Octavia Bulter
Cover art, Parable of the Sower
#5 - Octavia Butler
If Sun-Ra is the Father of Afro-futurism, than it’s mother would have to be Octavia Butler. Highly influenced by the fantastic, sci-fi and a nuanced reading of the history of Black people in America, Octavia fused elements from ancient Africa, the modern and the future state to develop a manipulated metaphorical, social critique of race, class, gender, spirituality and sexuality. As a MacArthur genius, she was the first science fiction writer awardee.