Afrofuturism, or why the world needs Space Egyptians. by Alexander

Afrofuturism, or why the world needs Space Egyptians. by Alexander - June 2014 Scholarship Essay

Growing up, I have always been fascinated by superheroes. Those, given abilities far beyond those of mortal men, fight the forces of darkness in the name of justice and peace. However, as I have gotten older and read the adventures of these heroes, I have noticed one thing. A lot of the heroes that I admire, are, for the most part, straight, white, and male. It's high past time to change that.

We live in a world where narratives are often told through the point of view of straight, white, male characters, when the world we live in is much bigger than that. If given the opportunity, I would like to offer a different point of view. One told through the lens of afrofuturism, a movement that pushed African Americans to see the world of science fiction and fantasy, complimenting their African roots, with a mix of the works of Jack Kirby, a.k.a. the king of comics.

Jack Kirby was, for all intents and purposes, a genius. He has had a hand in co-creating some of the most well known characters of all time. The Fantastic Four, the X-men, the Incredible Hulk, captain america, Thor, and Iron Man. One creation that struck the biggest chord with me, were the new gods he created at DC Comics in the 1970's. The new gods were a race of "space vikings" that lived on two planets, the peaceful new genesis, and the hellish world that is apokolips. The two worlds are locked in war with each other.

I would love to write a science fantasy kind of book combining both of these aforementioned elements with using newer versions of the Egyptian gods. They would have left earth thousands of years ago as mankind advanced, to fight an invasion of gods from another civilization. These old gods would have died, but eventually would have been reborn on a new planet. They look back to earth, and see how our civilization has changed. Eventually, one of these gods would go to earth, and choose a teenager as an emissary, and the story would go from there.

This kind of book would feature everything I love about comics. Adventure, coming of age, high fantasy, with some pseudo-science thrown in. It would tell a story from a diverse prospective, a pantheon that isn't really touched on so much. The kind of story I always wanted to read. I know that other people would want to read it too