Octavia Estelle Butler was a prolific writer born in Pasadena, California. She broke barriers in the writing world as both a woman and African American in science fiction. Despite many personal setbacks and rejections, Octavia never stopped pursuing her dream of becoming a writer. She has most notably proclaimed that the best talent to have as a writer is persistence.

As a science fiction writer, Octavia explored the human condition and all the intricacies of society. In many ways, her work challenges the limitations we may internalize given our social position in the world. In the worlds that Butler imagined, Black people, and all people, can do and be anything they want to be.

If you got Octavia Butler, you’re a rebel and world-builder. You fully reject any limits that others attempt to place on you. You also refuse to accept the status quo.
While your outlook on the world may be misunderstood as pessimistic, you see the potential of how things could be. You dream (and work toward) creating a world that others see as impossible. But being in fight mode 24/7 is exhausting. Remember, Black joy can exist alongside the revolution you dream of.

To learn more about how you embody the transformative work and spirit of Octavia Butler, check out the books below.

• Kindred (1979)
• Parable of the Sower (1993)
• Parable of the Talents (1998)

Lucille Clifton, originally from Buffalo, New York, did much of her writing, loving and growing in Baltimore, Maryland. Much of her work explores the Black female body, family, spirituality and the natural world. Lucille was self-described a “two-headed woman,” an African American term used to refer to women who could access both the earthly and spiritual realm.

One night while using a Ouija board with her daughters, Lucille was contacted by her mother. This opened a portal to what is commonly referred to as her spirit writing.

If you got Lucille Clifton, you are curious and intuitive. You may also be an artist with a fondness for otherworldly things. You ask a lot of questions because you’re a seeker of truth. This isn’t a bad thing, but it’s easy to get lost in the clouds of your wonder.

When was the last time you let yourself be present in your body? Make time for yoga, meditation, and other practices that keep you grounded when it’s time to leave the comfort of your daydreams.

To explore further how you embody the spirit of Lucille Clifton, check out the books below.

• Good Woman (1987)

• The Book of Light (1992)

• Blessing the Boats (2000)

New Jersey-born Paulette Williams (1948-2018) was given the Xhosa and Zulu names Ntozake Shange, in 1971 meaning "she who comes with her own things" and "she who walks like a lion."

Shange experimented with form throughout her writing and dancing career, producing famous choreopoems, plays, memoir and novels. She played a prominent role in advancing the Black Arts Movement beyond Chicago, and is best known for her Obie-Award winning play "for colored girls who considered suicide/when the rainbow is not enuf" (1975). Mentoring other artists was a significant part of her life – she is one of the founding poets of Nuyorican Poets Café and also taught arts and creative writing throughout her career.

Like Ntozake, you are keen to experiment with traditions and norms. Your commitment to freedom puts you in community with other like-minded people who recognize you as a leader. You are respected as someone who allows others to show up as their full selves and who insists on space for learning and growth. Your bravery is your strength, and it has helped you to survive.

If you’re a Ntozake, you can bring more Black joy into your life by throwing your body into a new rhythm, letting words lose you and moving in sync with someone else. You need to dance with somebody! Nothing will bring you more joy than feeling your pulse beat out against your skin.

Celebrate Ntozake’s bold explorations of Black liberation, love and performance by finding these titles at your local library or bookshop.

• Wild Beauty: New and Selected Poems (2022)

• If I can cook/you know god can: African american food memories, meditations, and recipes (1998)

• Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo (1982)

Born in 1891 and famously raised in the all-Black town of Eatonville, FL, Zora Neale Hurston was a writer deeply anchored in her sense of self. Unlike many of her Harlem Renaissance peers, she was unashamed to celebrate the stories, peoples and dialects of the South. She spoke out against school desegregation – an intensely unpopular stance at the time – and was a woman who put her love of words before all else in life, eschewing the typical path of marriage and motherhood.

You share in the spirit of Zora, if you’re unbothered by the opinions of others – about you or anything else. And while you take your passion and your love for your people seriously, you’re not above breaking into song and dance or trying something new, even it’s possible others might view you as foolish. You’re all about living your life to the fullest!

If you’re a Zora, you can bring more Black joy into your life by enrolling in class to learn something new, hopping in the car for a solo road trip and jotting down your wry observations about our culture in your journal.

To learn more about Zora, watch the new PBS documentary about her life, "Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space,” free online. And if you’re new to her work, her most famous novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” is an excellent place to start.

You may have seen the movie or heard the Whitney Houston anthem, but did you know “Waiting to Exhale” is based on the 1992 novel by Terry McMillan? Terry showed a generation of Black women that even when the romantic love you want is harmful, you can find the kind of love that will nourish spirit by turning to your friends. But Terry didn’t stop there, she also wrote the widely popular novel-turned-movie, “How Stella Got Her Groove Back,” making it known that you’re never too old to find yourself – or love.

You’re the Terry type, if you bravely risk your heart when love presents itself but have a bevy of besties to lift you up when you falter. Terry is also known for believing in her book, even when the publishing industry didn’t, so you’re also the type to have your own back no matter what.

As a Terry, you can bring more Black joy into your life by hosting a gathering in your home for all the incredible Black women in your circle, strategize how to make your professional ambitions a reality when traditional pathways have failed you, and by always being down to try your hand at love.

There’s a good chance you can find all of Terry's books at your local library. And if you’ve already read “Waiting to Exhale,” don’t sleep on the sequel that came out a number of years later, “Getting to Happy.”