TY - ABST T1 - Afrolantica Legacies Y1 - 1998 A1 - Derrick [Albert] Bell [Jr.] (1930-2011) KW - African American author KW - Male author AB -

The author introduced the idea of Afrolantica in his “The Afrolantica Awakening.” In his Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism (New York: Basic Books, 1992), 32-46, 203-04. In it, Afrolantica emerges 900 miles east of South Carolina as an area about the size of New England complete with flourishing flora and fauna and valuable mineral deposits but no humans. In fact, it appeared that humans could not survive there, but it becomes obvious that African Americans and only African Americans can survive there. What the first African American explorers felt “was an invigorating experience of heightened self-esteem, of liberation, of waking up. All four agreed that, while exploring what the media were now referring to as ‘Afrolantica,’ they felt free.” The essay/story then reprises some of the history of Black Nationalism and details the conflict among blacks over whether or not to settle Afrolantica. The piece then ends where the Afrolantica Legacies begins, and the rest of the volume has his fictional African American legal scholar Geneva Crenshaw time travel to points key points in U.S. history when decisions were made regarding racial justice where she argues for a different approach and then discusses the resulting situation with Bell. See also, 1987, 1991, and 1992 Bell. 

PB - Third World Press CY - Chicago, IL U5 -

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ER - TY - ABST T1 - "The Space Traders" Y1 - 1992 A1 - Derrick [Albert] Bell [Jr.] (1930-2011) KW - African American author KW - Male author AB -

Dystopian satire. Aliens visiting the US offer to provide the country with everything needed to solve many of its problems in exchange for the entire African American population. Offered enough gold to bail out the country, chemicals that can un-pollute the environment, and a safe nuclear energy and fuel to overcome the energy crisis, the US government agrees, and all African Americans are loaded onto what are obviously slave ships. See also 1987, 1991, and 1998 Bell. For a story about refugees that resonates with this story, see 2020 Yu. 

JF - Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism PB - Basic Books CY - New York N1 -

Rpt. in Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora. Ed. Sheree R. Thomas (New York: Warner Books, 2000), 326-55. An earlier, shorter version was published as “The Chronicles of the Space Traders” as part of his “After We're Gone: Prudent Speculations on America in a Post-Racial Epoch A Forum on Derrick Bell's Civil Rights Chronicles--1989 Sanford E Sarasohn Memorial Lecture.” Saint Louis University Law Journal 34.3 (Spring 1990): 397-400. The issue of the journal includes articles discussing the story. A slightly different version was published under the same title as part of his “Racism: A Prophecy for the Year 2000.” Rutgers Law Review 42.1 (Fall 1989): 96-100. 

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ER - TY - ABST T1 - “Foreword: The Final Civil Rights Act” Y1 - 1991 A1 - Derrick [Albert] Bell [Jr.] (1930-2011) KW - African American author KW - Male author AB -

Congress passes an act under which “all employers, proprietors of public facilities, and owners and managers of dwelling places, homes and apartments could, on application to the federal government, obtain a license authorizing the holders, their managers, agents, and employees to exclude or separate persons on the basis of race and color” (47-48). See also, 1987, 1992, and 1998 Bell. 

JF - California Law Review VL - 79.3 N1 -

Rpt. as “The Racial Preference Licensing Act.” In his Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism (New York: Basic Books, 1992), 47-64, 204-06. 

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ER - TY - ABST T1 - And We Are Not Saved: The Elusive Quest for Racial Justice Y1 - 1987 A1 - Derrick [Albert] Bell [Jr.] (1930-2011) KW - African American author KW - Male author AB -

The “Prologue to Part I” introduces the fictional African American legal scholar Geneva Crenshaw (13-25) who then time travels to ten key points in U.S. history when decisions were made regarding racial justice where she argues for a different approach and then discusses the resulting situation with Bell. Other stories using Geneva Crenshaw can be found throughout his Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism. New York: Basic Books, 1992 and in Afrolantica Legacies. Chicago, IL: Third World Press, 1998. See also 1991 Bell.

PB - Basic Books CY - New York U5 -

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