Thread by @EbWatchesTrek, The problem of amalgamation isn't uniquely Black American (fantasy worldbuilding post-Tolkien; USA's [...]

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The problem of amalgamation isn't uniquely Black American (fantasy worldbuilding post-Tolkien; USA's founding mythologies), although I agree it's a problem for us.

I guess...I have to write about this. (There are aspects of "Wakandafication" that I haven't seen anyone mention.)

In fact, I already HAVE written about this, but it's an academic article.

https://www.academia.edu/43229119/Notes_toward_a_Black_Fantastic_Black_Atlantic_Flights_Beyond_Afrofuturism_in_Young_Adult_Literature

Notes toward a Black Fantastic: Black Atlantic Flights Beyond Afrofuturism in Young Adult Literature

We are in a cultural moment where speculative storytelling reigns supreme. As we commemorate the centenary of The Brownies’ Book, edited by W. E. B. DuBois and Jessie Fauset, one recalls Fern Kory’s...

https://www.academia.edu/43229119/Notes_toward_a_Black_Fantastic_Black_Atlantic_Flights_Beyond_Afrofuturism_in_Young_Adult_Literature

I have more to say, though. I really appreciated Jade Bentil's coining of the term "Wakandafication," and learned a lot from this essay from last year. https://africasacountry.com/2019/09/beyonces-heart-of-darkness

Beyoncé and the Heart of Darkness

Few black thinkers and creatives in the United States seem able to grapple with the implications of their Americocentrism in relation to Africa.

https://africasacountry.com/2019/09/beyonces-heart-of-darkness

Critique sharpens your thought process. I will say that if we’re going to start critiquing Black US imagination, a book from 20 years ago that I learned about from Black historian friends absolutely needs to be considered in these critiques: Wilson Julian Moses’ AFROTOPIA.

Most of the essays I've read about Black Panther and Black Is King completely sever these highly commodified Afrofuturistic / Black SFF artistic productions - none of which existed when I was conducting the research for TDF -- from the history of Black US fantastic tradition.

The next SFF critical book I want to write is going to trace a tradition that parallels the dark fantastic cycle. But I honestly think that while those of us here need to be careful with our "Americanisms," and listen to what others are saying about our amalgamated dreams...

...there's a reason other than "we want to be oppressors just like the White people" for that amalgamation.

The one thing I'll share that I'm writing about now is what you *do* if you're literally -- in every strand of your DNA -- an amalgamated African. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/science/23andme-african-ancestry.html?smid=tw-share

Large DNA Study Traces Violent History of American Slavery

Scientists from the consumer genetics company 23andMe have published the largest DNA study to date of people with African ancestry in the Americas.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/science/23andme-african-ancestry.html?smid=tw-share

"Historical evidence shows enslaved people in the United States & the British Caribbean were taken from a larger number of regions of Africa [than those in Latin America]. Their descendants today show a genetic connection to people in 6 regions in Africa." https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/science/23andme-african-ancestry.html

Large DNA Study Traces Violent History of American Slavery

Scientists from the consumer genetics company 23andMe have published the largest DNA study to date of people with African ancestry in the Americas.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/science/23andme-african-ancestry.html

3 current dilemmas of Black North American mythopoesis seem to be:

1) The quantum dilemma (spacetime).
2) The amalgamation dilemma (ancestry & ethnic authenticity).
3) The palimpsest dilemma (retentions & cultural authenticity).

I'll chew these up in a second piece, I guess.

Meanwhile, let me throw this thread into my Notes.

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