Habari gani—“What’s the news?”

HOVA—military of Muungano; name taken back when O.E. was thrown into religious wars just after the Mars colony was established. O.E. referred to gbeto as “God’s army” and Jehovah is another name for God

Ijo—governing body of Muungano

Ipebi—ritual of isolation

Iyami Aje—a Yoruba term of respect and endearment used to describe a woman of African ancestry who is considered to be an Aje. No one can choose to initiate as Iyami and only Iyami can choose who they will initiate as Iyami

jeli—griot officer, court musician

jeliya—griot’s ancient art, handlers of the nyame

kanaga masks—worn primarily at dama, a collective funerary rite for Dogon men whose goal is to ensure the safe passage of the spirits of the deceased to the world of the ancestors

kanzu—shirt

kaross—cloak made of sheepskin, or the hide of other animals, with the hair left on

kheprw crystals—minerals mined from lunar strata as well as the asteroid belt; used to fuel Muungano starships

kikombe cha umoja—unity cup

kizungu—language of the wanderers (English)

kraal—village

kreef—crayfish

Lij—head of a Niyabinghi Order unit; translates as “child”; serves to indicate that a youth is of noble blood

linknet—personal data streams

LISC—Liberation Investment Support Cooperative, the corporate entity running the Original Earth government

Maafa—the Holocaust of Enslavement

Maroons—descendants of Africans in the Americas who formed settlements away from slavery

Muungano—means “Togetherness” in Swahili. Centered on the terran moon whose capital is called the Dreaming City, Muungano extends to include Bronzeville on the Mars colony, to Titan guarding the Orun Gate, to the distant Oyigiyigi mining outpost.

mzungu—someone with white skin

nanomesh—suit like a second skin interface between wearer and their navsuit/nanobots for fashioning

navsuit—combined nanomesh and exoskeleton (military grade)

Negus—derived from the Ethiopian meaning “to reign.” The title has subsequently been used to translate as “king.”

neoniks—the generation fascinated with the late twenty-first century era as part of what they called the Remember Revolution

Ngwenya Mine—named for the oldest mine on earth

Niyabinghi Order—honor guard of the Ijo, taken from the gathering of Rastafari people to celebrate and commemorate key dates significant to Rastafari throughout the year

nyama—the spoken/sung word and the power that storytelling releases

Nyamakalaw—handlers of nyama (civilian head of the Griot Circle)

obroni—outsider

ogbanje—changeling spirit

orisha—deities

Orun Gate—the name of the nearest wormhole

Oyigiyigi—a series of asteroid belts and the mining colony; named for the orisha’s eternal rock of creation

panga—daggers

pap—a thick porridge of finely ground corn

PAW—public ass whipping

pehla sticks—charged batons; griots weapons

phase suits—combined nanomesh and exoskeleton (civilian grade) to control nanobots for fashioning

Ras—civilian head of the Niyabinghi Order; is a rank of nobility equivalent to duke, though it is often rendered in translation as “prince”