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Afrofuturism: When Art Meets Politics
by Phil Siarri , Nuadox.com
Image Credit: Aaron Mosby (SReal)
Defining Afrofuturism"Afrofuturism is a literary and cultural aesthetic that combines
elements of science fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, Afrocentrism,
and magic realism with nonWestern cosmologies in order to critique
not only the presentday dilemmas of people of color, but also to
revise, interrogate, and reexamine the historical events of the past."
Wikipedia
Image Credit: Quentin VerCetty
"The Comet" by W. E. B. Du Bois
The Comet is a science fiction short story, written by acclaimed
AfricanAmerican sociologist W. E. B. Du Bois in 1920. It
discusses the relationship between Jim Davis (a black man) and
Julia (a wealthy white woman) after a comet hits New York and
unleashes toxic gases that kill everyone except them. It is
recognized by some as the first afrofuturist literary work.
Yakub
Yakub is a central figure in a myth of the
Nation of Islam (NOI), an African American
group advocating black separatism.
According to the story, Yakub was a black
scientist who lived "6,600 years ago" and
began the creation of the white race. He is
said to have done this through a form of
selective breeding referred to as
"grafting". The story of Yakub was
originated in the writings of Wallace Fard
Muhammad, the founder of the Nation of
Islam in 1930's Detroit, Michigan.
"Black No More" by George S. Schuyler
Published in 1931, "Black No More" is
a novel which tells the story of a
scientist who develops a process that
turns black people to white. The book
reimagines a ‘raceless’ world in
which racial connotations are
deconstructed by the BlackNoMore
sanitarium. Along with W.E.B. Du
Bois, American author and journalist
George Schuyler is considered a
pioneer in afrofuturist literature.
Sun RaSun Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, legal name Le Sony'r Ra;[2] May 22,
1914 – May 30, 1993) was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano
and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his experimental
music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific output, and theatrical performances.
He is often credited for influencing several generations of afrofuturist
musicians since the mid 1930s after completing a "trip to Saturn".
Image Credit: Universal Music Group
Parliament-Funkadelic
Image Credit: Universal Music GroupBand leader George Clinton
took Sun Ra's brand of
afrofuturism to the next level
with his legendary groups
Parliament and Funkadelic
during the 1970s and early
1980s. PFunk (short
for ParliamentFunkadelic
collective) utilized elements
of science fiction including
space ships and had a
profound influence on Hip
Hop music years later.
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Image Credit: The Estate of JM Basquiat
JeanMichel Basquiat was an
influential New York based
visual artist of Haitian and
Puerto Rican descent.
Originally a graffiti artist,
Basquiat fused social
commentary, street life and
cyberpunk sensibilities in his
art in the 1970s and 1980s
until his death in 1988.
The Brother From Another PlanetThe Brother from Another Planet is a 1984 science fiction film
written, directed and edited by John Sayles. It stars Joe Morton as
"The Brother", an alien and escaped slave who, while fleeing
"Another Planet", has crashlanded and hides in Harlem.
Fear of a Black Planet
Fear of a Black Planet is
the third studio album by
American hip hop group
Public Enemy, released in
1990, by Def Jam
Recordings and Columbia
Records. The album's
artwork followed frontman
Chuck D's concept of two
planets, the "Black" planet
and Earth, eclipsing. The
group enlisted B.E.
Johnson, a NASA
illustrator, to create the
cover.
Image Credit: Universal Music Group
Sex Packets
Sex Packets is the debut album
from the 1990s rap group Digital
Underground and is a concept
album about "G.S.R.A." (Genetic
Suppression Relief Antidotes), a
pharmaceutical substance that is
produced in the form of a large
glowing pill about the size of a
quarter, which comes in a condom
sized package and is allegedly
developed by the government to
provide its intended users such as
astronauts with a satisfying sexual
experience in situations where the
normal attainment of such
experiences would be counter
productive to the mission at hand.
Image Credit: Warner Music Group
Missy Elliott
Missy Elliot is an
American rapper,
record producer
and songwriter who
became famous for
continuing the
afrofuturism
tradition in the late
1990s and 2000s
often fusing
feminism with
industrialism.
Image Credit: Warner Music Group
Luke CageCreated during the height of the Blaxploitation genre in 1972, Luke Cage is
an exconvict imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, who gains the
powers of superhuman strength and unbreakable skin after being subjected
involuntarily to an experimental procedure. In 2016, "Luke Cage" has been
adapted into a web television series (Netflix).
Image Credit: Marvel Comics
Janelle Monáe is an American
singer, songwriter, actress and
model who has used traditional
elements of afrofuturism with
modern "hipster" aesthetics since
the mid 2000s.
Janelle Monáe
Image Credit: Warner Music Group
Afrofuturism =
January 2017 - nuadox.com
Storytelling
Art
Culture Mixing
Militancy
Traditions
Pride Mind–bending