The title derives from Jemisin's 2013 essay decrying the absence of Black futures in speculative fiction and the publishing industry's biases against writers of color; the book's introduction positions the stories as a chronicle of her growth as both writer and activist, with deliberate choices to feature protagonists of color and 'talk back' to genre classics like Heinlein's The Puppet Masters. Multiple stories foreground racial injustice and systemic oppression as core conflicts, including a Black mother navigating Jim Crow South perils, a homeless Black youth in 'The City Born Great' fearing NYPD attention while birthing New York City's soul against an 'Enemy' embodying ancient evil, and post-Katrina New Orleans hauntings tied to real-world fallout.