Dear Friends, Are You Afraid of Death?

A Pomegranate Hive Recommended Read: Nnedi Okorafor’s “Who Fears Death”

If Ling Ma’s Severance was the strangely parallel read of experience during pandemic craze, then Nnedi Okorafor’s Who Fears Death was the most joyous escape containing a post-apocalyptic adventure with magic, power, and love with familiar remnants of the past (or out present) that signal a new world, post man-made global disaster, and the downfall of all our bullshit after ignoring all the signs that warned us otherwise. The title here is quoted from Patrice Lumumba, the first and only elected Prime Minister of the Republic of Congo, and serving as the opener for this tale.

The story focuses on Onyesonwu, or “Onye”, who is born of a violent union between a white man and a black woman. The readers witness an army of white men and women who completely batter, bruise, rape, and kill an entire village of black folk. The reader is also told that this is one village of many that these people have been terrorizing across the continent. It is extremely uncomfortable to read, but Okorafor holds back no punches. It explores facets of history the textbooks have tried to gloss over, and she paints it as ugly as it is and was. Randomly, I find myself thinking of Hamilton and its refrain “history has its eye upon you.” Here, her work showcases the work so horrifically done, it almost seems like divine retribution to ensure that those sins are never forgotten.

The Magic that is Onyesonwu

The origin of Onyesonwu, for better or worse, defines both her identity and her life experiences as a child that is half oppressor and half oppressed. Interestingly enough, as she ages, enough time has passed from the point of violence that the black communities have come into their own power far from where the white folk terrorize. There are passing stories of trauma and pain that the white communities continue to evoke, but Onyesonwu’d mother brought her as far from that reality a she could. But now, both of them are marked for the tainting they have experienced.

Beyond the ugliness encased in her origins, we learn something else about Onyesonwu — she is also marked by immense power running through her veins. It ends up that the white oppressor who raped her mother was a highly powerful and dangerous wizard. Unintentionally, he passed some of his power onto her.

The entirety of her storyline is realizing that while women are not trained in magic, she must be if she is to survive. She can see her father through visions, but he can see her as well, and one of them must destroy the other. As a teenager with little support of the adults around her, but with a widening cast of friends, all equally upon the universal journey toward adulthood alongside the not-universal coming end of the world, Onyesonwu casts off to find, confront, and kill her father.

The Healing that is Encased in Mwita

Counter to Onye, there is Mwita — arguably my favorite character of the book. Ever faithful to the protagonist, he is slightly older, yet still a teenage boy, not only also learning magic, but he has to grapple with the reality that his female partner not only holds more power than him, but that she’ll rise to heights far beyond him. He remains completely level-headed and calm as catastrophe and disaster seek them out due to his past as a boy-soldier. Ultimately, Mwita is the depiction of grace against all manner of trauma. In a thousand ways, he is much too good to be true.

He plays healer, advisor, protector, and lover to Onyesonwu throughout their journey. He loves her when she is nothing and loves her continuously through her mistakes and flaws. He, as another magic wielder, foresees his death, a sight that is enough to render a man insane, yet he chooses to journey with her to meet it anyway. With a title such as Who Fears Death?, it, in many ways, is the very question these teens have to reckon with upon their laborious journey. In Mwita’s case (and arguably many of the teens on the journey), of course, they fear death. But, he rises to the occasion time and again — for that, he is deserves the title of hero as much as Onye.

The Joy that is their Journey

Last but not least, the shining light of this novel is the group of black teenagers in the thralls of world-ending chaos moving forth despite circumstances. They struggle with all the familiar things involved with growing up like jealousies and young love and friendship and loyalty, but Okorafor holds these relatable truths to the backdrop of the weight on their shoulders — Can they save the world? Can they put aside their own narratives to aid Onyesonwu in hers? Can they meet death and be unafraid? Can they be afraid, support one another, do it anyway? With this group, absolutely, yes, they can, and this is the re-imagined, autonomous future that I desire.

In Ending: Divine Futurisms

Folks have associated Okorafor’s work as adding to the Afrofuturistic canon, but she has been adamant in labeling her work Africanfuturism, which is an important distinction. I have always leaned toward Indigenous Futurisms, and my work speaks out from a Pilipinx Futurist perspective — neither term is official nor a canon, but that truth does not make either oppressed and marginalized groups less deserving of healed futures alongside the plethora of oppressed and marginalized groups the globe over.

Afrofuturism has paved the way for the rest of us, and Okorafor’s insistence and visibility reminds us that re-explored pasts and re-imagined futures should be an inclusive endeavor given the structures of power and disempowerment that determine the extent and possibility of lives within our world. Her vision of a Pan-African future is, and should be regarded as, distinct from an Afrofuturist future. Its the same way as I ruminate upon the glorious potential of the diaspora and how it can stand beside a future for our families back home.

Through duration of my time on medium, you’ll most likely never hear the end of my obsession and love for futurist work. The amount of hope and joy it provides me and fuels me with vision for the re-imagined future as inclusive and equitable to the many marginalized folks of the world remains a font of light for me.

Mabuhay, I’m EA Garcia, and I’m a thriving eater of story. I reflect on all my reads across genres, forms, and categories. Since I only read BIPOC work and prioritize small, indie, and micro press work, you might find a new read! I also write on academia, publishing, & decolonization, ftw.

Feel free to recommend things in the comments below! I LOVE recs: particularly books, dramas, manga, & webtoons! Try to keep it BIPOC and marginalized ❤

Read about WHY I only read BIPOC folk, get a taste for my stance on decolonizing bookshelves, or look at some funky reviews of storywork!