No One Is Coming to Save You 🚒👩‍🚒⛑️

Published: Sun, 07/06/25

Updated: Sun, 07/06/25

Stop Waiting. You're On Your Own.

Anton Marks

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‘You are 100% responsible for your life ...’ Jack Canfield said, and I nearly flung the book across the room.

I was mad.

How could he say that with a straight face and with such confidence? He was a multimillionaire author whose work is recognised around the world. Meanwhile, I was struggling to create a name for myself. Battling under circumstances that were not of my own making. It felt disrespectful to my struggle. To my roots. To everything I’d endured. How could it all be on me?

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But it is.
And once that truth settled in - years later, I stopped being mad—and I started getting powerful.
As a Jamaican raised on the survival mindset, use what you have. Make it do until you can do better. That’s grit. It builds you. However, if you’re not careful, it can also catch you off guard. Because the same fight that keeps you alive can stop you from evolving. And evolution requires ownership.
I used to wait for a sign. A break. Someone to see my value and open the door for me.

⚖️ Afrofuturist Utopia or Dystopia? – A Speculative Futures Challenge. ⚖️

Will the future be a shining Wakanda or a fractured techno-wasteland? You decide.

Africa stands at a crossroads—economically rising, culturally vibrant, but facing deep systemic challenges. What happens when today’s seeds grow into the forests of tomorrow?

In this powerful competition, we challenge you to explore the trajectory of the continent through the lens of speculative fiction. Will your version of Africa’s future be a beacon of harmony and tech-human balance? Or a dystopia where machines enforce tribal hierarchy, climate refugees battle for water, or wealth becomes digitized and walled off?

Challenge Details:
Create a vivid vision of Africa’s future—utopian or dystopian—through an essay or image. You may interpret “Africa” as a nation, city, people, or even a philosophical construct. Ground your vision in a real issue or trend from today (e.g., climate change, AI policy, resource control, pan-Africanism, surveillance, youth culture).

How to Enter:
You may submit one or both of the following:

📝 Speculative Essay (Max 500 words): Describe your imagined future in rich, sensory detail. Is it an ecological paradise guided by ancestral AI? A techno-monarchy ruled by data-wielding oligarchs? What changed—and what stayed the same?

🎨 Visual Submission: Create an original image (AI, digital art, or hand-drawn) of a moment, setting, or character from your utopia or dystopia. Annotate if needed, or let the image speak for itself.

Judging Criteria:

Originality and Insight: How thought-provoking and unique is your imagined future?

Connection to Real Trends: How effectively does your piece extrapolate from current African or global challenges?

World-Building: Does your entry create a believable, compelling setting?

Execution: Writing quality, artistic design, and overall clarity.

Prizes:

🥇 First Place: Full feature in our next newsletter, a $50 gift card, and your entry showcased in our special digital zine "Africa Reimagined 2125".

🥈 Second Place: Feature in the newsletter and a $20 gift card.

🥉 Third Place: Mention in our newsletter and a $10 gift card.

Submission Deadline: 7th July 2025

How to Submit:
Email your entry to marksmanstudios1@gmail.com with the subject line: "Utopia or Dystopia Submission". Be sure to include your name, the title of your piece, and social media handles if you'd like us to share your work online.

🧠 Will your vision inspire hope—or issue a warning? That’s the power of speculative fiction. Show us what tomorrow could look like, and why.

Until I realised, I am the sign. I am the break.

Nobody’s coming.

That’s not defeatist. It’s divine.

Because once you know that— I mean really know it—you stop outsourcing your destiny to circumstance. Or to people who never signed up to carry you. You begin to understand what the Buddhists and the SAS are both saying in their own way: No one saves us but ourselves. You walk the path. You bleed on the path. You rise on the path.

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I’ve learned this by writing speculative fiction. No hero saves you. Not really. Not the mentor. Not the ancient artefact. Not the mysterious stranger with the glowing hands. The power was always in you. But first, you had to be broken enough to look inward. You had to stop waiting for the cavalry and realise you are the one holding the sword.

There’s magic in that moment.

That’s when you stop saying, “Why me?” and start saying, “Try me.”

See, most people think change starts with motivation. With reading the right book or meeting the right coach. But I’ve seen too many people read all the right books and still live wrong. Why? Because they never decide to take responsibility. They want freedom without ownership. Growth without effort.

However, the truth is your life will only change when you do.

Not next week. Not after your finances are sorted or your confidence kicks in. Not when the system gets fairer. Change, now. With what you’ve got. Because even if you’ve been dealt a rough hand—and I know many of us have—you’re still the one who has to play it.

I get it. It’s hard. But no one else can walk through your fire. No one can do the work your future you, demands. People can walk beside you. But they can’t carry you all the way. And if they try, you lose the very strength that makes the journey worth it.

This isn’t about perfection. It’s about permission.

To act.

To begin.

To fail forward and get back up.

I’ve built whole worlds with words. But the most powerful thing I ever built was belief in myself. The real kind. Not the motivational fluff, but the kind of belief that shows up when it’s raining, when it’s lonely when nothing’s working. The belief that whispers, “No matter. Still. Go.”

So here’s the truth. No one is coming. And that’s the best news I can give you. Now you know where the power lies.

It’s always been you, gentle reader.

Peace, love and power.