Introduction
Greetings & Welcome to The Introduction of Afrofuturistic Writing!
"Afrofuturism is an intersection of imagination, technology, the future, and liberation." - Ingrid LaFleur
The Introduction of Afrofuturistic Writing is an inquiry-based course that will allow learners to explore the media-expanding term, Afrofuturism. I am sure many of us have seen the turn-of-the-century film, Black Panther, and if you have not seen it at least heard about its relevance. Black Panther, is the embodiment of Afrofuturism, it's a story that is developed based on the historical relevance of two worlds, the first world which is relevant to King T'Chaka and that of his royal family, and the outside world with acknowledgment to the Black Diaspora. Throughout the film, historical development or relevancy is either directly or indirectly mentioned to push the story forward or to fulfill the audience with messages that could not be solely filled with the art of acting. "Just bury me in the ocean with my ancestors who jumped from ships, 'cause they knew death was better than bondage" (Killmonger, 2018). This earth-shattering line not only expressed the emotional historical relevance of slave revolts and how death superseded bondage, but it allowed perspectives of life to no longer be ignored. Afrofuturism is an art development that was groomed from the Black Diaspora and we will honor it through this course with research, reflection, discussion, and most importantly writing.
Task
Throughout this course, we will research, analyze, and define the term Afrofuturism. We will repetitiously inquire on what makes creativity (art, literature, music) Afrofuturistic. I pose the question to all of you- What is Afrofuturism?
Process
To begin the journey of answering the question of what makes creativity Afrofuturistic. We will read, reflect, discuss, and of course, write about established Afrofuturistic developments. Listed below are some intriguing developments in the Afrofuturistic genre, that I believe will introduce and familiarize you all with the presented topic.
* Read Flame Wars: The Discourse of Cyberculture "Black To The Future" By Mark Derby
* Watch Black Panther - Mark Coogler
* Read OutKasts Obsession With Space
* Read Kindred - Octavia Butler
* Research why was Lieutenant Nyota Uhuru on StarTrek a step forward for the Afrofuturistic culture?
* Research the relevance of the Black Hero
* Watch Afrofuturism Explained: Not Just Black Sci-Fi (YouTube)
The developments previously mentioned will be uploaded to ensure the availability for you all to be exposed to the needed material.
Evaluation
After each introduction to varied Afrofuturistic developments, students will need to write a 300-word critique expressing the historical relevance that might have inspired its creation. I ask you all to be creative and do thorough research on resources that you will align with each development. The deeper into "the rabbit hole" you go, the wider your perspective will get. Remember to ask yourself throughout each development introduction, what is Afrofuturism? Followed by, why is it relevant to literature? How is it relevant to the present social status of our country? How is it relevant to my life?
Conclusion
We have unfortunately reached the beautiful end of The Introduction of Afrofuturistic Writing. How was your experience? I would love to read your reflections on the course. Please send your reflections to khubert@xula.edu. Happy Holidays!
Credits
Afrofuturism explained: Not just black sci-fi: Inverse. YouTube. (2018, March 6). Retrieved December 9, 2022, from https://youtu.be/154XnA1xcis
Black to the future - home - university of victoria. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10, 2022, from https://www.uvic.ca/victoria-colloquium/assets/docs/Black%20to%20the%20…
Dazed. (2019, May 13). Tracing outkast's obsession with space. Dazed. Retrieved December 9, 2022, from https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/44435/1/outkast-space-sci-fi…