“Civilization is to groups what intelligence is to individuals. It is a means of combining the intelligence of many to achieve ongoing group adaptation.” —Parable of the Sower

If you knew your community’s way of life faced impending destruction, what could you do about it? Would you have the courage to leave behind a structure you knew was doomed? And what would you seek to build in its place? In Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler answers these questions with Earthseed, a faith and philosophy that protagonist Lauren Olamina creates from her observations of a world in peril and her dreams of survival. 

Octavia’s Parables invite us to be bold in our visions of equitable living in a wounded world. And we’re thrilled to invite you to help us expand that vision here at home through Radical Nourishment: Food, Soul & Community for the Future, a series of gatherings designed by and for BIPOC organizers to deepen our connections with each other, our relationship with the land around us, and the power we need to survive and transform the conditions we are rooted in.

This project is a collaboration between Tender Table & the Southern Maine Workers’ Center, and part of Parable Path, a framework for community organizing and artistic engagement based on Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower. The Parable Path initiative is led by multi-hyphenate musician Toshi Reagon, Bowdoin College’s Joseph McKeen 2022-23 Visiting Fellow, and is supported by Maine Humanities Council, Indigo Arts Alliance and Bowdoin College.