Afrofuturism

An exploration of Afrofuturism in popular culture for a class at Auburn University

[intoformation]

‘Fool, forget white people. Why don’t you try to win this for your real people? Because that’s what I’m doing. I’m winning this for all the real chubby poor niggas in Mississippi with tight waves and contentious demeanors.’ He looked at me with lightweight awe in his eyes. ‘You like that sentence, right? And maybe you could win it for the tall Mississippi niggas with, you know, good breath, and flip phones and messed-up fades that don’t quite fade right’ (Long Division, 32)

Formation is taking the same advise, the first Beyonce video purely for “the people back home” and the people like her and her parents with their heritage.

[readerwriterhannah-blog]

I am loving the connections being made between Long Division by Kiese Laymon and Beyonce’s "Formation” video. I think they need to be in conversation together because they give the same advice to black people: take action for your fellow black people, not for white people. It’s time for black people to have a voice in our society—one that is not denigrated by white people. While “Formation” does not have any sci-fi or fantasy elements, I think it can be welcomed into the conversation with Afrofuturism because it empowers black people. 

[intoformation]

‘And don’t take no ass-whupping or no disrespect from no one in your own house or your own dreams, you hear me? Do whatever it takes to protect you and yours’ (Long division, 265)

“I like my baby heir with baby hair and afros” – Formation

[spectermagazine]

Well, I initially wanted to publish the stories in Long Division as two separate consecutive stories, as opposed to overlapping stories. They weren’t feeling much of what I wanted to do with the book structurally or racially. I have no ill feeling toward Putnam/Penguin, though. The crazy thing is that so many other New York publishers passed on the book, yet I’ve outsold so many of their titles in just half a year. We need more folks in those corporations that actually understand black and brown reading possibilities. That means we need more folks from our communities who aren’t scared of white people and white power. And/Or we need our own publishing platforms. There are tons of potential readers who just want to be written to. Tons. I knew I had an audience. They just didn’t believe.

Kiese Laymon, author of Long Division, interviewed by Kameelah Janan Rasheed in the December issue of Specter. (via spectermagazine)

[cairalee]

[readerwriterhannah-blog]

Mixing galaxy art with Africa reminds me of what Mark Dery says about African Americans in Black to the Future. He questioned why so few African Americans write science fiction because “African-Americans are, in a very real sense, the descendants of alien abductees.” The galaxy theme of this painting of Africa implies that it is beyond earth, which places Africa and black people in space—which is a characteristic of Afrofuturism. I don’t know who the artist is, but I love this painting because it is abstractly Afrofuturist. 

[blackkirby]

[readerwriterhannah-blog]

If only the X-Men films would have cast black actors to play the two characters that represent two important black civil rights figures, then it may have been an Afrofuturist film. I love X-Men but I think that they missed their chance to make a critique on our culture. Don’t get me wrong, I think Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen are talented actors, but how can they truly portray people who represent Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X? Other than not having black male actors as those two characters, I think the X-Men films are Afrofuturist because of the basis of the film. The mutants symbolize black people who are not being accepted into society and Charles Xavier (MLK) wants to settle matters peacefully while Magneto (Malcolm X) wants to act by violence. I love the X-Men films but I think it could have been more transcendent and Afrofuturist with black actors. 

[readerwriterhannah-blog]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktc9hsSfUck)

*Please ignore the poor censoring in this video

OutKast’s “ATLiens” video evokes imagery of pyramids and hieroglyphics, which, like Sun Ra, places the group at the center of Egyptian mythology. The preface to the song says, “The hieroglyphics tell us the story of two visionaries: OutKast, not of this world. They led a band of rag-tag followers carrying everything they had, pursued by forces of evil. The symbols show us they reached their destination, but what happened inside is a mystery.” This opening statement mystifies OutKast as otherworldly beings. But this song is not only about black people being placed in histories they have been erased from, but also about making a future for black people. Andre 3000 says, “the future of the world depends on / If or if not the child we raise gon’ have that nigga syndrome / Or will it know to beat the odds regardless of skin tone / Or will it know that if we tune it, it just might get picked on / Or will it give a fuck about what others say and get gone / They alienate us cause we different keep your hands to the sky.” Andre 3000 is commenting on how a young black person should act in order to make it in American culture. 

