Report from Planet Midnight Read Online Free PDF Page B

in the community, especially people of colour, who unapologetically name the racism we perceive. RaceFail ‘09 generated thousands of Internet postings, links to many of which have been archived on the Web. 4
    So that is the context in which I attended ICFA in 2009. It took me a long time to get over being so scared and angry that I couldn’t write my speech. I actually completed the bulk of it at the conference the day before, when I had a bolt of inspiration about an angle from which to tackle it. I decided to make the first half of my address somewhat performative. It is a culture-jamming of references from fantasy, science fiction, and linguistic and cultural references from the American and Caribbean parts of the African diaspora. I’ve footnoted some of them here. Because the first half of the speech was in effect a script, there were a few performance notes in it that I’d written to myself. These are between square brackets, in capitals. There is also an afterword about an exchange I had minutes after finishing my speech.
A RELUCTANT AMBASSADOR FROM THE PLANET OF MIDNIGHT
    Good afternoon. I’d like to thank the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts for dedicating this year’s ICFA to the theme of race in the literature of thefantastic, and for inviting Mr. Tatsumi, Mr. Yep, me, and many others to address the topic.
    The first thing I’d like to say is …
    [BE LIGHT-HEADED . T HEN BECOME THE HORSE 5 ]
    Uh—oh my. It worked. I’m here. [LOOK AT HANDS, THEN AT AUDIENCE]
    Dear people, please don’t be alarmed. I mean no harm. I really don’t. I’m riding on the head of this horse only for a short time, I promise you. Please don’t hurt me. This was an extreme measure. There seemed to be no other way to communicate directly with you.
    I come from another planet. For decades now, we have been receiving broadcasts from your planet that seem to be intended for us. We are delighted, and honoured, and also puzzled. We have teams of our best translators working to decipher your messages, and we cannot honestly tell whether they are gestures of friendship, or of aggression. As you might imagine, it’s quite important for us to know which. If it is indeed friendship, we would be delighted to reciprocate. If of aggression, well, as one of our ethnocultural groups might say, “Don’t start none, there won’t be none.”
    I should be very clear: I do not represent my whole planet. Neither do I represent my whole ethnocultural group. Or even all of the translators assigned to this project; try to get any two of us to agree to the same thing … There was vehement disagreement among us about whether I should attempt this dire method of direct communication. So, frankly, I snuck away when no one was looking.
    [FIDDLE WITH CLOTHING]
    My, this horse does dress most uncomfortably, doesn’t she?
    [TAKE TOP SHIRT OFF TO REVEAL T-SHIRT THAT READS “SPEAKER TO WHITE FOLKS”]
    This? This is merely my name, dear friends. Or my title, if you will. I hope I may indeed call you friends. But to help ensure my safety, or at least to create a record of what happens this day, I am accompanied by my companion, Dances With White People, and his recording device. [I NDICATE DAVID FINDLAY, WHO’S VIDEOTAPING 6 ] Again, please don’t be alarmed. It is not a weapon of any kind.
    So. To the business at hand. It is my hope that if I repeat to you some of the most vexing phrases we’ve received from your peoples, that you might be able to clarify their meanings. I decided to address this conference because, as you might imagine, we, as a different race of beings than you are, are very interested in the stories you tell each otherabout interracial relations. We have had bad experiences with the collision of cultures. Some of them even between groups on our own planet. So I’m sure you can understand why we are concerned.
    Our first sign that perhaps our responses to you were going awry was when we released this document