# data[].attributes.headline
Reflect on your definition of Africanfuturism from Weeks 2-3. Expand it based on your readings from this week.

# data[].attributes.subject
Reflect on your definition of Africanfuturism from Weeks 2-3. Expand it based on your readings from this week.

# data[].attributes.body
While my first definition is accurate, I feel that it only scratched the surface of what Africanfuturism truly is. After reading Binti: The Complete Trilogy I feel I really do understand the genre beyond a generalized definition or idea. Okorafor’s story, at its core, is truly about identity in a futurist and technologically advanced world. I would argue that within the context of Binti and other Africanfuturist stories, the purpose is to define and expand black identities from the present and future, from the real-world and the fictional world. It allows black voices to transcend time and space which reshape culture and ideas. It is power, it is art, it is expanding ideas of the present and future, and it is expanding black identity, especially within the context of science and technology—as Arit Oku writes that Africanfuturism “tinkers easily with chronological time, introducing a fluidity: it can reverse into the historical past full throttle, bend time, and accelerate into the future” (Oku 77). This “fluidity” is very present in all the novels and short stories we have read thus far, and it is also very fluidity that Oku mentions is what allows black voices to freely explore identity.
-Cita

# data[].attributes.headline
Summarize Oku's discussion of gender and sexuality

# data[].attributes.subject
Summarize Oku's discussion of gender and sexuality

# data[].attributes.body
Oku argues that Africanfuturism can function not only as a mode to expand our worldview and relationship with technological advancement, but it can also expand and reframe our notions of gender and sexuality (75). In their article, Oku examines how Okorafor utilizes gender in her short stories and novels. Such Africanfuturist stories, according to Oku, can expand our ideas about gender, particularly in Africa and under the context of science fiction, as “Such AF stories offer a new platform for rethinking gender roles, reproductive health and rights, genderpower dynamics, and the gender division of labour in Africa” (76). It is important to note how Africanfuturist stories, such as the ones that Okorafor writes, pay attention to how gender is exemplified in the world of STEM. Women like Binti are as involved with technological advancement just as their male counterparts—which ultimately challenges perspective on patriarchal, hegemonic, and capitalist narratives or worldviews. This perspective, Oku acknowledges and quotes Okorafor “is rooted first and foremost in Africa” (78). Gender is pertinent to identity and Oku makes great comparisons to Binti in this context: her pride in the fact that she is a Himba woman is a powerful example of gender identity within Africanfuturist stories. Oku points out that “Binti defies gender stereotypes that cast women and girls as emotional, lacking decision-making ability, and weak” (81). Part of this defiance is through her mathematical intelligence and competency in making rational decisions that save her people from being brutalized by war. The power that women hold in technological advancement in Africanfuturism is what destigmatizes gendered oppression.
-Cita

