Last modified: 2017-10-31 by peter hans van den muijzenberg
Keywords: scattered worlds | dance for the ivory madonna | umoja economic union | sakers (don) | garvey |
Links: FOTW homepage |
search |
disclaimer and copyright |
write us |
mirrors
See also:
Dance for the Ivory Madonna is a 2002 science fiction novel by the
American writer Don Sakers, the first part of a series called Scattered
Worlds. Set in 2042, it takes place mostly in
the United States and in the Umoja Economic
Union
Eugene Ipavec, 23 July 2010
image by Eugene Ipavec, 23 July 2010
The Umoja Economic Union is a major world power, although not realy a state – more closely resembling the European Community (pre-European Union): a common market and currency/customs union.) Umoja ("unity" in Swahili) encompasses most of Africa, except Egypt, Algeria, Ethiopa and Angola.
In a visit to Lisala, Congo, the protagonist observes that
A handful of flags, including Umoja's black, green, and red, flutter above the building.
(first paperback edition, page 111)
Notably these are not the pan-African colors (red, yellow, green) but
the "Garvey colors" of black Americans.
This actually makes sense in the context of the setting, where Umoja is in
large part established as a consequence of the economic growth spurred by
large-scale (partially involuntary) emigration of black Americans from the US,
after the latter is messily partitioned during a constitutional crisis in 2023.
However the order of colors is different: the Garvey flag is
red-black-green.
Eugene Ipavec, 23 July 2010