Black Writers & Readers Connect discussion

More positive, versatile themes and subjects especially in different genres.

I want to see more morally grey characters and villains clearly portrayed. Some of my favorite stories are those where both (or all) parties are equally wrong.

More Woke fiction, where the story itself doesn't have to be about "blackety-black" or about social justice themes, but that the narrator is at least not blind to them and know when commentary is warranted, and that the stories do not feed into the same racist themes and tropes depicted by non-poc authors. other than that, I'm game for anything.

I guess I would say stories that are more balanced overall….When I first started reading about older characters (not ya novels), it was always difficult to find a middle ground. Everything was either very bleak or just a meditative state of affairs. Granted, I suppose I can be a bit of a picky reader. All in all, I guess my answer kind of goes back to the “mixture of genres” topic.
Specifically with black characters, I would also like to see more stories that acknowledge adversity while still focusing on other immediate challenges. For example, instead of creating a story around a “[insert minority] man/woman vs white America, maybe tap into something more specific? If you’re tuned into pop culture and national news in general, chances are you already know about protests and micro aggressions. There’s still a lot of relatable mundanity in non white stories. Most of which is perfect for humorous writing and dry wit.