A Better Yesterday for a Better Tomorrow

The Deep Space Nine episode “Far Beyond the Stars” does an excellent job of incorporating the theme of afrofuturism into the story line. The definition of Afrofuturism is implemented into this episode when the African american dream is implemented into the future. Through Captain Sisko’s vision and leadership he is able to fulfill the goal of the prophet and inform the people to change their ways for equality amongst people of different color. In this episode Captain Sisko takes black to the past through dreams that he has while commanding the space base guarding the wormhole.

Suddenly Captain Sisko teleports back to the early 1900’s where he is a columnist for fictional paranormal newspaper. He begins to work as an unsuccessful black speculative fiction writer, trying to convince the community that black people have a future. This is very similar to when Captain Sisko is aboard his vessel in the future, where he tries to convince his allies and friends that they can make peace with their enemies, the Cardassians. Using his father and his past to guide him, Captain Sisko’s spirit persists to unite the people and serve as a prophet and a leader.

I find it interesting that even the least conservative paranormal newspaper company finds it difficult to identify a writer as being black. Captain Sisko has the most difficulty when publishing the best story he ever wrote because the protagonist is African American. The irony is that even though the public will read about martians coming to earth to have a picnic in the park they will not pay heed to a story that embellishes a person of color as the protagonist. The step back into the past helps to show the extremities that were endured by African Americans and puts the future into perspective.

Finally the father’s advice gives Captain Sisko the strength he needs to accomplish what he needs. The father tells Captain Sisko that he “is the dreamer, and the dream” and Captain Sisko decides that he “will stay and finish the job that he started.” Ultimately Captain Sisko pursues his dream to unite the black people and white as a speculative fiction writer just as he attempts to unite the Cardassians and the federation as the Captain of a space ship. The idea of Afrofuturism in this episode shows how the dream of peace is still as prevalent today as it was back then, and it is a message that needs to be remembered in the future. When Captain Sisko wakes from his dream he decides to stay as the captain of the ship, and to follow his dreams that have been prevalent in his heritage since the early nineteen hundreds.