short stories exploring the connections between radical speculative fiction and movements for social change. According to them, whenever we envision a world without war, without prisons, without capitalism, we are using our radical imaginations and producing speculative fiction. The anthology encapsulates stories by cultural workers, sci-fi writers, political prisoners, organizers, and much more, many of whom had never before written fiction stories, yet alone sci-fi, before this book. For this episode, we sat down with Chicago-based playwright, dramaturge, and ceramic artist Tanuja Jagernauth to discuss one of her favorite books. She gives us all the perfect words for why this book is critical for organizers to read. Key Questions: 1. What is visionary fiction? 2. Who are the authors in this anthology? 3. What is the “radical imagination” that we so often refer to? How do you see this radical imagination practiced in Chicago? 4. What are stories and themes that come up in this book? 5. How can we look towards non-organizers, like Octavia Butler, for guidance to utilize in our organizing spaces? 6. How do we facilitate radical imagination? Hosts: Monica Trinidad and Page May Guest: Tanuja Jagernauth Date: December 4, 2017 Length: 43:00
