star trek – Anarres Project for Alternative Futures

MLK, Jr. Was a Sci-Fi Geek (and It Shaped His Idea of Justice, Too)

By Joseph Orosco (January 22, 2019)

By now, a lot of people have heard the story of how Star Trek was Martin Luther King, Jr.’s favorite TV show.

It was, according to Nichelle Nichols, the only program he allowed his children to watch because it portrayed African Americans living in a future where they were treated equally and with dignity and respect. He believed that this representation was an important image for young Black people to see and he urged Nichols not to leave the show. (She stayed and her role had tremendous impact—it encouraged Whoopie Goldberg to seek her role as Guinan on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and inspired Mae Jemison to become the first African American female astronaut. Soniqua Martin Green has recently said that Nichols motivated her as the star of the most recent Star Trek series Discovery).

It’s interesting to speculate how Star Trek might have influenced King’s thinking. Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS) premiered in September 1966. This was after the two big legislative victories of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This was also a year after Watts burned and the same year race riots broke out in Cleveland and Omaha. King had moved to Illinois at this point to extend his organizing into urban issues in the North, including unemployment, housing discrimination, and poverty. He had started to think about the effects of the Vietnam War and how it robbed people of life and the means the sustain themselves. It was a particularly difficult time for him politically, emotionally, and spiritually. How did a science fiction story about human beings living in the 23^rd Century–in which war, hunger, racism, and poverty had been overcome–affect his sense of hope for the future and what was possible for humanity?

It’s not a far fetched idea to think Star Trek touched King’s imagination. We know that he was a fan of speculative fiction from his earliest days—and we know that his wife Coretta was partly responsible for stoking his creativity along this path.

When they were first dating in 1952, Coretta gave King a copy of Edward Bellamy’s utopian novel, Looking Backward. She instructed him that she wanted him to read it and return to tell her his thoughts about it. Bellamy’s book, written in the 19^th century, imagines what a socialist United States would look like in the year 2000 (free medical care and unemployment benefits for everyone!).

In an amazing and touching note, the 23-year old King writes to his future wife and tells her how much he enjoyed the book—so much so that he admits he wants his future ministerial work to be guided by the kind of vision of progress hinted at in it—a world free of war, with a better distribution of wealth and resources, and solidarity instead of racism. He admits that he agrees with Bellamy that capitalism has no future for humanity but he worries what revolutionary socialism can justify in terms of violence. For the next sixteen years, he would reflect and refine his thinking on these subjects, leading him to not only imagine the Promised Land, but also to the devise the organizational strategies and policies—the Poor People’s Campaign, universal basic income, demilitarization—to try and get there.

Walidah Imarisha and adrienne maree brown have given us this notion of visionary fiction in their collection of stories Octavia’s Brood:

Visionary fiction encompasses all of the fantastic, with the arc always bending toward justice…Once the imagination is unshackled, liberation is limitless. (p. 4)

I would argue that some of King’s works, such as the “I have a dream” speech and his idea of the Beloved Community are verging on visionary literature in this sense. As the King Center puts it:

Dr. King’s Beloved Community is a global vision, in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger, and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry, and prejudice will be replaced by an all inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood. In the Beloved Community, international disputes will be resolved by peaceful conflict-resolution and reconciliation of adversaries, instead of military power. Love and trust will triumph over fear and hatred. Peace with justice will prevail over war and military conflict.

All in all, King’s vision of the future for humanity is a clear example of the power of utopian speculative fiction, and Star Trek, in particular, to nourish an imagination in the pursuit of justice.

Octavia Butler and the Journey Toward Utopia in the New Star Trek Discovery Series

By Joseph Orosco (August 10, 2017)

Lots of people are noticing that our pop culture seems obsessed with apocalyptic and dystopia themes lately. Father of cyberpunk William Gibson thinks our narrative vision of the future is shrinking because we are focused on the end of the world tales. Brianna Rennix is concerned that the only people that seem to hold onto the dream of exploring space are right libertarians. In particular, she thinks we live at a time in which the picture of humanity as represented in something like Star Trek appears hokey and unduly optimistic. Hollywood actor and producer Seth MacFarland says he is fed up with the single-minded fascination with dystopia and his new TV sci fi space series intentionally harkens back to the old optimism of Star Trek from the 1960s.

This past year, the Anarres Project hosted a series to mark the 50^th anniversary of the network premiere of Star Trek: The Original Series. One of the events was called Star Trek and Black Lives Matter. We hosted a viewing of of one of my favorite episodes from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine “Far Beyond the Stars” in which Captain Sisko imagines himself living as a science fiction writer in the 1950s United States. The episode depicts the subtle bigotry, institutional racism, and state violence faced by Blacks in this era in a way that highlights the progress of racial justice into the 23^rd century. What is most striking about this episode–that came out almost 20 years ago–is that it dramatically crests with the police execution of a young Black man in a manner that is reminiscent of the all the shootings that have given rise to the Black Lives Matter movement. Watching that episode today demonstrates how some things have not changed in terms of racial progress—and why the future of Star Trek seems so distant.

During the discussion of the episode, one African American woman said that while she liked Star Trek a lot, she thought it was less inspiring than a lot of current science fiction. The future of humanity it portrayed was great, but it was so removed from our present that it seemed almost irrelevant or impossible to attain. I asked her what she did like and she responded that she felt Octavia Butler’s work, especially The Parable of the Sower, was much more appropriate to our world today.

