SLAY: Stories of the Vampire Noire is an anthology I happen to have a story in. In this post, I’m talking about SLAY, specifically my story, “Ujima,” and what it means to me.
If you haven’t had a chance to interact with “Ujima” yet, check out my podcast for the latest episode where I not only read the first part of the story, but I also discuss a little bit about it.
For those of you who are not familiar with the word, ujima; it means collective work and responsibility and I pulled it from the Kwanzaa tradition. Okay, so for some of you, that entire sentence may sound like gibberish. If you’re not familiar with Kwanzaa, read up on it. The short version: It is a uniquely African-American holiday season around Christmas time which celebrates our African roots and our way forward from the present day.
SLAY is a unique anthology centering around the African and African Diaspora vampire. Not necessarily in opposition to the European tradition, but rather as a different take on what we’ve always seen. Just talking about SLAY makes me a little giddy because it offered me an opportunity to take a creature I have always been fascinated by and change it just a little.
Why Ujima?
I chose the word “ujima” specifically because I told a family story. Collective work and responsibility to me means family. Being together, working together, caring for one another, and not letting another fall unnecessarily. In my story, it is two sisters (some of you may notice a theme) who have been separated by one’s turning; however, they have not been fully severed. When it comes time to make a choice of whether to follow the new family or old family, Imani (my main character) must chose. Whatever choice she makes, she loses something.
Question: Put in that position, what would you choose?
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