Posted on

Afrofuturism-inspired Dance Theatre Performance Explores Art, Technology

  (Warning: Mild nudity) “Speech Sounds,” a dance theatre performance choreographed and curated by Makeda Thomas, explores the metaphors for art and technology that come out of Afrofuturist culture. The dance theatre work calls on improvisation, dances of the Orishas, and Thomas’ “richly-honed” contemporary movement to ask, “What does it mean to be a performer …

Continue reading “Afrofuturism-inspired Dance Theatre Performance Explores Art, Technology”

Posted on

DIY Musician Gathers Sounds From the Past to Create Soundscapes for the Future

Kanye West; Jay Electronica; David Banner; A$AP Mob; Tyler, the Creator and OFWGKTA; and Jay Z have experimented with and manipulated the concept of God and other unknowns in their lyrics, all to the backdrop of beats and melodies that are often considered dark and heavy, with an undercurrent that may very well be AfroFuturist …

Continue reading “DIY Musician Gathers Sounds From the Past to Create Soundscapes for the Future”

Posted on

Black Theoretical Physicist Ronald Mallett’s Quest to Build the First Time Travel Machine

Physicist Ronald L. Mallett is actively working on building the world’s first functioning time machine. Mallett published an autobiography called “Time Traveler: A Scientist’s Personal Mission to Make Time Travel a Reality” about his journey to becoming one of the first Black Ph.D.s in theoretical physics, all inspired by his quest to build a time …

Continue reading “Black Theoretical Physicist Ronald Mallett’s Quest to Build the First Time Travel Machine”

Posted on

A 1992 Speculative, Critical Race Tale Brings Up Relevant Questions in Current Times

“The Space Traders,” a short science fiction story by late law professor and civil rights activist Derrick Bell, imagines a day in the year 2000 when thousands of ships carrying an advanced alien race arrive in America. The aliens offer clean nuclear energy, technology, bail-outs for all the banks, and other benefits, in exchange for …

Continue reading “A 1992 Speculative, Critical Race Tale Brings Up Relevant Questions in Current Times”

Posted on

Upcoming Feature Film Adaptation of Nalo Hopkinson’s Novel Brown Girl in the Ring

Director and actress Sharon Lewis is making a feature film based on speculative fiction author Nalo Hopkinson’s award-winning Caribbean-Canadian science fiction novel, Brown Girl in the Ring. It is based in a near-future, segregated area of Toronto that has been struck by economic collapse, riots and severe poverty. Through the emotional and spiritual development of …

Continue reading “Upcoming Feature Film Adaptation of Nalo Hopkinson’s Novel Brown Girl in the Ring”

Posted on

Combining Time Travel and Metaphysics: Recurrence Plot (and Other Time Travel Tales) Review

Review written by Sherese Francis of FuturisticallyAncient.com Experiment: Write a letter to your future self or past self. Try to meditate and astral project yourself into the body of one of those selves before or while you are writing to do so. Can you remember past and future memories? (Not from the book but in …

Continue reading “Combining Time Travel and Metaphysics: Recurrence Plot (and Other Time Travel Tales) Review”

Posted on

Translating Future Noise: Interview with Producer and Composer King Britt

Afrofuturistic music, art and culture showed early signs of life in Philadelphia decades before the term was coined. Because some of the men who would come to be dubbed the forefathers of the genre worked, lived, created and left their marks in Philly, the groundwork for the genre and culture has been substantially laid here. …

Continue reading “Translating Future Noise: Interview with Producer and Composer King Britt”

Posted on

Print Media Outlets Remain Crucial to Telling Our Stories, Celebrating Our Culture

There is one aspect of the electronic media (e-books, blogs, e-news) vs. print media debate that is too often left out of the discussion: the impact of the rise in digital media and the decline in print media on poor and marginalized communities. This side of the digital divide threatens families and individuals who cannot …

Continue reading “Print Media Outlets Remain Crucial to Telling Our Stories, Celebrating Our Culture”

Posted on

Black Speculative Tech – Uses of Technology in Black Science Fiction, Part 2

While history books would have us believe that scientific and technological advancement suddenly sprang forth during the Age of Enlightenment in late-17th century Western Europe, a deeper dig into the matter reveals that the institution of African enslavement has an inextricable connection to the development of the Western scientific establishment. Scientific experimentation and studies on …

Continue reading “Black Speculative Tech – Uses of Technology in Black Science Fiction, Part 2”

Posted on

Using STEAM to Move Marginalized Students into the Future: An Interview with Dr. Nettrice Gaskins

You may have heard of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) subjects, but more and more programs are beginning to focus on STEAM (STEM + Art), recognizing the importance of art and design in education, research and policy. Dr. Nettrice Gaskins, STEAM education lab director at Boston Arts Academy, investigates culturally situated arts-based learning and …

Continue reading “Using STEAM to Move Marginalized Students into the Future: An Interview with Dr. Nettrice Gaskins”