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What is AFROFuturism?

An Introduction to Multicultural Speculative Expression

By Stafford BattlePublished 7 years ago 1 min read
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If you bump into someone who claims to be an expert on "AFROFuturism" immediately warp jump into a safer reality. There are as many explanations of AFROFuturism as there are superheroes and villains in Marvel comic's alternative and vastly conflicting universes. The term was coined by a white writer (Mark Dryer, 1993) but aspects of AFROFuturism existed before the American Civil War when Black abolitionists and political radicals dreamt of a better society. The term is popular today because many artistic creators have tired of typical depictions of futures where few nonwhite citizens exist or have positions of power.

People of color are not strangers to the core tenets of AFROFuturism: a world where all people peacefully co-exist and equally enjoy the fruits of science and art. True AFROFuturists don't claim a single path to the future; they embrace a variety of expressions using literature, design, and multimedia as inspiration.

It may be best to start with broad definitions of AFROFuturism and work up to more detailed expositions:

A) AFROFuturism invokes sci-fi writing, music, art, dance and multimedia with people of color as the focus.

B) Black power where Africa rules the world is not the sole objective. Nor is AFROFuturism "race neutral" where skin color doesn't matter to succeed. It is not a bland, homogenous sameness. Speculative creators conceive contrasting elements that work harmoniously to build a stronger "whole" for our prodigy who will see things differently from us.

C) Cultural, intellectual and physical differences are essential to societal advancement today and in the future. A mash of physiology, gender, religious beliefs, age and emotional perspectives are incorporated into novels and short stories with diverse characters in prominent roles in plot development and final reconciliation. Music and dance express fantastic opportunities to free our mind and allow other bodily parts to follow (George Clinton, 1970). AFROFuturism is not new; it has been found in books & short stories, graphic novels & comics, portraits & posters, music, dance, short film & feature length movies for more than a century.

Along the Road

Every journey begins with a single step. To better understand AFROFuturisum, it is necessary to examine the works of the creators. George Schuyler an early architect of AFROFuturism was writing in the 1930s when Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon were shooting ray guns at bad guys in weekly movie serials. These were visions of the future for white people living during the Great Depression. Schuyler's publication "Black Empire" offered Black people a scenario where scientists and innovators from Harlem and Africa defeat pre-World War Two Europe and build a hi-tech civilization on the mother continent. Black people flew sophisticated aircraft, made exotic weapons and created a new religion to escape the ravages of racial inequality.

AFROFuturism is more than the iconic "I Have a Dream". AFROFuturism is "ideas" put into action. Speculative creators are also innovators; building new constructs on the ashes of old themes. AFROfuturism as with American Jazz cannot be confined to a single interpretation; it has to be experienced in all its complexities.

-- Stafford Battle is a blogger and AFROFuturist. You can visit his web site "A Jetplane is not a Spaceship" at: www.sbattle.com

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