# data[].attributes.headline
1.	What is the world that is created in Binti? How is it relevant to our world now? 

# data[].attributes.subject
1.	What is the world that is created in Binti? How is it relevant to our world now? 

# data[].attributes.body
Binti: The Complete Trilogy is unlike anything I’ve ever read. My knowledge of sci-fi is very limited, as I’ve only read those “classics” that you hear about in the sci-fi genre like Dune and The Handmaid’s Tale, which I enjoyed but I’ve never ventured out of the western perspective. I know so little about sci-fi that I was quite taken aback by the world in which Okorafor has created. I was enthralled, captivated, and a little confused at times, but what stuck out to me is that I’ve never read a space opera so similar to our present-day world. One of the first similarities that come to mind is the animosity that the Khoush and the Muduse have for one another. The Khoush and Meduse’s rivalry supposedly stems from the Khoush’s notions that they are superior to any other alien or human alike. When Binti speaks to the Chief of the Meduse, the Chief reveals that the Khoush have stolen a sacred stinger from the Meduse and donated it to Oomza Uni without consent or knowledge from the Meduse to which the Chief says, “’My stringer is my people’s power’ it said. ‘They took it from us. That’s an act of war’” (Okorafor 37). In so many cases we have seen the western world rob POC and minorities of important or sacred artifacts and their culture to benefit themselves. Not only do the Khoush look down upon the Himba but they desire to start war with the Meduse. There is so much violence and there is so much war in our world that’s built upon racism, oppression, and cultural hegemony—just like the Khoush and Meduse war. There is much to be said of internalized racism as well in our world and Binti’s. When Binti takes her pilgrimage into the desert, she encounters the Enyi Zinariya who she knows and calls “Desert People” because they are looked down upon by her people. It comes as a shock when Binti learns that her father is part Enyi Zinariya. She recalls that “like me, he was the shade of brown like the Desert People and he’d never liked this fact” (172). The internalization of his skin and heritage runs deep. Binti is able to overcome this by acknowledging that the Enyi Zinariya are part of her heritage, even making it part of her name like she did with the Meduse and New Fish. Binti is a bridge to this internalized divide amongst different peoples, by being a harmonizer she is able to bring peace to her people and others. Just like our world these divides have history and run deep, but like Binti we can try to break them.
-Cita

# data[].attributes.headline
Africanfuturism (Science fiction) and Gender 

# data[].attributes.subject
Africanfuturism (Science fiction) and Gender 

# data[].attributes.body
In my last project on Africanfuturism, there is not much different to enlighten here than how I previously outlined it. Okorafor’s own definition of Africanfuturism is very simple. It is just a transformative tool to bring African future generations together and see their future through their own lenses, unlike other generations before them. Africans see themselves behind in science and technology. The story of Africanfuturism’s main objective is focused on visions interested in a speedy adaptation of the technology the west has been enjoying. The distinction between Africanfuturism and Afrofuturism is slim, according to Okorafor’s terms that I shared in my last project paper about Africanfuturism, “Africanfuturism is a subcategory of science fiction” (Okorafor). It is related to the Black people in the continent and the African ancestors in the diaspora connected by blood, spirit, history, and future. Africa has been marginalized and fails to see itself aligned with the outside world, in which technology transforms life for the better. Re-imagining so many years away from now we would expect to engage in art, and science and change life.

Bidit

# data[].attributes.body
My definition of Africanfuturism has always been the weaving together African culture with science and technology as a vehicle for blacks to take back their stories and rewrite the narrative in their own words after centuries of it being written for them. I was very excited to finally be reading a book by Okorafor herself as she is the one who coined the term Africanfuturism. I personally feel that I was able to understand the genre more fully after reading Okorafor's stories. For centuries, not only did Black's have their immediate lives happening in the present dominated by the white majority, but their whole futures swept away by them as well. However, by combining the future with utterly new scientific and technological advances, the future becomes limitless. This undetermined world is the vehicle in which members of the black community can explore their identities and their future goals without the constraints of modern society weighing them down.

Caitlin Trabant

# data[].attributes.body
As stated in my previous response, the combination of new scientific and technological advances in writing creates a broad spectrum for a limitless future for several groups of minorities so its not a surprise that gender and sexuality can be explored and expanded upon in this genre. Like Okorafor states, it's going beyond the natural timeline of what is concrete and instead going into the theoretical and that is where the expression truly begins. This heavily reminded me of when I read The Handmaid's Tale, where women were completely subjugated to the will of men. Women were defined by their reproductive abilities, forced into an extreme breeding society that actually isn't too far off from today. Women are still HEAVILY pressured to settle down and have a family. "Oh, you'll regret not having kids someday," is an extremely common phrase used to reduce women's identity to breeders, disallowed of focusing on goals such as career, monetary, or social goals which men take for granted.

