As promised in issue number 1 of the Sankofa Syntax Newsletter (SSN) released 4th January (which you can read here in case you missed it), we take flight with new issues every Friday at exactly the stroke of midnight beginning with this 2nd issue (check time stamp and confirm). Midnight is indeed a time when the whispers of possibility stir minds of dreamers with transformative ideas. Its a kind of poetic choice for SSN to post new issues at this exact time of stillness to encourage reflection on the enormity of human ambition. For instance, the inimitable doggedness of SpaceX’s “Occupy Mars” project. For Africanfuturists, its an invitation to take it over the top by expanding the focus of creative activity from Afrocentric science fiction storytelling to pioneering tech that joins the global crusade of making science fiction real. 

For those not familiar with the term, Africanfuturism was coined by Nigerian-American author Nnedi Okoroafor as a sub-category of science fiction as we duly acknowledged in the inaugural issue; in reaction to a world where the science fiction genre has always been dominated by western visualizations of the future. Alas science fiction is now becoming reality! The true Africanfuturist should feel challenged to expand the focus of creative output accordingly. Our takeoff with new issues at midnight on Fridays can therefore also be seen as a metaphor for the darkness before the dawn of never before seen Africanfuturist ingenuity in science and tech. 

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As we look into space, does space also peer back like the proverbial abyss? Is man a reflection of the universe? For example the Igbo concept of “Chi” invokes a person’s companion spirit operating close behind the visible scene of things. 

The last issue of SSN being our inaugural copy also touched on a certain cosmic kinship between Afrofuturism and Africanfuturism. We’re trying to dig into that a lil bit more in this issue by first explaining that Afrofuturism is on blacks outside of Africa (as led by black Americans) while the latter term is on blacks on the continent. In the realm of entertainment, the world has already seen the kind of magic that comes from creative collaborations between the likes of Davido and Chris Brown (among so many other examples of this kind). However, there is now a “vergence in the force” (if one might borrow a term from Star Wars). We could attempt a definition here by explaining a vergence in the force as a realignment of energy fields that permits transformative possibilities that would not exist otherwise. For Africanfuturists & their Afrofuturist diaspora cousins, this implies a phenomenal convergence of tech and cultural forces

Back to the Dogon people of Mali and their mysteriously acquired knowledge about the Sirius star system located 8.6 million light years from earth. As we noted earlier, these bad niggers acquired this knowledge in astronomy before the invention of the modern telescope. So my dawgs can y’all tell me by what means of celestial observation they achieved such detailed knowledge about Sirius? The SSN will travel to Mali to confer with the Dogon elders in person. Stay tuned. We will do a very deep dive into ancient Dogon wisdom & how it could inform a new wave of tech breakthroughs. 

As mentioned in the first issue, the SSN shall expand into a new social media platform called Sankofa Social Media (SSM) as we approach the historical date of Starships first straight flight to Mars.

What kind of Africanfuturist are you? The dreamer, the builder, or the cultural storyteller? Whatever your inclination, SSN is your weekly portal to exploring these questions and uncovering the possibilities that lie ahead. Our journey isn’t just about observation; it’s about participation.

Subscribe to SSN and become part of a growing community that dares to imagine and create a future where Africa plays a much more prominent role in innovation, culture, and interstellar ambition.