Afrofuturism and Africanfuturism

Early late at night
I wander off into a land
You can go, but you mustn't tell a soul
There's a world inside
Where dreamers meet each other
Once you go it's hard to come back
Let me paint your canvas as you dance
 

When I listen to the song "Wondaland" by Janelle Monae, I close my eyes and let the music and lyrics wash over me. Suddenly, I'm there, living in a techno-paradise that's so boundary-bending it almost defies description: simultaneously human and android, female and genderless, a dystopia-defying paradise where Black culture is celebrated. Ever since I was a child watching Jean-Luc Picard explore the galaxy on Star Trek: The Next Generation, I've been obsessed with a vision of the future as a technology-enhanced utopia. I could imagine myself on the bridge of the Enterprise, taking orders from the captain. That's in contrast to most mainstream science fiction; as a Black girl, there was little representation. I enjoyed the science fiction stories I read and watched, but without representation it was more difficult to connect, to find a character to serve as my avatar in my imagination. It's difficult to unpack all of the reasons I love Star Trek, but I know that part of the reason it got my attention in the first place was that Black women like me play important roles and have since the beginning.

When I discovered Afrofuturism, I knew it was perfect for me. Afrofuturism is a genre of art that combines and remixes science fiction and technology with artistic expression originating in cultures of the African diaspora. The diaspora consists of people living outside of Africa with African ancestry. Like a Janelle Monae song, Afrofuturistic works can transport me to a vision of the future I want to see, a Wondaland. The term "Afrofuturism" was first coined in an essay by cultural critic Mark Dery in 1993. At the time, he defined Afrofuturism narrowly as "speculative fiction that treats African-American themes and addresses African-American concerns in the context of twentieth-century technoculture". Other critics have since expanded on Dery's work, identifying Afrofuturistic themes in all types of art, including music and the visual arts. Afrofuturism has come to be understood more broadly as a philosophy, a way of processing and reimagining the meaning of Black diasporic identity in the past, present, and future. 

Afrofuturistic works are often, but not necessarily, technology-mediated. For example, the W.E.B. DuBois short story, "The Comet", is a speculative fiction story in which a Black man finds himself the sole survivor of a cataclysm. Written in the early twentieth century, new technologies don't feature in the plot, but it is considered an early precursor to what would become Afrofuturism. You can find "The Comet" in the book Black Sci Fi Short Stories, listed below. Note also that the term, "Afrofuturism" isn't always embraced by artists. The writer Nnedi Okorafor, for example, writes that her work is better described as "Africanfuturism" because her stories feature Africa and/or African characters, not the African diaspora.

The history of racial categorization is inextricably tied to the history of using race as an excuse to subjugate, dominate, and oppress. Afrofuturism looks beyond that, to a vision of the future in which Black people are unfettered. Freedom is a priority and boundaries are eliminated. While Black identity is the starting point, Afrofuturism is a progressive philosophy that emphasizes the breakdown of racial barriers and embraces people of different genders and sexualities.

Below are some of my favorite books and authors whose work can be described as Afrofuturistic or Africanfuturistic.