The Afrofuturism Syllabus
By Salma Ibrahim, founder of Literary Natives www.literarynatives.com @literarynatives
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Essays and Articles ●
Martine Syms, ‘The Mundane Afrofuturist Manifesto’ <http://rhizome.org/editorial/2013/dec/17/mundane-afrofuturist-manifesto/ <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otUJvQhCjJ0>
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Yusuf Nurrudin, ‘Ancient Black Astronauts and Extraterrestrial Jihads: Islamic Science Fiction as Urban Mythology’ <http://sdonline.org/42/ancient-black-astronauts-and-extraterrestrial-jihads-islamic-sci ence-fiction-as-urban-mythology/>
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Jeffrey A. Brown, ‘Comic Book Masculinity and the New Black Superhero’ <http://www.micheleleigh.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Comic-book-masculinity.p df>
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Deji Bryce Olukotun, ‘Utopian and Dystopian Visions of Afrofuturism’ <http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2015/11/utopian_and_dystopi an_visions_of_afrofuturism.html>
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Myunsung Kim, ‘Afrofuturism, Science Fiction and the reinvention of African American Culture’ <https://repository.asu.edu/attachments/189587/content/Kim_asu_0010E_17187.pd>
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Thomas F. De Frantz, ‘Believe the Hype: Hype Williams and Afrofuturist Filmmaking’ <http://refractory.unimelb.edu.au/2003/08/27/believe-the-hype-hype-williams-and-afro futurist-filmmaking-thomas-f-defrantz/>
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Mark Dery, ‘Black to the Future: Interviews with Samuel R Delany, Greg Tate, and Tricia Rose.’ From Flame Wars: The Discourse of Cyberculture
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Namwali Serpell, ‘Africa Has Always Been Science Fiction’ <http://lithub.com/africa-has-always-been-sci-fi/>
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Fiction and Poetry
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Nalo Hopkinson, Brown Girl in the Ring
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Anthony Elms et al, Pathways to Unknown Worlds, Sun Ra, El Saturn and Chicago’s Afrofuturist Underground
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Octavia Butler, various works including Kindred, Dawn and Parable of the Sower
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Malorie Blackman, various works including Noughts and Crosses
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Junot Diaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
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Nnedi Okorafor, Binti and Lagoon
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W.E.B Du Bois, The Comet
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Colson Whitehead, The Intuitionist
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Saul Williams, She and Amethyst Rock <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC0kQ1bMbto&t=14s>
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Amos Tutuola, The Palm Wine Drinkard
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William Gibson, Burning Chrome and T he Difference Engine
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George Schuyler, Black No More
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Music ●
Janelle Monae, various works including “The Electric Lady” and the “ArchAndroid”
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Sun Ra, various works including “Space is The Place” (album and a film)
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Gil Scott Heron, various works including “Whitey on the Moon”
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Missy Elliot, various works including “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)”
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Michael Jackson, various works (Eric Steinstog, ‘Michael Jackson and Afrofuturism: HIStory’s Adaptation of Past, Present, and Future’)
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Funkadelic, various works including “Cosmic Slop”
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Kid Cudi, various works including “Man on the Moon: End of the Day” and “Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon”
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OutKast, various works including “Aquemini” and “ATliens”
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Jimi Hendrix, various works including “Up From the Skies” and “Third Stone from the Sun”
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The New Power Generation (and Prince), various works including “Exodus”
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Shabazz Palaces: “Lese Majesty” and “Black Up”
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Erykah Badu, various works including “Baduizm” and “Caint Use My Phone”
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Soul Sonic Force, various works including “Planet Rock” and “Renegades of Funk”
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Solange Knowles, “A Seat at the Table”
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Sza, “Ctrl”
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Visual Art ●
Jean-Michel Basquiat, various works including “Molasses”
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Ibrahim El-Salahi, various works including “In the Present” and “The Embryo of the Child and the Bird”
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David Huffman, various works including “Traumanauts”
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Jepchumba <https://theculturetrip.com/africa/kenya/articles/jepchumba-the-pioneer-of-african-digi tal-art/>
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Lorna Simpson, various works including “Top” <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/02/arts/design/02lorn.html>
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Lina Iris Viktor <http://www.linaviktor.com/painting/>
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Adama Delphine Fawundu, various works including “Secrets, Traditions, Spoken and Unspoken Truths or Not” <https://www.delphinefawundu.com/secrets-tradit
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Theatre and Film ●
Wanuri Kahiu’s on Africa and Science Fiction, based on her film Pumzi (2009) dir. Wanuri Kahiu <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWMtgD9O6PU>
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Monsoons over the Moon (2015) dir. Dan Muchina
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The Last Angel of History (1996) dir. John Akomfrah
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Blade (1998) dir. Stephen Norrington
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Edson Burton, The Last Blues Song of a Lost Afronaut <https://www.watershed.co.uk/studio/projects/last-blues-song-lost-afronaut>
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Olivia Wenzel, Corn in Germany and other Galaxies and We are the Universe
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Hassan Mahamadallie, The Crows Plucked Your Sinews <https://www.thealbany.org.uk/event_detail/2075/Theatre/The-Crows-Plucked-YourSine
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Space is the Place (1974) dir. John Coney
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An Oversimplification of Her Beauty (2012) dir. Terence Nance
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Image Sources ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Wakanda fan art from screenrant.comhttps://screenrant.com/black-panther-movie-wakanda-culture/ The Comet by W.E.B Du Bois, cover image from Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7241256-the-comet Kindred by Octavia Butler, cover image from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindred_(novel) Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson, cover image from Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57504.Brown_Girl_in_the_Ring “Ctrl” by Sza, cover image from Complex Magazine http://www.complex.com/music/2017/06/sza-releases-ctrl-studio-album “So Addictive” by Missy Elliot, cover image from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Missy_Elliott-Miss_E._So_Addictive.jpg “Standing on the verge of Getting it On” by Funkadelic, cover image from Pinterest https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/509821620293155058/?autologin=true “Molasses” by Jean-Michel Basquiat, image from Galerie Dada http://www.galeriedada.com/jean-michel-basquiat-molasses-00000058.html “Top” by Lorna Simpson, image from ipaintmymind.org http://ipaintmymind.org/art/lorna-simpsons-abstract-ink-portraits/ “The Embryo of the Child and Bird” by Ibrahim El-Salahi, image from Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/381046818458211315/ Blade (1998) dir. By Stephen Norrington, poster from IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120611/ An Oversimplification of her Beauty (2012) dir. By Terence Nance, art from Alchetron https://alchetron.com/An-Oversimplification-of-Her-Beauty The Crows Plucked your Sinews by Hassan Mahamadallie, flyer from Alfred Fagon Award http://www.alfredfagonaward.co.uk/crows-plucked-sinews-hassan-mahamdallie/
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‘An awakening sense of the awesome power of the black imagination: to protect, to create, to destroy, to propel ourselves towards what poet Elizabeth Alexander describes as “a metaphysical space beyond the black public everyday toward power and wild imagination.”’ -
From The Mundane Afrofuturist Manifesto
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