If you haven't read her works, they are well worth reading. http://wavenewspapers.com/celebrating-octavia-butlers-legacy-a-visionary-among-futurists/
Exactly! Thank you! Her book Wild Seed had a strong influence on one my WIP's. (cover art by Wayne Barlowe for one of the editions of Wild Seed )
@Steerpike and @Wreybies - Another author on my 'must read' list, then. What book would you guys recommend I start with?
Wild Seed or Clay's Ark is a good intro to her more Science Fiction side. Both are short reads. Parable of the Sower is much more in the range of her Future Feminism work. And then there are Dawn, Imago, and Adulthood Rights, which in omnibus form are called Xenogenesis or Lilith's Brood (depends on the publishing house). Those last three are my favorites.
All of Wreybies' recommendations are good. Parable of the Sower is quite powerful. I also thought Kindred (a time travel story between the 1970s U.S. and the antebellum South) and Fledgling (an unusual vampire-like story) were great reads.