Afrofuturism is an intersection of liberation and speculation from the elements of magical, science fiction, speculative fiction, and African history with the desire for a justified world. This science fiction story blends well with Afrofuturism through its lens on racial variances and the drive for equality despite personal attributes such as nonbinary. Through the captivating story, we see the impact of technology on racial bias against Seshet, who is of African descent. The futuristic elements, such as the personal artificially intelligent assistant of Seshet in this story, give us the impression of a more technologically advanced future.
Sheet, the character in The Memory Librarian as the director librarian of Little Delta, struggles with low self-esteem from her African appearance. She lacks personal embracement of herself and fellow black Americans. She will lose her identity and African culture on gender to conform to the greater white society. We probably would like to see how he relates with fellow black Americans; due to his queer life, does she racialize those who look like her? Is her virtue of being a binary inborn, or is it the pressure to live like the whites?
The story of Seshet is quite sad and ironic as she seems to prejudice herself against her robot assistance. It intrigues me that she is trying to conform to a space she does not fit in and where she will probably be in contradiction with the laws. The effect of artificial technology makes her absurd in her appearance. However, I do not relate to this story as it seems to have many futuristic technology advancements. Although same-gender relationships are common in our society, we are yet to get the view of men in dresses. The scenes in this book will probably be in the future.
The society that Seshet lives in has embraced gender queerness and nonconformity, disregarding the laws against it. Transgender relationships are the order of the day. Racial divisions are very prevalent. Defiance to government rules is common even among government employees, as with Seshet.
The sad memories of the continued racial discrimination among the members of society are haunting and can lead to hatred. It is much better to have them erased from my mind. It is unacceptable to think of others as less human and less deserving of equality based on their skin colour. However, Artificial Intelligence is rising at a high rate that has not yet been successfully determined. Though the tech in the story may seem science fiction, the artificially intelligent memory keeper could probably be here with us soon.
The memory librarian is a must-have for better elucidation of the biased effects of technology on humanity. It helps us discern how technology should enhance inclusivity in society without degrading the esteem of others. Though technology is important, it is also a double-edged sword with negative impacts on its users.
Afro-pessimism is a framework for describing the current implications of American slavery, colonialism, racism, and all injustices committed against blacks. It is an unparallel account of Blackness and the integral role Africans played in shaping today’s world but have been prejudiced all these times. There is an urgent need to end racial discrimination against Africans as they have positively impacted the lives of whites.
Nevermind is an Augmented Reality (AR) interface to assist people in memorizing. It is used to amplify the memory encoding of information. It enables hippocampal activation and enhances task-specific neural processes by pairing spatial navigation with verbal cues. Hence, making memorizing much more effective and enjoyable for the person involved (Rosello pg3).
I want to read more of such stories as The Memory Librarian. They are of the essence in learning the digital dilemma tagged to the speedy rise in artificial intelligence. They emphasize conformity in future technology to avoid racial and individualistic traits such as transgender discrimination.
Work Cited
Rosello, Oscar Rosello Gil. Nevermind: an interface for human memory augmentation. Diss. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2017.
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