If there's anything the sci-fi genre hasn't done, it's give minorities a prominent role in major sci-fi stories. Granted, that isn't to say that there aren't people of different races or colors in these stories (Morpheus in The Matrix, Ricardo Montaban's Khan from Star Trek, and Finn in The Force Awakens), but they aren't leading these films or stories.
The film that we watched in class, Attack The Block, is a pretty basic alien invasion film, but it feels fresh and new because the dynamic among the survivors and the setting is much different from what we're used to. The setting is in the slums of London following a group of black teenagers, one of which is associated with a gang. They steal from a concerned white lady who is scared of them because of their appearance. So when they have to team up later, the dynamic isn't about people who hate each other, rather than about people who don't accept or trust each other.
Another story about diverse characters is Bloodchild by Octavia Butler. The story follows Gan who lives in a society where aliens have come down and cannot procreate, so they use the men to reproduce for them. The story is about reversal of gender roles, as well as the struggles between two species that have to learn to live on their own to survive.
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