1. Adams Bodomo
The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 ushered in the 21st Century a decade earlier. New realignments, new nations, and new global power relations emerged all around the globe. It was, for instance, thought that the end of the Cold War marked by the fall of the Wall would usher in a period of marginalization of Africa since global powers would no longer be interested in wooing different actors in Africa as was the case during the East – West ideological wars of the 20th Century.

However, towering above this Afro-pessimist subtext, Afro-optimist headlines launched Africa into the 21st Century. Socio-politically, more countries were becoming democracies; socio-economically, African countries began to feature among the top-10 fastest growing economies; and socio-culturally, Nollywood and African fashion began to take the world by storm. As specific instances, the election of Barack Obama happened in 2008 – eventually thrusting a man of African descent into the White House. In 2010, South Africa pulled off an excellently organized football world cup. Shakira, the Colombian singer, capped this optimism with her song “Waka Waka – This Time for Africa”.

In this Afro-optimistic constellation, a new or renewed form of film genre, afro-futurism, is with us. Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther, featuring an almost all-Black cast, tells a wonderful story about a powerful African country that has developed powerful technology based on a wonder mineral called vibranium that is involved in internal and external power struggles. It raises issues about how Africa might position itself in global power relations should it become a world power.

2.    Grand Poetry Slam
If you would like to participate, kindly send the three poems you would like to present to: anissa.strommer@univie.ac.at