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 |
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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
![[Umoja flag]](../images/f/fic_swuj.gif)
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