Black Freedom Beyond Borders: Re-imagining Gender in Wakanda i Published in the United States 2019 by Wakanda Dream Lab x Resonance Network. Wakanda Dream Lab is a collective fan driven project that bridges the worlds of Black fandom and #Blacktivism for Black Liberation. It functions according to a value of emergence and celebrates the organic self-organizing nature of fandom. We intend to build on the aesthetics and pop culture appeal of Wakanda to develop a vision, principles, values and framework for prefigurative organizing of a new base of activists, artists and fans for Black Liberation. We believe that Black Liberation begets liberation of all peoples. Resonance Network is a community of people who share a deep belief that a world of interdependent thriving for all people, where violence is not the norm is possible. Network members work collectively to create strategies needed to interrupt the root causes of violence which are disproportionately affecting girls, women, and gender oppressed people; create the conditions needed for communities to be thriving, just, and accountable; and center the power and needs of people and communities who disproportionately experience the impacts of historic and current systems of oppression. All images used under the Creative Commons Share Alike license: https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-sa/4.0/ legalcode. This publication is covered by the Creative Commons No Derivatives license reserved by Wakanda Dream Lab https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/. All written works remain the property of their respective authors, licensed for use by Wakanda Dream Lab x Resonance Network for this publication, other media, and promotional purposes. The work may be shared intact and attributed as a whole to Wakanda Dream Lab x Resonance Network. Each individual story is subject to the permissions granted by their respective authors and may be reprinted individually with the authors’ approval. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword Glossary Section I: Righting Wrongs The Origin of Dora Milaje by Tonjie Reese ............................... 3 Hothead Subtlety by Khadija Jahmila ....................................... 9 Utopia by Courtney Dozier ........................................................ 11 Nyemoja* by Innocent Ilo .......................................................... 15 Trash Talk by Khadija Jahmila .................................................... 23 Talisman by Amber Butts ........................................................... 25 Hum Home: Hideaway on Junction Road by P Brown ............ 33 Elixir by Khadija Jahmila ............................................................. 43 Section II: Descendants of the Dora Milaje LevelHeaded by Khadija Jahmila .............................................. 46 Nyanza by Morgan Christie ...................................................... 47 Eye of Neptune by Khadija Jahmila ........................................... 56 Rebel by Innocent Immaculate Acan ........................................ 57 Bull’s Eye by Khadija Jahmila .................................................... 65 Section III: Loving (self & others) in Wakanda Moon Child by Khadija Jahmila ................................................. 68 you embody me by Lawrence Barriner II ................................ 69 Mirror, Mirror by Khadija Jahmila .............................................. 75 Fragile by Mercedes Mack ......................................................... 77 Mission Innerspace by Khadija Jahmila .................................... 84 iii Butch* by Isa Woldeguiorguis ................................................... 85 A Wakanda High School Reunion by Zebib K. A ...................... 89 Think Mercury by Khadija Jahmila ............................................ 97 Section IV: New Leaders in Wakanda Sunday’s Best by Khadija Jahmila ............................................. 100 The Remembered by Yalini Dream .......................................... 101 Ritual of Sekhmet by Philliph Drummond ............................... 109 Queendom by Khadija Jahmila ................................................. 119 Section V: Beautifully Whole in Wakanda No Deadnames by Dolores Chandler ...................................... 123 Jude & Justice by Maps Glover .................................................. 127 wakanda re:generation by margaux delotte-bennett ........... 131 Meet the Team Asterisk (*) identifies pieces containing explicit content referencing violence and physical intimacy. iv FOREWORD Dear Reader, In 2018, Wakanda Dream Lab published an anthology titled Black Freedom Beyond Borders: A Wakanda Immigration Anthology. The titular phrase #BlackFreedomBeyondBorders invited collective imagining and envisioning of what a borderless world could look like for Afro-diasporic people. The backdrop for this inquiry was the growing humanitarian crisis at the US southern border, the increase in displacement and forced movement of Africans across the continent and from the continent to Europe and North America, the global refugee crisis spurred by militarism and climate change, all coupled with the lack of visibility of Black migration in the 24 hour news cycle. The anthology sought to challenge the notion of nationhood, combat nationalism, play with the construct of geographic boundaries, and engage with an idea of nation that was about connection between people over time and space. A year later, the folks at Resonance Network and Wakanda Dream Lab teamed up and are pleased to present a second anthology centering gender liberation. As we struggled to find a new catchy title, it occurred to us that borders are a kind of binary. And that therefore, the gender binary and oppression it upholds is a kind of border. Like nations, it puts our bodies in a territory either here or there and there are laws that govern how we must perform our body depending on the place we are in. So we came up with Black Freedom Beyond Borders: Re- imagining Gender in Wakanda. In the midst of societal dysfunction in which women and girls – especially from Black and Indigenous communities, those who do not fit into predetermined gender boxes, or are deemed weaker among men – face violence, exclusion, isolation, and bigotry, we know we can envision and create a different reality. v A liberatory reality where kindness, inclusion, belonging, and above all else love are the order of the day. Turning back to Wakanda where we see gender currently playing out in a number of ways, we wanted to know, what don’t we see? If Wakanda is Zion, Paradise, Negroland, Afrotopia, for all Afro-descendant people and other peoples committed to Black Liberation as their own liberation, how do we WANT to see gender beyond the snapshots offered to us in the comics, cartoons, and movies? If Wakanda is the place that was never colonized and its people never enslaved then how does gender evolve? How do its people navigate gender with its soft and hard borders? How do we experience gender freedom beyond the borders of the binary? We invited fan fiction, art, and poetry that was vision-led, future-facing, revolutionary, and social justice-oriented from all those across the race and gender spectrum who believe in and are committed to gender justice and liberation, and the power of speculative fiction. How did the anthology happen? Crucial to bringing this second anthology to life were a group of folks whose talent and collaboration we’re in awe of. Our phenomenal communications mavens, Asha Grant and Sean A. Watkins whet our digital communities’ appetites for the anthology through Wakanda-centered and vision-led messaging. Our amazing editorial team, comprising Emanuel Brown, Deleana Otherbull, and Yasmin Yonis, helped choose the pieces that appear in this anthology and supported contributors with polishing their pieces. Our talented graphic and artistic designer, Amir Khadar, led the visual design of the anthology. We lift up the writers and visual artists who shared and entrusted the gift of their creativity with us: Amber Butts, Courtney Dozier, Dolores Chandler, Innocent vi Ilo, Innocent Immaculate Acan, Isa Woldeguiorguis, Khadija Jahmila, Lawrence Barriner II, Maps Glover, margaux delotte- bennett, Mercedes Mack, Morgan Christie, P Brown, Philliph Drummond, Tonjie Reese, Yalini Dream, and Zebib K. A. Holding everything together was our amazing project manager, Kassamira Carter-Howard. She kept us on task and went above and beyond what we asked of her even as sometimes we completely missed our deadlines. We learned that while the collaborative process required much more time and intention, it also provided an opportunity to practice living our values in the creation of our vision for a just future. What to expect in the anthology As you explore the anthology, you’ll find written and visual pieces about family life in Wakanda, love and intimacy, transformation as old ways give way to the new, and in some instances, violence. We’re committed to ensuring that young people are part of our dreaming into Wakanda and visioning and writing for liberation. And, we’d like you to know that some pieces in the anthology may not be suitable for children given explicit content that references violence and physical intimacy. We have identified the pieces with explicit content with an asterisk next to their titles in the table of contents. Below we share some of the prompts and ideas that the writers and visual artists explored. • How does gender and gender liberation FEEL in Wakanda? What societal