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Here’s a new entry in the ‘Manga You Should Be Reading’ series I started here at BNP about singular manga series that I spotlight and elaborate on. I aim to write about manga series that are highly acclaimed, manga series that are finally getting anime adaptations, and hopefully manga that will move you the way that they have moved me.

At heart, with these entries–major spoiler free–I hope to give you a good feel of the series and why it is so loved and/or poured over. This is a manga series that I consider a hidden gem that really surprised me with the depth of its narrative and extremely detailed artwork in regards to mechanical beings. My friends, you should be reading the ever-intriguing Country Without Humans!!

The Country Without Humans 

Story and Art by: IWATOBINEKO

Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment

Available Formats: Print

Ongoing or Completed: Ongoing (3 volumes as of June 2023)

Localization Team: Deniz Amasya (Translator), Robert Harkins (Letterer), Kim Kindya (Adaptation)  Leighanna DeRouen(Proof reading), Jenn Grunigen (Editor)

What is this Manga About:

Shii finds that she is the only human left in a city inhabited by nothing but machines. She awakens and is on the run from terrifying machines suited for combat and hunting. As she flees the eerie and unfamiliar streets, she has a fateful encounter with a mechanical golem named Bulb. While the golem is without speaking capabilities, it is a strange machine that protects the young girl and makes her feel safe. She follows it home and this event serves as the start of their journey together as companions as protector and the one being protected. 

The streets and shops of this entire city are bustling and full of life…but not humans. Artificial life cleans the streets, waits for customers in shops, and looks for people to guide through town. They make beds, polish walls, collect garbage and yet all the humans have disappeared. Shii looks for answers along with the silent Bulb. Together as they travel, the little girl finds new allies, learns despairing realizations, and finds that there’s a lot more than what meets the eye in this place. 

Her relationship to Bulb, a golem (an autonomous humanoid robot built to take orders from humans and carry out their will), changes with every dangerous encounter that they have with the greater conspiracy that once divided humans and golems. Can their existences be beneficial to each other? Can these two ultimately save each other? The Country Without Humans features a developing friendship between the two creations: human and machine—and the winding, complicated story to understand what happened to the society they both belong to.

Recommended for: 

• People who are endeared to the ‘found family’ trope
• Fans of mech, robots, and all manners of created machines
• Readers looking for shorter manga series with female protagonists
• Readers who love science fiction and dystopian settings in manga
• Manga readers who want an engaging story that challenges your ideal of humanity 

Can My Kid(s) Read the Source Material:

The publisher’s website labels the manga as “TEEN.” This manga is for readers roughly ages 13 – 17 years of age. I would recommend this series be held for the older teens for some emotional scenes that have some imagery that might be deemed scary for younger readers.

Where Can I Read It:

In print, the manga series is available through Rightstuf, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Bookshop, and other places. You can also find the manga via Bookshop and Powell’s Books! 

Who are Some Important Characters You Should Know About:

Shii: an adorable, little girl who is on a mission to figure out what’s going on and why she’s the only human in this bustling city of man-made machines. She’s small and short in stature but loud. She is ever curious about the world and how it all works. She sees Bulb as her protector and his first friend in this strange journey that she’s taking.

There are gaps in her memory, but she has strange dreams that hint at her parents, her home and important places she thinks she should return to. She maintains a belief that while it’s great that golem serve humans, they should have a say in their work. She hates to see golems mistreated and doesn’t agree with the casual way that they are disassembled, treated as secondhand citizens, and tossed away when deemed worthless. She is a much more important person in the great scheme of things than she knows.

Bulb: a golem: an autonomous humanoid robot built to take orders from humans and carry out their will. It has an interesting design that includes an intimidating build with a single eye that often stares. Being non-verbal, it gives off a stoic attitude but is aided by the speak-compatible assistant golem, Muimui, that acts a sort of sidekick character.

Bulb is a highly adaptive model of golem that can engage in combat, rescue, and searching. Readers may find the backstory behind its previous master a sad story, yet I found that it evolved into a more layered story involving illegally modified goods and who has the right to better their life with such machines.

