AFROFUTURISM AND SELF-DEFINITION
The bookstore has been featured in Oprah Magazine, Buzzfeed, and the New York Times. In 2023, Sistah Scifi will launch a national network of Sistah Scifi Book Vending Machines, the first three in February and at least 10 by June. All Book Vending Machines will be located in Black and Native Oaklandia Café x Bakery, Mixed: Coffee and Community, and Black Coffee NW. The goal for the Sistah Scifi Book Vending Machine is a national rollout because Sistah Scifi is connected to a national and international community due to the power of social media. “As a bookstore in cyberspace, why would I limit myself to a particular geographic location within the United States?” says Asare. American owned coffee shops. The first three locations will be MARRYING WORK AND THE DREAM With degrees in psychology and African American studies from Stanford University, Asare lived in her parents’ home country of Ghana for a while as part of the Peace Corps. Next, she earned a master’s in public policy from Harvard and an MBA in International Finance from Columbia Business School. A serial cultural entrepreneur, she worked in finance and business development at corporations including T-Mobile, Microsoft, Shutterfly, and Brightroll and launched a film entertainment site for queer women of color called Sistah Sinema. Still, through all of these ventures, she realized she had a deep desire to run a bookstore. “Could I marry the dream and the work experience? A chance encounter on social media answered my question,” Asare says.
“I had just finished reading Lilith’s Brood by Octavia Butler, loved it, and asked on Facebook if anyone was interested in discussing it with me,” Asare remembers. “A good friend agreed to talk about it, and then we started talking about other authors in Afrofuturism. Authors I’d never heard of, which completely caught me off guard. All I could think was I’d taken African American literature in college yet still missed a memo. And so, I wanted to read ALL the books and connect with people to discuss the stories,” she says. The Smithsonian explains Afrofuturism as “an evolving concept expressed through a Black cultural lens that reimagines, reinterprets, and reclaims the past and present for a more empowering and inclusive tomorrow.” Popular Afrofuturist authors include Nnedi Okorafor, N.K. Jemisin, Tomi Adeyemi, and Colson Whitehead. Sistah Scifi gives shout-outs to a wide variety of new books from Afrofuturists and other BIPOC sci-fi and fantasy authors through its social media. These include Veronica G. Henry’s Depression-era carnival fantasy Bacchanal , Liselle Sambury’s complex horror tale Delicious Monsters , and Kosoko Jackson’s suspense novel Survive the Dome .
“I know I focus on promoting Black and Indigenous science fiction and fantasy authors because, as a Black, queer woman, I found the themes of science fiction liberating in how I can define myself, especially while navigating a society focused on assimilating and adding value to mainstream—often white—culture,” says Asare.
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