DIY/DEI: Afrofuturism

This month's featured topic: What is Afrofuturism?

Afrofuturism is a re-imagining of the future, through a Black lens steeped in ancient African traditions and black identity. The concept touches on the themes of Black liberation, intellectual and philosophical thought, spirituality, technology, art, and more. Across the genre, Afrofuturism is envisioning Black futures from Afrodiasporic experiences and the assertion of future realities. Alondra Nelson explained Afrofuturism as a way of looking at the subject position of black people which covers themes of alienation and aspirations for a utopic future. While Afrofuturist thinking had been conceived of for centuries prior, Afrofuturism as a term was coined by the author, Mark Dery in the essay “Black to the Future,” which looks at speculative fiction within the African diaspora. In this essay, Dery posed questions that laid the foundation for the philosophy of Afrofuturism, asking, “Can a community whose past has been deliberately rubbed out, and whose energies have subsequently been consumed by the search for legible traces of its history, imagine possible futures? Furthermore, isn’t the unreal estate of the future already owned by the technocrats, futurologists, streamliners, and set designers ― white to a man ― who have engineered our collective fantasies? (From the African American Cultural Center exhibit "Existence and Resistance")

Afrofuturism is known by its aesthetic of otherworldliness, highly technological futures, and the depiction of Black people as evolved beings as such, this DIY/ DEI features Afrofuturism resources including books, podcasts, articles, music, and artists. You’ll find in this feature that the themes of equity, inclusion, and justice are emergent in African diasporic visions of mythology, cosmology, folklore, and supercharged and sonic landscapes.

To support your efforts, the NC State University Libraries and the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity have created a curated list of resources to inform your inquiry, introspection, and engagement with this topic. Engaging with these resources will allow you to explore DEI and develop your narrative and understanding.

This list has been curated by angela gay-audre and Karen Ciccone.

Past DIY/DEI resource lists can be found here. To suggest a future topic for DIY/DEI, please send your topic idea to oied-communications@ncsu.edu.

Books

Afrofuturism : the World of Black Sci-fi and Fantasy Culture

Ytasha L. Womack, 2013. Print Book and Ebook.

This book introduces readers to the burgeoning group of artists creating Afrofuturist works, the history of past innovators, and the wide range of subjects they explore. From the sci-fi literature of Samuel Delany, Octavia Butler, and N.K. Jemisin to the musical cosmos of Sun Ra, George Clinton, and the Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am, to the visual and multimedia artists inspired by African Dogon myths and Egyptian deities, topics range from the “alien” experience of Blacks in America to the “wake up” cry that peppers sci-fi literature, sermons, and activism.

Parable of the Sower

Octavia Butler, 2012. Print Book and Ebook.

Among the most renowned examples of Afrofuturism, this novel follows Lauren Olamina, a young woman who is hypersensitive to the pain of others, as she navigates a dangerous, post-apocalyptic world wrought by climate change, drugs, and war.

The Fifth Season

N.K. Jemisin, 2016. Available as a Print Book and Ebook.

At the end of the world, a woman must hide her secret power and find her kidnapped daughter in this "intricate and extraordinary" Hugo Award-winning novel of power, oppression, and revolution. –The New York Times

The Memory Librarian: and Other Stories of Dirty Computer

Janelle Monáe, 2022. Available as a Print Book and Ebook.

Singer-songwriter, actor, fashion icon, futurist, and worldwide superstar Janelle Monáe brings to the written page the Afrofuturistic world of one of her critically acclaimed albums, exploring how different threads of liberation—queerness, race, gender plurality, and love—become tangled with future possibilities of memory and time in such a totalitarian landscape...and what the costs might be when trying to unravel and weave them into freedoms.

Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora

Sheree R. Thomas, 2001. Available as a Print Book.

This volume introduces Black science fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction writers to the generations of readers who have not had the chance to explore the scope and diversity among African-American writers.

Recovering Black Storytelling in Qualitative Research: Endarkened Storywork

S.R. Toliver, 2022. Available as a Print Book and Ebook.

A guide for recovering Black stories past, present, and future in qualitative research. Toliver utilizes Afrofuturism as a central component of endarkened storywork pulling the elements of Afrofuturism into research and scholarship. 

Articles

“Black to the Future: Interviews with Samuel A. Delany, Greg Tate, and Tricia Rose,”  Mark Dery.

Can a community whose past has been deliberately rubbed out, and whose energies have subsequently been consumed by the search for legible traces of its history, imagine possible futures?

“The Space Traders,” Derrick Bell.

In this compelling narrative, Afrofuturism embraces critical race theory to highlight a dark past and a bitter question, inviting a question of what the future holds. This short story is also included in Dark Matter and Faces at the Bottom of the Well. 

“What is Afrofuturism? An English Professor Explains,” Julian C. Chambliss.

As I point out to my students in my course on Afrofuturism, while the term was coined 28 years ago, it can pertain to multiple kinds of work created by Black people across history.

“Afrofuturism: From the Past to the Living Present,” Delan Bruce.

For decades, Black creators have been dreaming up alternative futures that celebrate cultures of the African diaspora.