Why I Believe You Should be Reading it:

The Country Without Humans delves into a world that many, if not most of us, have envisioned already. At this point with the wave of AI-generated media, robot powered task forces, and more and more self-service kiosks in our neighborhoods, it is a world without humans. I, myself, have pondered about the price and value of labor when it is taken out of the hands of people. I’m happy to hear that some work is automated, yet other work needs a human touch, or ear. There’s a steady, consistent argument that all of this will make it all easier or streamlined, and people will be able to have a better quality of life. Yet, anyone who wasn’t born yesterday knows of stories we’ve consumed from comics to films to video games that tell of the darker side of this idealistic view and how quickly it can quickly develop and get out of hand.

For me, what makes The Country Without Humans so intriguing is IWATOBINEKO’s take on how we can define being alive and how we might consider who or what is precious. Through Shii and Bulb, readers will be challenged with their grasp of humanity and who or what is more sacred and important to society. Shii finds a world that is willing to cater to her, a world she is told is made for her. Yet, this doesn’t comfort her. She’s alone without any other humans around and yet finds mechanical beings who keep bringing out emotions in her: protectiveness, joy, fear, and so on. 

The first volume features a few pages of the memories of an assistant robot at the junk shop Shii finds herself at. It is revealed that its owner, now long gone–was a legitimate parts dealer–obtained the robot and made it into his own effective worker. The dealer found a cheaper way to gain cheap labor and even saw it as a form of revenge: he was replaced by such a model. After losing his job to the new robot workforce the city created, he turned to seedy dealings, unable to make an honest living. These small bits of the story masterfully add to the bigger picture of issues that had been created and festering in the city that was upgraded to make life easier for all.

The second volume of this manga series is my favorite: readers will uncover more about Bulb’s master and the many people and golems who fell into the cracks and created their own lives. Shii finds a number of golems and learns about their many functions. Some golems were created to be friendly–social use golems. Others are more intricate than others, emulating humans or toys for children. Others were made for more nefarious or unsettling purposes with tools and weapons meant for cruel purposes. One truth remains for all: they all desire directions and purpose from another-a human.

This brilliant second volume of The Country Without Humans brings us a story courted with different movements–like the Droids Rights movement of the fictional Star Wars universe when we learn of the damning and stigma of illegally modified golems seeking out a living. I am also reminded of the real life Right To Repair movement that strives to legally allow owners of devices and equipment to freely modify and repair their belongings. The cast of golems that Shii and Bulb are surrounded by grows and giving readers glimpses into the many different golems created and the ways that they service each other, protect each other, and, in a way, keep each other whole.

The third volume of The Country Without Humans builds on that momentum with much emotional upheaval that I wasn’t ready for. This particular leg in the journey asks readers what makes a life manufactured. The exit of a certain character introduced in the previous volume begs the question of how to define servitude and when does it become someone or something’s purpose that carries them. If mechanical beings, machines “live” to serve, then do they also live to retire or end their lives? I was reminded of the controversy in regard to morality when euthanasia, or physician-assisted suicide, is brought up in debates, and this pushes the narrative in this manga to be a thought-provoking one that I continue to think about.

What this manga series does have that may seem formulaic to some readers is the child/younger person/creature team up with the older and/or stoic person/non-human that is already so present and as a trope in much of the media we consume. Bulb guides Shii, who knows little of this world and also is an amnesiac. I agree this trope is overused; however, these two make the tropes and this story their own. Not every story about dystopias is created equal, yet IWATOBINEKO’ s work feels special with this duo. The child and the golem both actively seek to protect each other. I believe that they help redefine what a family unit can be.  Just as a family can be parents and a child, it can also be a lion and his group of weiner dogs, and it can also be a little girl, two golems, and their comrades who protect her and are basically raising her.

The Country Without Humans has built up such an intriguing story revolving around purpose, consent, and desire against the backdrop of the absence of humans and the complicated messiness that created carrying on without them. With only three volumes published so far, it has pushed the envelope in crafting a relevant and moving story on being a single gear in the moving parts of a near future society. I love that the series shines a light on the darker parts of innovation and reminds me as a reader that agency belongs to us, all. Including, Bulb and the other golems who have plenty to teach humans and vice versa. I love the hints about evolution, the limits that both humans and machines have, and the consequences that can spill out and make change. I continue to be invested in this series and believe you should be reading The Country Without Humans!

The Country Without Humans is available where comics and most manga are sold.

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The post Manga You Should Be Reading: ‘The Country Without Humans’ appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.

This year marks the 102nd anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, and it includes the harrowing story of the oldest living survivor, Viola Fletcher, who recently turned 109 years old.