Butler’s Sower series is interesting because it is set in a dystopian near future with societal collapse, not unlike something you see in current zombie stories such as The Walking Dead. But the story here is about a group driven by the hopeful vision of humanity travelling and extending to the stars–Earthseed. They are surrounded by death and danger, betrayal and isolation. Yet, what is inspiring in Butler’s universe is how the communities deal with these challenges and how the vision of Earthseed creates a kind of solidarity that can be experienced through such hope. Ultimately, it’s a story of how to cope and overcome dystopia with a rich sense of humanity and how take the steps toward utopia.

This current mood is why I think it makes sense that the new Star Trek: Discovery series to premiere later this Fall is one that is set in the timeline before Star Trek: The Original Series. Fans have been criticizing the choice to have a series in the early 23^rd century, a decade before Kirk and Spock; these fans want to see the future after the 24^th century in the timeline established by the series Star Trek: Voyager.

But we are in a dystopian and skeptical era. We’ve seen what humanity is like at its best already, exploring the farthest reaches of space and holding onto its best ethical principles–that’s what Star Trek Voyager was all about. We want a more Butlerian Star Trek now. What we crave is now is more guidance through adversity; we want to know how we get to the post-scarcity utopia represented by the Federation and Star Fleet. Mary Wiseman, an actor in the new series really captures this craving in her comments about Star Trek Discovery at this year’s San Diego Comic Con:

“’Star Trek’ is so idealist because it could feel like the end of the world right now, America feels extremely divided. People can’t hear each other people can’t have compassion for each other… What ‘Star Trek’ [asks is], ‘What qualities are we going to have to have, and what ways are we going to have to think to move forward to a better future? Not just survive in a dystopian one.’ And I think those qualities are compassion, openheartedness, open-mindedness, respect for difference, teamwork, rigor, strength.”

That is, we need sci-fi to assist us in reflecting on the hard challenges we face as human beings, what is it that we have to overcome about ourselves, in order to arrive at a world in which the need for a Black Lives Matter movement is unnecessary or unthinkable.

The Cultural and Technological Impact of Star Trek

As part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, the Anarres Project presented Dr. Randall Milstein (OSU Honors College and College of Science) discussing the cultural and technological impact the series has had on society and everday life. He discussed the ways in which Star Trek prefigured contemporary technology, as well as the way in which the series maintains a hopeful attitude toward the role of technology in building a future post scarcity utopia. (October 2016)

Star Trek and the Radical Imagination @ Oregon State

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the premiere of Star Trek: The Original Series, the Anarres Project for Alternative Futures presents a program of events that highlight the importance of this landmark science fiction franchise for advancing social justice and pushing the boundaries of the radical imagination. Here is a listing of the events planned for Fall term 2016:

Star Trek and Black Lives Matter: Tuesday, October 4, 2016 at 6 pm in Milam Hall 318.

As part of its celebration of the 50th anniversary of the TV series Star Trek, the Anarres Project presents a viewing and discussion of Deep Space Nine’s “Far Beyond the Stars”. This award winning episode is a powerful and emotional examination of racial oppression and police brutality, as well as the power of the radical imagination to envision alternative futures, that is as poignant now as it was when it first aired almost 20 years ago.
Free pizza will be provided to help our conversation along.

The Cultural and Technological Impact of Star Trek: Tuesday, October 11, 2016 at 4pm in Learning Innovation Center 368

As part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, the Anarres Project presents Dr. Randall Milstein (OSU Honors College and College of Science) discussing the cultural and technological impact the series has had on society and everday life. Discussion is Free and open to the public.

Star Trek and Social Justice: Thursday, October 20, 2016 at 4 pm in Milam Hall 301

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, the Anarres Project presents a discussion with Dr. Christina Allaback, the artistic director for the Eugene based Trek Theater, about the social justice emphasis of the classic TV series. She will explain the origins of Trek Theater, how she sees it embracing the lessons of the theater of the oppressed, and what we can learn about social justice from science fiction.

Trek Theatre: The Drumhead@OSU: Thursday, October 20, 2016, at 7pm in Learning Innovation Center 228

As part of its celebration of the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, the Anarres Project hosts the Trek Theatre’s performance of Star Trek: TNG’s “The Drumhead”. This classic episode is a story about the clash between state security and the protection of human rights.

There will be a small reception at 6pm before the performance and guests are encouraged to come in their best Star Trek costume. Small prizes will be available for the best cosplay.

Star Trek and Indigenous Science Fiction: Thursday, November 10, 2016 12 noon, Native American Longhouse

As part of its celebration of the 50 anniversary of Star Trek, the Anarres Project presents a panel discussion with three Native American artists and scholars who will talk about the way they infuse their work with indigenous metaphor and science fiction/fantasy imagery that sheds new light on the experience of indigenous people in the United States. Ryan Singer is a painter known for using the landscapes of Star Wars to explore life on the Dine/Navajo nation. Joel South is an OSU alum and a hip hop artist and writer whose songs and stories bring to life indigenous ways of knowing. Dr. Grace Dillon is a scholar of the genre of indigenous science fiction and who puts forth the idea that many tales within indigenous oral traditions can be understood as kinds of speculative fiction.

Interview: Christina Allaback and Trek Theatre

Christina Allaback is the Artistic Director for Trek Theatre, a new theater company out of Eugene, Oregon that seeks to bring Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes to live public performances. Continue reading “Interview: Christina Allaback and Trek Theatre”