By J. Darnell Johnson
As a storyteller, J. Darnell Johnson is gifted, from children’s books to sci-fi/fantasy to Afrofuturism. For those who are in the Twin Cities metro area, Johnson will be one of the participating authors at the We Are Wordsmiths event to be held at St. Peter’s AME Church on February 24, so you can see his works and hear him share his stories. That being said, I bring to you my full review of his sci-fi/fantasy story, The Supreme Hogon.
Tony Smart, a renowned astrophysicist with the credentials of a Ph.D., is cynical and skeptical of his nephew Tee’s accounts of the Dogon people in Mali and the existence of a Supreme Hogon. According to Tee, a Hogon is “a shaman, high priest, diviner, spiritualist, and wise man,” who possesses ancient supernatural powers of seeing into the universe. After Tee leaves for an evening with his friends, Tony’s curiosity impels him to research the Dogon people and make a trip to Mali.
Taking the Mystery of the Dogon tour, he finally meets Ambaro, the Supreme Hogon. The price? A basket of kola nuts. Tony’s Western mindset challenges Ambaro when it comes to proving things we cannot see, and touting his own scientific knowledge and Ph.D. Ambaro, however, checks him.
Ambaro’s knowledge of Smart’s terminal cancer throws Tony for a loop. How in the world could he have known that? When doctors confirm that his cancer has returned and he has only six weeks to live, Tony agrees to undertake the Dogon initiation. As a result, his cancer is eliminated from his body, and Tony becomes a believer.
He convinces Ambaro to come to the U.S. to test his stargazing power against the scientific marvel of the Hubble telescope. In the interest of national security, Ambaro’s visit is kept secret. Despite the dismissive attitudes of the NASA administrator, the deputy administrator, and the few engineers selected for the test, Ambaro’s ancient power surpasses the technology of the Hubble telescope.
Ah, but there is a twist. Tony and Tee have secret identities, ones that will mean the difference between life and death for Ambaro when he suddenly disappears…
Johnson gives us an awesome interpretation of Eastern vs. Western culture, ancient vs. modern, patience vs. impatience, wisdom vs. arrogance. There is so much phenomena happening in the world that cannot be explained; Tony’s bafflement over how the seemingly primitive Dogon people possessed power and knowledge that far predated anything in modern times is one example. Thanks for the hat tip to the legend of John Henry vs. the steam locomotive; not everything is what it seems. And thank you for another illustration of how people can fear what they do not understand.
The Supreme Hogon is available through the Minnesota Black Authors Expo website (www.mnblackauthorexpo.com), Strive Publishing, and his author website, (jdarnelljohnson.com).
Thank you, James, for giving us the gift of Ambaro and the way you interweave the past with the future. If we don’t share our stories, who will?
W.D. Foster-Graham
W.D. Foster-Graham is a native son of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He received a B.A. in psychology from Luther College, and he was an original member of the multi-Grammy-Award-winning ensemble, Sounds of Blackness. He has also been recognized by the International Society of Poets as one of its “Best New Poets of 2003,” is a guest writer for journalist/author/entertainer Wyatt O’Brian Evans.