[readerwriterhannah-blog]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYBRappkqSc)

OSHUN’s video for “Protect Your Self” meets the criteria for being an Afrofuturist work quite obviously. Niambi Sala and Thandiwe present themselves as a part of rapper Proda’s higher consciousness and they are encouraging him to revert to originality. They give him the choice to either help them transform unoriginal, media obsessed, rude people or to let parasites decompose his body. OSHUN, Prado, and a group of black youth purge the streets of New York dressed in all white. I think the all white symbolizes purity because they say in the song, “If you mess with me, you mess with God, I mean it and I quote.” And when they shoot the people in the street, their clothes change from darker colors to lighter colors, symbolizing a transformation. This video is Afrofuturist because the members of OSHUN present themselves as omniscient beings and a group of black people corrects society instead of white people correcting society.

[readerwriterhannah-blog]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9abiT1qtR5I)

I highly recommend watching this video: for both reasons of enlightening content and hearing two talented musicians. Two NYU students, Niambi Sali and Thandiwe, make up the music duo OSHUN. I discovered through an interview with OSHUN their beliefs and values and focus on African culture, and that the name OSHUN is an orisha from the Yoruba religion. The music video for “stay woke” is a call to all black people to embrace their blackness and be socially aware of white supremacy. In the second verse by Thandiwe says, “Picking and choosing when you conscious like narcolepsy / Thinking you equal in the pot they say is melting / Saying you righteous but you pray at the masters church / And when you’re told bout yourself you get your feelings hurt.” They are challenging black people to separate themselves from their oppressors. I think this video is significant to Afrofuturism because OSHUN empowers black people to rise up and transcend the constrictions placed upon them by dominant white society.  

[h-e-r-s-t-o-r-y]

Octavia Butler’s handwritten vision board🔑SEE TO IT! SO BE IT! 1988. [Huntington Library, Octavia E. Butler papers] #octaviabutler #lesbianculture #1988 #seetoit #sobeit #goals #blacklesbian #afrofuturism

[readerwriterhannah-blog]

Octavia Butler’s vision board reminds me of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s crown. Both artists believed in empowering themselves and black people, and this ambition shows in their goals. Butler set multiple goals all in the realm of being a best-selling author and being an inspiration for black youth. Basquiat created the crown as his personal monarch to carry on the tradition set by past artists and to pave the way for new standards of art work. I believe these two symbols of empowerment are significant to Afrofuturism because they show that both artists were focused on empowering black people. Butler and Basquiat empowered themselves when no one else was there to support them. They had to become self-empowering and self-supporting because both science fiction writing and art had been dominated by white people before they came along.

[aquietlion]

[blackcurator]

Undiscovered Genius of the Mississippi Delta (1983) Jean-Michel Basquiat

[readerwriterhannah-blog]

Jean-Michel Basquiat’s artwork is fascinating and I think it should be classified as Afrofuturism. Basquiat strategically used language to convey meaning in his pieces by repetition or crossing out words. I think that he defied every traditional convention of art, which sets his artwork apart from other artists--namely the famous white artists that dominated the field before and during Basquiat’s rise to fame. Also, when he features people or faces in his art, they are always black people whether they are musicians or athletes. 

[readerwriterhannah-blog]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHgbzNHVg0c)

I think this video is Afrofuturist for obvious reasons such as the advanced technology (holograms, clickers to bid on the models), some form of mind control (the circular ‘thing’ on the side of the women’s faces), and the fantastical aspect of a man with vampire fangs. But other than the fantastical elements of the video, Janelle Monae seems to be addressing something deeper. In the video, spectators are gathered for what seems to be a fashion show, but the models have prices following them around. I was reminded of the slave auctions held in slave narratives such as 12 Years a Slave because of the person shown sometimes walking with the models and doing the ‘Vanna White’ hand motion to display the quality of the woman. Also, there is a moment where Janelle Monae is stating adjectives used to negatively describe people, and then she starts listing diseases and drugs and moments in history such as Civil Rights and Jim Crow. Then to end the video, (there are many Janelle Monae clones in the video) the Janelle Monae that was singing on stage is lifted in the air and then presumably dies. I found this interesting because that particular Janelle seemed to have the most freedom out of all of the other clones.  

[readerwriterhannah-blog]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak4vLEBxIo4)

While I can’t pretend to understand the beautiful art of Flying Lotus and director Young Replicant, I feel that this video has Afrofuturism laced throughout. Not that the black people in the video are wearing sparkling space or Egyptian influenced outfits, but they are at the center of the plot. Also, if I’m not mistaken, it looked as if the white people were living under the bridge in tents. This changes the dynamic of our white privileged society because homeless people are commonly depicted (or assumed to be) as black people. The scene at the end of the video where the boy (who was previously missing the majority of his arm) has a certainly futuristic bionic arm, which screamed at me that this video is Afrofuturist.