“How Black Women Are Reshaping Afrofuturism,” Jonita Davis.

The science fiction subgenre known for its utopian and liberation themes has become a vehicle for Black women artists.

“We Travel the Spaceways: Afrofuturism in Music,” Rusty Aceves.

Although the aesthetic and philosophy of Afrofuturism has manifested itself in all aspects of creative endeavor, the concept first found a musical expression during the early 1950s by Sun Ra.

Podcasts

“This American Life: We Are in the Future”

Afrofuturism is more than sci-fi. It’s a way of looking at Black culture that’s fantastic, creative, and oddly hopeful—which feels especially urgent during a time without a lot of optimism.

“The Creator Has a Master Plan: An Afrofuturist Cypher” (56:07)

Sheree Renée Thomas leads a conversation about Afrofuturist themes in poetry, speculative fiction, and hip hop with Linda D. Addison, Poetica Bey, Maurice Broaddus, Gary Jackson, Danian Darrell Jerry, and L.P. Kindred.

“Afrofuturism and the Future of Democracy” (36:14)

Reynaldo Anderson hosts a multigenerational conversation about Afrofuturism and its relevance to our democracy and society today with Val Gay, Dacia Polk (InnerGy), and Rev. Andrew Rollins.

“Space Muses in Chicagoland: Afrofuturism and Community” (51:39)

Ytasha L. Womack discusses Afrofuturism as a community and explores the ideas that informed Afrofuturist creators during the Black Arts Movement with Yaoundé Olu, Turtel Onli, and Floyd Webb.

“Afrofuturism, Lee “Scratch” Perry, and Jamaican Music” (1:06:43)

Contributions from the Caribbean diaspora are essential to understanding Afrofuturism and Black futurism. Louis Chude-Sokei explores Caribbean sound, culture, and history, with a focus on Jamaica in a conversation with Dennis Howard, Klive Walker, and Isis Semaj-Hall.

Videos

Afrofuturism 101 (15:20)

Join us on a fantastic voyage into the Afrofuture as we give you a crash course in what Afrofuturism is, where it comes from, and a glimpse of what it may yet become. In this short film we’ll explore Afrofuturist music, art, literature, film and more.

Afrofantastic: The Transformative World of Afrofuturism (26:46)

This documentary explores the definition and activism linked to Afrofuturism and the ways this movement is informing dynamic discussion about social practice, politics, and the arts in the United States and around the world. 

Ytasha Womack: Afrofuturism Imagination and Humanity (25:11)

Ytasha Womack explores the resilience encouraged through the championing of the imagination, the tensions that arise through embracing hope, the separation of humanity from itself through the creation of the technology called race, and the power of storytelling. 

It’s Lit: Afrofuturism: From Books to Blockbusters (9:34)

With the success of Black Panther, the term Afrofuturism got pushed into the mainstream. But what is Afrofuturism and what is its place in Black storytelling? In this episode we give you the starter pack on answering that question.

Say It Loud: What Missy Elliott did for Afrofuturism (13:33)

Missy Elliott and her frequent collaborators have produced over two decades of music videos that we are going to attempt to justify as Afrofuturistic work.

Playlists

Spotify playlist: Afrofuturism

• The jazz and afrofuturistic legacy of Sun Ra

Spotify playlist: Afrofuturism; From the Past to the Living Present

• A playlist that blends genres for the sake of a musically complex and nuanced Afrofuturistic landscape. 

Musical artists

Janelle Monáe

Across her musical career Janelle Monáe has explored Afrofuturism aesthetically in music videos and through archetypes found in her lyricism. Through her albums Monáe created a dystopian futuristic universe, called Metropolis where she depicted herself as an android alter ego, Cindi Mayweather. In the 2018 album, Dirty Computer, she uses this universe to explore politicized issues of race, gender, and sexuality. Across her work the storytelling is genre-defying. 

The ArchAndroid | The Electric Lady | Dirty Computer

Erykah Badu

Erykah Badu is known as one of the most prominent contributors to Afrofuturism through music. Over the course of her music career her work explored themes of identity, spirituality which helped shape a movement of musical innovation, propelling forward an eclectic style that evoked imagery and auditory representations of Black people existing in the future. 

New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) | But You Caint Use My Phone (Mixtape)

Solange

In albums A Seat at the Table and When I Get Home, Solange uses both the concepts and aesthetics of Afrofuturism and Afrosurrealism to represent the nuances of Black life within her work. She often blends genres implementing elements of R&B, electronic, funk, and soul. 

When I Get Home | A Seat at the Table

Oshun

The musical duo known as Osuhn melodic voices embodies Sankofa calling on their ancestral knowledge to assert their claim in the world right now. 

Visual artists

Mikael Owunna 

Photographer, sculptor, performance artist.

Courtney Alexander 

A multimedia artist, writer, publisher, and public speaker. Her artistic practice is an ongoing ritual of expansion and emancipation. Curator of Dust II Onyx Tarot.

Ataulie 

Brazilian artist and photographer.

Olalekan Jeyifous - Instagram

Afrofuturism in architecture and daily landscapes.