Caitlin Trabant

# data[].attributes.body
To say that I was itching to get my hands on one of Okorafor's works would be an understatement. Okorafor created the term "Africanfuturism" and so in my mind, she will likely be the top of the genre for the entirety of her writing career. As predicted, the Binti trilogy takes place in the extreme futuristic society that champions space exploration and colonization. Space is the perfect vehicle for Africanfuturism as it is largely unknown to our society, and therefore leaves much to our imagination. Okorafor takes the baton and runs with it so to speak. This story especially ties into the discussion with Oku's take on gender and sexuality in Africanfuturism as Binti herself is selected for galactic travel as she excels in math and astrolabes which traditionally are male dominated STEM related fields. Binti's wit is the only thing that keeps her alive during the attack by the Medusae, and it is the only thing that she can rely on to survive the rest of the journey as well. Binti is tested to the extreme on all of these skills, and in the end it is all of the elements of her own identity that help her survive.

Caitlin Trabant

# data[].attributes.headline
Using Oku's discussion, explore Binti and "Yat Madit". Where does gender come into play? Sexuality? What are the implications of the genders of the main characters in each text and how does it impact the plot as a whole?

# data[].attributes.subject
Using Oku's discussion, explore Binti and "Yat Madit". Where does gender come into play? Sexuality? What are the implications of the genders of the main characters in each text and how does it impact the plot as a whole?

# data[].attributes.body
Binti and Amaro are both women who are monumentally tech savvy and skilled in the world of STEM. As Oku mentions, Africanfuturism can function as a way in which to expand our ideas of gender and technological advancement, I believe both Binti and “Yat Madit” fit in this description that Oku presents. Binti is the first Himba person to ever be accepted into Oomza Uni—and she does this not only as a mathematical genius, but also as a Himba woman. Binti holds much pride in her culture and her womanhood, and I think we as the reader see that through her application of otjize. When Okwu asks Binti why she wear otjize, she responds with, “’Because my people are sons and daughters of soil,’ I said. ‘And…and it’s beautiful’” (Okorafor 27). In Himba culture, only the women wear otjize, and part of Binti’s insistence on wearing it throughout the story is part of the pride she has in her name, in her culture, and in her sexuality. Throughout the story there are many other individual beings that are trans or gender non-conforming or are simply sexually ambiguous. The Meduse do not have concepts of sex or gender and are all referred to as the pronoun “it.” Binti also makes a friend named Haifa who is an openly trans woman. Binti finds it interesting that Haifa is so open about because in her culture “they weren’t so open about it. And we didn’t say ‘transition’, we said ‘align’ and once they align, it was never mentioned again. Amongst the Himba, you ‘were what you knew you were once you knew what you were and that was that’” (65). For the Himba being trans or “aligned” doesn’t sound like a big deal because one is just expected to know because gender is not based in science, it’s an identity. I believe Okorafor’s portrayal of gender within her novel aligns with Oku’s notion of gendered expansion within technologically advanced societies.

In “Yat Madit” gender and sexuality is viewed as very one-sided, something the people in that fictional world and our world view as “traditional.” Although the world in “Yat Madit” is technologically advanced, the views that Amaro’s father and many of the other villagers’ hold is very conservative and limited.  In Amaro’s new proposed law she mentions that “Our gay friends can’t inherit ancestral property because we insist that ancestral spirits only reincarnate through traditional means of conception” (Dila 27). Amaro also recalls that her father held many concubines and “had read about the many women he raped, the many children he fathered in violence, and she wondered if she belonged to those statistics, if his relationship with mama had started with a rape” (21). Both atrocities stem from a violent patriarchal and hegemonic society and while these things persist in “Yat Madit”, Amaro is able to take control of herself, her identity, and her Avatar by proposing a new law that would encourage the villagers to take action against the ways of her father’s narrow world views and further technologically advance society for the better, which again align with Oku’s notions of gender.
-Cita

# data[].attributes.headline
1.	Provide a critical summary of Dila's story with a focus on key plot points, but also on Africanfuturism (or science fiction) and gender.

# data[].attributes.subject
1.	Provide a critical summary of Dila's story with a focus on key plot points, but also on Africanfuturism (or science fiction) and gender.

