Riot Baby

Published in 2020, Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi combines elements of science fiction and fantasy to create a book that is more relevant than ever. Riot Baby tells the story of a young black man named Kev who is born during the 1992 Rodney King Riots in Los Angles. Kev has a sister named Ella that has special powers. Ella’s special powers, referred to as her “Thing,” allow Ella to fly, read minds, teleport, blow objects up, see into the past, and see all the terrible futures that could result from the current racial issues in society. When Kev is imprisoned as a teenager for armed robbery and subsequently released, he lives in a California neighborhood for parolees, and a chip is implanted in his thumb. Here, Kev and Ella learn that they must work together to deal with the structural racism embedded within their society for a better world before it is too late.

Despite being only 176 pages, Riot Baby covers the span of nearly thirty years. The book begins right before the birth of Kev in 1992 through Ella’s perspective, and then, the next thirty years are narrated predominately through Kev’s perspective. During these thirty years, Kev and Ella move from L.A. to Harlem with their mother, Kev is imprisoned within Rikers Island in New York City for over eight years, and the United States undergoes significant yet terrifying changes.

However, because Kev is imprisoned, a good portion of the book takes place within the walls of a jail cell. Although Kev and Ella can communicate on occasion because of Ella’s Thing, the state of the outside world is largely unknown to both Kev and the reader. As a result, once Kev is released on parole, the country has changed significantly before his and the readers’ very eyes. A present-day that the readers were so familiar with at the beginning of the book has transformed into one that is grim and unfamiliar. However, it is a world that is definitely not impossible. The race issues that were present in the beginning of the book—race issues that have occurred within the world of the reader—have escalated. Major cities across the United States have burned down. Neo-Nazi groups have risen in popularity. Floating orbs scan the faces of people in the streets for their identity. Guns point at people from turrets on tall buildings if they are believed to be suspicious. In addition, the surveillance technologies being used disproportionately accuse people of color of crimes, despite the police’s claims that AI technology “can’t be racist.”

However, how does Ella’s powers fit into all of this? How does Ella, who has known through her Thing that many of her childhood friends will one day die at the hands of police brutality, deal with all of this?

Well, it’s complicated.

Suprisingly, the majority of the story does not take place through Ella’s perspective, despite how incredible her powers are. In my opinion, I believe this is an interesting but also an incredibly empowering choice made by Onyebuchi in writing this story.

There is never any sort of doubt that Ella is not powerful. Although she struggles to control her powers as a young girl and teenager, she is still feared by both her brother and mother for her strength. However, despite the boundless power Ella has, the racial violence that the country faces feels at some points like it is too much for her to handle. As a result, her absence for a large portion of the book demonstrates how powerless Ella feels because of racial violence, despite how powerful Ella literally is. Therefore, Ella is neither diminished nor shamed by Onyebuchi for being weak, but Onyebuchi instead proves how even the most strong can feel weak because of the evils of racism in our country. Simultaneously, because Onyebuchi never scolds Ella, readers are also reminded of the strength Ella has and are reminded that she still has the ability to fight racism in America, despite her fears. Ella is a strong black woman in spite of the racism she encounters, which is an important message to disillusioned readers.

Without spoiling too much, I will note that the story has a hopeful ending that emphasizes the importance of taking action. Because Kev and Ella find themselves living in a version of the U.S. where current racial issues and violence that exist today have merely escalated, a hopeful ending to this story is a productive one. This hopeful ending of this story offers a solution to tackle the racism that we currently encounter in this country: taking as much action as possible.

All in all, Riot Baby is a vital read. Through the story of Kev and Ella, the novel successfully proves the importance of resistance in an oppressive society even when the task seems impossible. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement has come to a boiling point through the death of George Floyd at the hands of racist police officers. The death of Floyd alongside the deaths of many other black people who were unjustly killed in this country has proved to many that racism is never going to just go away. Many have realized the extent to which racism is deeply entrenched within American society and its institutions. There needs to be serious change. Wake Forest students, alongside many Americans, care about the violence black people endure within this country and want to take the action necessary to eradicate oppressive systems. As a result, Riot Baby is an incredibly relevant book. Not only does it tell a story with interesting sci-fi and fantasy elements, but the story also advocates for the sort of powerful activism our country currently needs.

Links to purchase: Amazon, Barnes and Noble