Writing Speculative Fiction as an African

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I'm writing the speculative fiction novel I want to read, but I somehow can't write this story without thinking about its publication and future readers. For me, writing a story that takes place so far into the future can be scary, and here's why:

That expectation the world has put on writers from my part of the world to represent Africa in our writing can sometimes make some of us with wild imaginations feel as if our stories won't be seen as "authentic". But a story is only as authentic as the storyteller.

My character's physical characteristics are a result of over five centuries of mass migrations and miscegenation. To make things easier for myself, I wrote the world as I know it (diverse) but the "evolved" version.

When I edit my manuscript, I try to ignore those expectations and remember that I'm first an artist before I'm an African. This helps me reclaim my creative freedom and vision.

I refuse to kill my baby in the egg because I want to see it mature and come to life without having its DNA altered to fit inside a box of writings that "sell".

As writer Taiye Selasi once put it, "Why must writers from Africa always bear the burden of representing their continent? They should be granted artistic freedom, as other authors are. " (The Guardian, 2015)

With that said, are there any writers of speculative fiction (from any background) who, after reading this thread, feel that you're affected by similar restrictions? Please share. and also follow me on Twitter for more reflective threads like this.