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Clap Back (Black Stars) by [Nalo Hopkinson]

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Nalo Hopkinson

Clap Back (Black Stars) Kindle Edition

by Nalo Hopkinson (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

368 ratings

Book 5 of 6: Black Stars

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A past struggle for racial equity could achieve a profound future victory in this audacious short story about technology, hoodoo, and hope by a Nebula Award–winning author.

Burri is a fashion designer and icon with a biochemistry background. Her latest pieces are African inspired and crafted to touch the heart. They enable wearers to absorb nanorobotic memories and recount the stories of Black lives and forgiveness. Wenda doesn’t buy it. A protest performance artist, Wenda knows exploitation when she sees it. What she’s going to do with Burri’s breakthrough technology could, in the right hands, change race relations forever.

Nalo Hopkinson’s Clap Back is part of Black Stars, a multi-dimensional collection of speculative fiction from Black authors. Read or listen to them in a single sitting.

Print length

21 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Amazon Original Stories
Publication date

August 31, 2021
File size

5697 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Science fiction invites audiences to imagine new and different worlds…Soon readers (and listeners) will be able to add some new voices and stories to this mix, thanks to an upcoming collection of short stories from Amazon Original Stories.” —SYFY Wire

“Part of what makes Black Stars so special is the fact that it is showcasing speculative science fiction from Black authors from around the world.” —SYFY Wire

“With a host of amazing authors, Black Stars is perfect for lovers of Afrofuturism, Caribbean science fiction, and African jujuism. As you read the stories, you’ll start to understand why there are so many different genres in the collection…Black Stars introduces people to so many different frameworks, showing the diversity of stories created when Black authors across the diaspora infuse their unique cultural perspectives into these narratives, creating an abundance of originality that lets readers imagine wildly different worlds, realities, and futures.” —Shondaland

About the Author

Jamaican Canadian writer Nalo Hopkinson has been a published author since 1995, with six novels, two collections of short stories, and a chapbook. She has received numerous literary awards, including the World Fantasy Award and the Andre Norton Nebula Award. Between 2018 and 2020, she wrote scripts for the DC Comics series House of Whispers, set in the universe of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman. She currently lives in California and is on the faculty of the creative writing department at the University of California, Riverside.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B098QNLW6D
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Amazon Original Stories (August 31, 2021)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 31, 2021
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 5697 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 21 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #53,201 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
368 ratings

About the author

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Nalo Hopkinson

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I'm a novelist, editor, short story writer. I also teach, and I freelance sometimes as an arts consultant. Most of my books have been published by Warner Books, now known as Grand Central Books. If you like knowing about awards and such, my work has received the Warner Aspect First Novel award, the Sunburst Award for Canadian literature of the fantastic, the World Fantasy Award, the Gaylactic Spectrum Award, and Honourable Mention in Cuba's Casa de las Americas Prize for literature.

Customer reviews

5 star		56%
4 star		28%
3 star		12%
2 star		3%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Gingerbread Man

Hoodoo meets high-tech.

Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2022

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My third reading of a work by amazing Nalo Hopkinson, this time a short story. I don't often read short stories, but what Clap Back reminded me was that the important thing about them is that the story may be short, but for the most successful ones the implications are not.
Sister Nalo's story informs us that Blackness is both immediate and ancient. And that Europeans still don't realize that they have unleashed something upon themselves that they don't (won't? ) understand. Grandmother, grand-daughter and all the spirits are so alive in this story in which hoodoo meets high-tech.

Helpful

Marc Bretzfelder

Speaking truths thru finely crafted science fiction

Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2022

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Without the twist it stands in its own; with the twist it hits even headset. Definitely an entertaining and powerful read.

Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2022

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I love the twist in this story, how the protagonist set up her protest and how her idea morphed into something her granddaughter would build on.

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What a cool concept!

Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2021

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In Black Stars #5, Nalo Hopkinson takes us on a futuristic journey with her submission, Clap Bank.

Her concept is simple and highlights how race
relations are at present harrowing and what the future of race relations will be with a bit of technology, science and people driven by hope taking the lead.

We meet generations of women in a family who are as affected as anyone else by relations but have decided to do something about it and CLAP 👏🏾 BACK 👏🏾. One is a fashion designer who is creating customized clothing laced with chemical compounds in hopes to spread diverse messages about exploitation, family, love, forgiveness and understanding. The other is an art student who is working on her final class project which she anticipates will land her in prison. While there are two competing time periods here (roughly 50 years apart) it is nice to see that the two women are related and how this knowledge forces the granddaughter to do her own searching.

“Auntie gave me gravy with peanuts in it. I nearly died. I forgive her.” —Malawi group project, “The Forgiveness Quilt”

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Toinette

I admire the fact that this author dared to write this.

Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2022

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This story was disturbing in a good way. It had to be to get the point across. There is a lot of shock value here for anyone not currently aware of the black or POC struggle (not the best first-time diversity read for a non-POC). Other than that, it's right on point. I don't agree with everything that happens in this story and doubt the author does either (but I don't know this person so that's just speculation). I admire the fact that this author dared to write this.

While I hope other non-black people, especially non-POCs will read this and appreciate it, I totally recognize that this is not written for them. This is a story about a black person, written by a black person, for black people. This is going to make anyone who reads it, especially a non-black person feel uncomfortable and that's okay. It's okay to feel uncomfortable sometimes. Discomfort can start great conversations.

I think this is a great adult read but could be suitable for teens with parent approval. It has some really dark themes and violent imagery. One issue with a cat rubbed me a bit wrong, but when I think about depictions of things done to slaves in books, TV, and movies, I got over the cat fairly quickly. It's hard to read but purposeful- not exploitive.

With some caution, I highly recommend this to fans of dark speculative fiction, Afrofuturism, and fiction by black authors.

One person found this helpful

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Frieda

Brilliantly written!

Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2022

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Such an interesting story, so evocative.

The technology is not far off into our future. Nanotechnology is here, as is colouration tattoos for diabetes.

The ornaments mentioned I have never liked and I don't understand why anyone would still have them.

I don't think hate will ever go away, even if everyone had the same skin. Just look at Ukraine now in April 2022.

Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2021

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I loved this book. It was written so well, despite it's shortness. The character development for such a short story was great. I cared about the characters and was sad when the story was over. It made me both laugh and cry, though I don't normally cry because of a book. Most importantly, it showed a view of being black so well, and the struggles and wishes for those of color, that I think it would give those that weren't of a darker skin tone something more to think on. That it could even change the understanding of what it means to be black to those that aren't, and understand a part of the struggle of being black when there is so much racial injustice in the world.

One person found this helpful

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What's next

Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2022

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I was fortunate to meet Nalo Hopkinson at a conference a few years ago. Even had a chance to talk for a while after the conference. A wonderful woman.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It is unusual and combines the "hoodoo" of some Caribbean traditions with the science of sci-fi.

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