# data[].attributes.body
Amaro is a tech-savvy woman who runs a digital store in her technologically advanced village. Yat Madit is an AI system that allows the village council and its villagers to govern their society. Part of Yat Madit are the Avatars. The Avatars function as a vice to receive data from their person and enter it into Yat Madit. Through this data and the news, Amaro learns of her father’s release from prison. Amaro’s relationship with her father is estranged because of his political actions as president, as he went to prison for murdering people in his position of power. While in her shop, her father makes his way in to reconcile with her, but as she recollects on all the atrocities that he has committed, Amaro finds herself in a dilemma: she misses the man she used to think her father was, but there is also the person who he actually is, and that person is an evil political dictator. During her conversation with her father, she learns that the reason he is trying to reconcile isn’t because she’s his daughter, but because he wants her to manipulate the system in order to get the Avatars votes so he can get reelected. Amaro fears her father’s reelection because she knows the kind of man he is, and she knows that he is dangerous. Recalling that part Africanfuturism is the exploration of identity, technological advancement, and gender Amaro uses her voice as a woman, as the ex-president’s daughter, and as a savant of technology to propose a new law that would inhibit her father from becoming president again. She says in her new law proposal, “Before we know it, Yat Madit would okay decisions that stink of corruption and nepotism and tyranny and raping women and murdering twelve thousand political opponents” (Dila 27). The new law proposal in opposition to Amaro’s father really exemplifies a possible future relationship with AI. Just like all things, AI has the potential to become corrupt if given that power. Yat Madit explores this relationship with technology, but it also explores the relationship one has to family and identity. Amaro is the president’s daughter, and many people know her as that, including her boyfriend Kera, who betrays her in the media. Kera constantly refers to the ex-president as “your father”, but despite this Amaro insists that “’He is not my father!’” (26). Amaro is taking back her identity by severing this familial tie the president and she share, she is taking control of her autonomy this way, expanding her identity beyond the president’s daughter. The law proposal she makes is also a way in which she can sever this tie and expand her identity.
-Cita

# data[].attributes.body
Binti: Complete Trilogy

Reading the complete trilogy exposes me to learn about a very interesting story of a young intelligent girl, who was accepted to attend one of the most distinguished institutions far away from her ancestorial home. Her ability as a gifted young girl in mathematics was undermined by her tribe (Himba tribe of Namibia) because of being a female (Okorafor, Ted talk). Gender inequality across the continent remains high, and women are not expected to do the same tasks as men. Although stunning progress is being made across the continent to recognize women's rights, change takes its own set of rules. The main visible conflict in Binti’s story is her cultural exceptional difference, which does not easily willing to accommodate other cultures on the other side of the sea. Binti has colored her face with red clay to display her cultural character manifestation. Her distinctive character becomes an issue and suddenly earned her trust and respect across various characters. What makes Binti’s story unique and special I think is her strong commitment to pursuing her dream, despite her cultural tradition difference that separates genders in two clusters. Family members and friends find it unusual for her to leave home just to study. Binti’s successful story becomes more recognizable, I think for these three reasons: one is, she was the only female in her own entire tribe to be accepted at the most respected university away from home. Second, she was the only survivor on the ship who made it alive. Third, by the end of her novel, she made it possible to mediate between the Meduse and the professors at the Oomza university. And finally, her achievement as the first female from her community may change some of the mindsets of undermining women's ability to accomplish more in education as men.

Bidit

# data[].attributes.body
There is no doubt that the Black Panther movie released in 2018, elevates black women in the front column of its story. The film was seen as a huge contribution to African people who experience different cultures and traditional heritages. In the movies, there are so many remarkable parts that attract many viewers, especially some tracks in the film where women are seen as dominant players. I also find Binti’s remarkable story so dominant in this book, her achievement to qualify for the title (STEM), makes her name impossible to miss on any page I came across so far in Okorafor’s book. Binti understands her God-given potential in education, she was eager to learn and couldn’t wait to explore such a rewarding adventure of learning new things. Amaro's story is not related to Binti’s, they both relate to certain extents. Binti is a math genius, while Amaro is well-versed in tech, they both do not have good relationships with their fathers. As Amaro’s dad spent much of his time in prison and learned very late about his dad’s behavior yarning to resume power from prison.

Bidit