Conclusion: “Say Me My Name”: Genetic Science and Emerging Speculative Technologies in the Construction of Afro-Atlantic Reconciliatory Projects

The conclusion reflects on the limits of and possibilities for the collaborative cultural productions that are outlined throughout the book. It also ponders the turns that Afro-Atlantic speculation and return might take given the advancement of new scientific technologies such as DNA testing, which purports to detect and establish ancestral bloodline linkages between dislocated Afro-Atlantic test takers and indigenous peoples in specific African countries. It traces the story of William Holland, a Black American who is connected genetically to various groups of people in West Africa, and who travels to bond with them to assuage his sense of dispossession. The chapter argues that Holland’s posture and demand for written apologies for slavery, along with the Cameroonian and Ghanaian peoples’ expectations for their relatively wealthy returned kin, demonstrate the pitfalls of focusing on individualistic desires rather than the embrace of political thought regarding the uplift of African descended people.