People rarely live in the present. Either they are reliving the past in a variety of ways or figuring out what’s the next thing or what will happen in their future. For a young Ella, living in California she has the ability to viscerally see someone’s future as if she’s being attacked by the destinies of others. It’s 1992 and the Rodney King tape of him being beaten by several police officers renders a not guilty verdict leading to an explosion of violence. This is the world Kev, Ella’s younger brother is born into. Tochi Onyebuchi’s ‘Riot Baby’ has been described as a dystopian novel that offers hope. Yes, there is hope in his latest work, but the narrative speaks more to the reality of what America is experiencing now. You can say that Ella and Kev represent not dystopia which ca be seen as an imagined state, but a country that has yet to deal with its past.
At some point in ‘Riot Baby’ the family moves to Harlem where Kev is a victim of racism and the prison system. Incarcerated for being black, he spends years losing bits of himself. Still his sister Ella through their psychic connection shows him a future where freedom on his own terms is possible. That migration for Kev of the west coast to Harlem then back to California is reminiscent of author Frank McCourt’s early life as portrayed in his memoir ‘Angela’s Ashes’ where the family moves from Ireland to New York only to move back to the Emerald Isle. McCourt leaves Ireland to go back to New York and finds his definition of freedom. For Onyebuchi’s speculative story Kev also finds a sense of liberation in an unknown future. All he knows that at some point the choices he makes will be his own.
When you think of speculative fiction or a dystopian society you may look at works such as ‘The Walking Dead’ where some unknown virus or phenomenon creates a world where mankind has to start over. Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’ is a portrait of a dystopia where cannibals roam and you can easily find babies on roasting spits. ‘Riot Baby’ is the real terror because it has and does happen to people of color who are imprisoned for ambiguous reasons, becoming statistics. ‘Riot Baby’ is real since Ella does everything in her power to give her brother the tools to survive. Kev is also real. He’s the person who you root for. You see him being victimized and can’t stop it. Early in the novel a young Ella finds it difficult to articulate why everyone is so angry in her neighborhood. You can see hopelessness feasting on her and the people in her community doing whatever they can to survive. The women who are closest to her are supported by their faith. This can be seen as a form of hope. People need something to hold on to, to say we’re going to get through this. Onyebuchi does that, he gives us hope through however we perceive freedom to be.
Whether you call ‘Riot Baby’ speculative fiction, dystopian, young adult literature you must have this book in your life. Tochi Onyebuchi is one of those writers who makes a real historical event the background of his narrative to make an important point – in the end you don’t have to go through the horrible times alone.
Leave a Reply