Friday, March 29, 2024

EUR Insight/Afrofuturism: Offering Visions of Hope


*Afrofurturism is the movement that emerged from the cross-section of black heritage, technological advancement and the liberation offered by science fiction and fantasy.

This liberation provides a vision for the future of black folks everywhere that is divorced from Eurocentric attitudes. Rather than portraying black people as subjugated, Afrofuturist works center on the heroic struggles and achievements of its black protagonists.

Although the term came into the public consciousness in 1993, Afrocentrist cultural products like the music of Sun Ra featuring a thematic crossover of ancient Egyptian culture and travel to heavenly bodies in space go back as far as 1950s. Author Octavia Butler’s description of what science fiction means to her serves an explanation of what Afrofuturism has to offer. “It’s a wonderful way to think about possibilities. It’s a wonderful way to explore politics. It’s a freedom to do anything you want. There are all sorts of walls around other genres…there are no real walls around science fiction.”

Afrofuturism’s contribution to the Black struggle is in how it gives black people the ability to imagine a future that they themselves have created. Afrofuturist creators understand the parallels between the realities of black lives and the alienation faced by protagonists in science fiction stories. Creators who have worked in the genre infuse their work with both the joys and struggles of Blackness. They play a role in creating space for black people in speculative fiction – one which either ignores them or relegates to a secondary position.

The most recent addition to the Afrofuturist canon and possibly its biggest success has been Marvel’s Black Panther, which imagines a powerful superhero who is a king to the technologically-advanced nation of Wakanda. This fictional country has become a symbol of hope to black folks everywhere. It shows black folks that they too are capable of greatness. It gives people images of an Africa that was never colonized – charged imagery that inspires self-belief in black folks of all age and stripe.

Considering how the African Diaspora was snatched from its home and conditioned to forget its culture, Afrocentrism offers a corrective where not only do black people have full autonomy over their lives that are a celebration of the African heritage.

Afrofuturism empowers black people to move forward. It allows them to imagine their lives free from the violence of racism, poverty, misogyny, homophobia and transphobia. It is not just a sub-genre that can be ignored from literature at large. With Afrocentrism, we may be able to give shape to our aspirations and mold our reality into a bright future.

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