The theme of Afrofuture Fridays generally examines the questions: Where do we want to be? Where are we now? How do we get there? All through the lends of some aspect of black art.
Now today is a special Afrofuture Friday. We were due to have a two-day event of Afrofuture Friday and Afrofuturism 2.0, but then Covid-19 happened. While that has been delayed, we did want to have a bit of a taste of some of the folks who were going to participate in that.
So, gathered here today are some of the preeminent voices in Afrofuturism, Dr. Reynaldo Anderson, Sheree Renee Thomas, and Andrew Rollins. We’ll be discussing:
Afrofuturism BC (Before Covid-19) and AC (After Covid-19): From 1619 to Covid19, we’ll be discussing the role of Afrofuturism in navigating our current situation and moving forward.
#Afrocentricty #Afropessimism #Antiblackness #Afrofuturism 2.0
Dr. Reynaldo Anderson currently serves as an Associate Professor of Communication at Harris-Stowe State University in Saint Louis Missouri. Reynaldo is currently the executive director and co-founder of the Black Speculative Arts Movement (BSAM) a network of artists, curators, intellectuals and activists. Finally, he is the co-editor of the book Afrofuturism 2.0: The Rise of Astro-Blackness published by Lexington books, co-editor of Cosmic Underground: A Grimoire of Black Speculative Discontent published by Cedar Grove Publishing, co-editor of The Black Speculative Art Movement: Black Futurity, Art+Design by Lexington books, the co-editor of Black Lives, Black Politics, Black Futures, special issue of TOPIA: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies, and co-editor of When is Wakanda: Afrofuturism and Dark Speculative Futurity Journal of Futures Studies.
Sheree Renée Thomas creates art inspired by myth and folklore, natural science and conjure, and the genius culture created in the Mississippi Delta. She is the author of Nine Bar Blues: Stories from an Ancient Future(Third Man Books, May 26, 2020), her first fiction collection. She is also the author of two multigenre/hybrid collections, Sleeping Under the Tree of Life, longlisted for the 2016 Otherwise Award and Shotgun Lullabies (Aqueduct Press), described as a “revelatory work like Jean Toomer’s Cane.” She edited the two-time World Fantasy Award-winning volumes, Dark Matter, that first introduced W.E.B. Du Bois’s work as science fictionand was the first black author to be honored with the World Fantasy Award since its inception in 1975. She serves as the Associate Editor of Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora (Illinois State University, Normal). She lives in Memphis, Tennessee. Connect: IG/FB: @shereereneethomas or Twitter:@blackpotmojo
Andrew Rollins is a writer and lecturer on Afrofuturism. His chapter “Our Old Ship of Zion: The Black Church in Post Modernity” appears in the anthology, AFROFUTURISM 2.0: THE RISE OF ASTRO BLACKNESS. He has two chapters in the anthology, COSMIC UNDERGROUND: A GRIMOIRE OF BLACK SPECULATIVE DISCONTENT: “The Oddities of Nature” (about the life, theology and ministry of Bishop Charles Mason, the founder of the Church of God in Christ) and “The Harmonics and Modalities of Metaphysical Blackness” (an interpretation of Modern Jazz as an expression of Afro-Orientalism). Rollins has spoken on futurism and speculative art at conferences on topics including Transhumanism and the Prophetic Voice of the Black Church; Dark Politics and the Occult; The Ethics of Survival and Black Slave Religion the Roots of Afrofuturism.
RECOMMENDED READING LIST:
Books by/with Dr. Reynaldo Anderson
Afrofuturism 2.0: The Rise of Astro-Blackness
Cosmic Underground: A Grimoire of Black Speculative Discontent
The Black Speculative Art Movement: Black Futurity, Art+Design
RECOMMENDATIONS: Capital is Dead: Is This Something Worse? (McKenzie Wark)
Tendai Huchu short story: “The Sale”
Books by/with Sheree Renée Thomas
Nine Bar Blues: Stories from an Ancient Future (her latest collection!)
Sleeping Under the Tree of Life (collection)
Shotgun Lullabies (collection)
Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora (anthology)
Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora (journal)
RECOMMENDATIONS: The City We Became: A Novel (N.K. Jemisin)
Cosmic Slop (George Clinton anthology series)
Tendai Huchu short story: “Space Traders” (in Dark Matter)
Books by/with Andrew Rollins
Afrofuturism 2.0: The Rise of Astro-Blackness
Cosmic Underground: A Grimoire of Black Speculative Discontent
RECOMMENDATIONS: Edward W. Blyden’s Intellectual Transformations: Afropublicanism, Pan-Africanism, Islam, and the Indigenous West African Church (Harry N. K. Odamtten)
Books by/with Maurice Broaddus
Pimp My Airship
The Usual Suspects
Buffalo Soldier
The Voices of Martyrs (collection)
RECOMMENDATIONS: The Fifth Season (N.K. Jemisin)
Afrofuture Fridays brought to you by a partnership with folks we’d like to thank:
