Obie

Sci-Fi, hip hop and racial politics collide in "Obie," the story of a multi-racial teenager so obsessed with his skin color that he often overlooks his mystical abilities to raise the dead.

In Atlanta, Ga, during the late 1990's, Obie' s main concerns were passing his final exams and proving to his friends how "black" he was despite his pale skin, blonde hair and blue eyes. One day after biology class, Obie wished that the animals due to be dissected by the students would all come to life. He thought it was a strange notion to consider, especially since he had no interest at all in animal rights activism. To his surprise, they all became reanimated as a result of wish and that gave Obie an idea.

For well over 400 years, Obie felt that his people had been oppressed and still suffering in an unfair American society. What was needed was a proven charismatic leader who could guide the black man to a glorious destiny! (Perhaps, someone like Malcolm X?) Obie convinced himself that bringing back dead civil rights leaders would go a long way towards helping his people achieve "true" freedom, so he quickly set off on his mission. Coincidentally, that was when his life began to change for the worse.

The sudden appearances of ghosts determined to kill him, a mysterious creature determined to seduce him and the tendency of people to drop dead around him were all inconvenient to Obie, but nothing he could not deal with. No, what bothered him were the questions in people's eyes when they looked at him. No matter how Obie spoke, or dressed, or hated "whitey," he was always seen as the "other man." For Obie, dealing with the dead was nothing, the most aggravating problem he had was being a black man stuck in a white man's body.