Tevun-Krus #119 - AfroFuturism 2

Nablai's Nebula

Seminal Afrofuturistic works include the novels of Samuel R. Delany and Octavia Butler; the canvases of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Angelbert Metoyer, and the photography of Renée Cox; the explicitly extraterrestrial mythoi of Parliament-Funkadelic, Herbie Hancock's partnership with Robert Springett and other visual artists, while developing the use of synthesizers, the Jonzun Crew, Warp 9, Deltron 3030, Kool Keith, Sun Ra.

Since the advent of Sun Ra's cosmic-inspired jazz in the mid-1950s, music has served as an essential mouthpiece of Afrofuturism. With music, Afrofuturism and its central themes of innovation and liberation reach a global audience, providing a sonic platform for futurist ideas.

In the Marvel's Black Panther, we have the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Wakanda--an African country that hides advanced technology from the world. Within Wakanda, Afrofuturism manifests most explicitly in the award-winning fashion and set design, a hypnotic blend of African traditional art and dress, cyberpunk, and space opera.

According to renowned sociologist Alondra Nelson, to label something as Afrofuturistic, is "very much in the eye of the beholder and this is a good thing. Afrofuturism should be a big tent of expanding borders of the possibilities for Black life." As a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study and pioneering scholar of Afrofuturism, Nelson offers a tidy yet illuminating definition: Afrofuturism describes "visions of the future—including science, technology and its cultures in the laboratory, in social theory, and in aesthetics—through the experience and perspective of African diasporic communities. A facet of Afrofuturism that should not get overshadowed is Black people's longstanding, innovative, and critical engagement with science and technology." In all of Afrofuturism's many forms, questions are projected about the Black experience into the future.

I'd like to recommend these amazing books:

1) Kindred by Octavia E. Butler:

Summary: Kindred follows a modern Black woman who is kidnapped from her California home and brought to the antebellum South to save the white son of a plantation owner. Repeatedly brought back, the stay grows longer each time and she is unsure when it might end.

2) Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture by Ytasha L. Womack:

Summary: This book entertains and enlightens readers on Afrofuturists' goal to empower individuals while breaking down racial, ethnic, and social limitations.