STREAM EXCLUSIVE ORIGINALS

This Day in Black History: June 22, 1947

Science fiction writer Octavia Butler was born.

Award-winning science fiction writer Octavia Butler was born on July 22, 1947, in Pasadena, California.

Butler is the arguably the most popular African-American science fiction writer, earning acclaim for novels such as Kindred and Parable of the Sower. Her stories feature African-American heroines and explore themes on sexual identity and racial conflict within the genre of science fiction. She is the first and only science fiction writer to receive a “genius grant” from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

She died in 2006 at age 58.

BET National News - Your source for Black news from around the world, including international politics, health and human rights, the latest celebrity news and more. Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.  

Get ready for the BET Experience, featuring Mary J. Blige, Maxwell, Jill Scott, A$AP Rocky, Rick Ross and many more. Click here for more details and info on how to purchase tickets.

(Photo: Chicago Tribune/MCT/Landov)

Latest News

Subscribe for BET Updates

Provide your email address to receive our newsletter.


By clicking Subscribe, you confirm that you have read and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. You also agree to receive marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers) and other information from BET and the Paramount family of companies. You understand that you can unsubscribe at any time.