“Mother Fletcher,” as she’s affectionately known, has written a memoir titled Don’t Let Them Bury My Story: The Oldest Living Survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre in Her Own Words. In it, she recounts her journey from being a terrified 7-year-old girl forced to escape her burning neighborhood of Greenwood to testifying before Congress to ensure justice for the victims of the massacre. It was one of the bloodiest racial attacks ever in United States history.

On May 30, 1921, Dick Rowland, a Black teenage shoeshine boy, was arrested and charged for assaulting a white elevator operator named Sarah Page in the elevator of a building in downtown Tulsa. The next day, the newspaper printed a story saying that Rowland had tried to rape Page, with an accompanying editorial stating that a lynching was planned for that night. That evening mobs of both Blacks and whites appeared at the courthouse where Rowland was being held. A confrontation took place that resulted in the death of a white protester. The Tulsa massacre was consequently ignited.

Beginning May 31 and lasting for two days, the massacre left as many as 300 people dead, mostly Black people, and destroyed Tulsa’s prosperous Black neighborhood of Greenwood known as “Black Wall Street.” More than 35 blocks of Black homes and businesses were burned to the ground, nearly 10,000 people were left homeless, and the rampage caused more than $2 million in damage. Despite this devastating event, it had been barely mentioned in the history books until a state commission was formed to document the incident in the late 1990s.

The consensus later was that whatever happened between Rowland and Page in that elevator was harmless. Perhaps Rowland accidentally stepped on her foot or bumped into her when the elevator shifted from one floor to the next. At that time, simply daring to smile at a white woman could get you killed.

Mother Fletcher was the second oldest of eight children. Her younger brother, Hughes Van Ellis, was a newborn at the time of the massacre, and as of 2021 was 100 years old. The house they grew up in had no electricity. On the night of the massacre, Fletcher was in bed asleep; her mother woke the family and they fled for their lives. Due to uncontrollable circumstances after the massacre, the family lost everything but the clothes they were wearing. Fletcher left school after the 4th grade. In 1932, she married Robert Fletcher. They moved to California during World War II to work in the shipyards, where she was an assistant welder. After the war, the couple settled in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, to raise their three children, and Fletcher eventually retired from work at age 85.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been forced to confront inescapable facts of past and present racism. W.E.B. Du Bois predicted in 1903 that the issue of the 20th century would be “the problem of the color line.” He has been proven right many times over.

The Tulsa Race Massacre is a stark reminder of how white fear can run so deep that it can destroy Black legacies and inheritances when there’s disruption of that color line Du Bois spoke of. For Black people in 1921, their families passed down something else from one generation to the next: the mental and emotional stress that results from the constant threat of white violence and financial insecurity. In a matter of two days, everything the thriving Greenwood community had built was gone. More importantly, every dream, goal, and plan they had for that community were destroyed as well.

Many people were introduced to the Tulsa Race Massacre because of HBO’s Watchmen in 2019. The very first episode of the series opens with a depiction of the horrific events, showing a Black World War I veteran trying to protect his wife and son as they escape the attack on Black Wall Street. What I appreciated about this was they didn’t sugarcoat what happened. They showed Tulsa’s Black residents being hunted, their homes and businesses being burned down, as well as airplanes flying over the city to drop bombs.

HBO continued the history lesson in 2020 with Lovecraft Country. During the ninth episode, entitled Rewind 1921, the show’s main characters travel back in time to Tulsa to recover pages of a book needed to save another character’s life after she had been cursed. They arrive in Greenwood the day of the massacre. The episode shows the reality of white mobs killing Black residents and burning down homes and businesses.

It is believed that the hundreds of people that were killed are buried in mass graves. Experts have been searching local cemeteries for victims of the massacre. Today, Greenwood, like so many once-prosperous Black areas, remains severely economically depressed.

In her testimony to Congress, Mother Fletcher described what Greenwood meant to its residents and detailed how she lives with the memories every day. “Our country may forget this history, but I cannot, I will not, and other survivors do not, and our descendants do not.”

As many Americans will soon prepare to celebrate the Fourth of July, it shouldn’t be lost on us that not every part of our history has been worth celebrating. It’s difficult to learn about the massacre and even see it being depicted on screen without being deeply moved by it. It’s a story of so much pain brought by the hands of racists. It’s not a feel-good story. Mother Fletcher lived through it, but her story, however, is one of triumph. She gives true meaning to the strong Black woman and is continuing to fight for justice every step of the way.

