WHAT IS BLACKNESS?

This is the question we started this issue with. To answer the question, our

contributors chose different black individuals to write about and explore the

ways in which they created their own variations of what it means to be black. One

of our contributors even stretched the definition of blackness by profiling Sun

Araw, a musician who isn’t black but produces “black” music. Since defining

blackness is elusive, our contributors attempted to depict variations of blackness

as a way of highlighting its multiplicity.

In many ways the Afrofuturism movement inspired this issue. By thinking

of black people in the future, Afrofuturism inherently re-imagines blackness. As

Eshun writes in Further Considerations: “the manufacture, migration, and

mutation of concepts and approaches within the fields of the theoretical and the

fictional, the digital and the sonic, the visual and the architectural exemplifies

the expanded field of Afrofuturism.” Eshun asserts that evolution and adaptation

is essential to blackness. Thus, these modes of blackness we present echo

Afrofuturism’s focus on moving black bodies out of the past to both explore and

expand their role in the future.

We love the format of magazines: it’s bright, colorful, entertaining. It’s easy to

pick up and start perusing at any page, for any reason. Choose the facet of

blackness that interests you most, and begin there. Or page through for the ads,

each of which is also an Afrofuturistic piece in its own right. Or, if you trust us,

follow the table of contents and let us show you each story in order, building

resonance through their organization. We love the internet: the sounds as well as

the sights, the power to move across worlds with a single click, the instantaneous

satisfaction. Explore the videos, articles, and readings embedded within this

magazine. Click. Search. Discover.

We hope that in reading this issue, your definition of blackness begins to

shift, expand, and evolve. Please enjoy!

Thanks for reading,

The Editors of Multiplicity

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS

DEAR READERS,