Mother Fletcher’s book, Don’t Let Them Bury My Story, will be available July 4, 2023.

Essence Festival is celebrating 50 years of hip hop this year and Juvenile was confused about why his name wasn’t on the original lineup.

After blasting the initial lineup for Essence Fest, Juvenile was proud to announce his inclusion in this year’s roster of live performances. The Cash Money rapper sent out a tweet on Wednesday, June 7, confirming his set.

“Hip-Hop 50 without Juvie? Not a chance. June 30th, NOLA we live!” Juvenile tweeted.

Hip-Hop 50 without Juvie? Not a chance. June 30th, NOLA we live! #ESSENCEFEST #ESSENCEFEST2023 #EFOC2023

Tickets available at https://t.co/8tlIbi9StE pic.twitter.com/d2GaeGgX2X

— JUVENILE (@juviethegreat) June 7, 2023

The announcement comes one week after Juvie spoke out about the initial Essence Festival of Culture lineup which included a number of A-list performers but only one New Orleans native.

“How is essence doing 50 years of hip hop in New Orleans without me???” Juvenile wrote in a since-deleted tweet. “F that Donna Fest July 2nd me w my live band +Mannie Fresh +Rebirth & more.”

Mia X was the only New Orleans native included on the initial bill. Headliners include Ms. Lauryn Hill, Missy Elliott, and Megan Thee Stallion, with a celebration of hip hop’s 50th anniversary from pioneers like Big Daddy Kane, Doug E. Fresh, EPMD, Gucci Mane, Big Boi, Jermaine Dupri, KRS-One and more. There’s a West Coast set featuring Ice Cube, E-40, Ice T, and more.

 

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A post shared by ESSENCE Festival (@essencefest)

There is also a “South Got Something to Say” set where prominent Atlanta natives will perform including Lil Jon, Jermaine Dupri, and Gucci Mane, among many more. When a fan brought this up to Juvie last week, he shamed the festival for acknowledging the south but not natives from the city where the festival is hosted each year.

“They have a segment called ‘the south has something to say’ with all Atl rappers,” the fan wrote.

“They did not understand the assignment,” Juve replied.

Essence took to Instagram to address the matter and announce Juvenile’s inclusion in the coveted show, Okay Player reports.

“As we prepared to celebrate the cultural commemoration of 50 years of Hip-Hop at this year’s festival, we planned with intention around the integration of New Orleans & Louisiana artists and the musical heritage across several experiences,” they wrote.

“Whether it be the celebration of Hip-Hop femcees like New Orleans native, Mia X, who has previously been announced, or special surprise performances from local Hip-Hop artists that should not be missed, along with our all Crescent City musical line-up during our Family Day celebration, the city of New Orleans and state of Louisiana will be well represented including Hip-Hop artist, Juvenile.”

It looks like Essence Festival of Culture has a jam-packed lineup for 2023 that will have the culture talking.

The long-awaited International African American Museum will finally open its doors later this month, and the city of Charleston, South Carolina, is preparing for an emotional week.

After having to push back its plans for its grand opening to coincide with the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the IAAM will open to the public on Tuesday, June 27. The $120 million project has been in the works for more than two decades and required unwavering support from leaders in the city of Charleston.

The location of the museum is central to the story of enslaved Africans who crossed the Atlantic to Gadsden’s Wharf, overlooking Charleston Harbor, where many Black ancestors first encountered America. Before the museum’s official opening, the city’s residents can take part in a worship ceremony on June 22 and a dedication ceremony community gathering on June 24.

“As this magnificent new museum demonstrates, Charleston isn’t just a city where history happened — it’s a city where history is still being made every day,” John Tecklenburg, the mayor of Charleston, said in a statement. “I couldn’t be prouder of this extraordinary achievement.” For the museum, Henry N. Cobb, Walter Hood, and Ralph Appelbaum designed 100,000 square feet of space including nine galleries, a genealogy center, and a memorial garden, according to The New York Times.

Visitors can also expect to see work by the Malian photographer Seydou Keïta, local artist Fletcher Williams III, and a short project by legendary Daughters of the Dust filmmaker Julie Dash entitled Seeking. The video “re-interprets the coming-of-age traditions of the Gullah Geechee, the descendants of West Africans brought to the American Southeastern coast, into a narrative of resilience,” according to The New York Times. The museum will also be home to pottery by the enslaved artist David Drake.