AFROFUTURISM READING LIST AND RESOURCES – STARTING PLACES
[see also African Americans in Speculative Fiction – A Primer]
Mark Dery essay “Black to the Future” (1994) – coined the term “Afrofuturism”
BOOKS
Fiction
Bill Campbell – Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond (2013)
Colson Whitehead – The Underground Railroad (2016)
Deji Bryce Olukotun – Nigerians in Space (2014)
Jennifer Marie Brissett – Elysium (2014)
N.K. Jemisin – The 5th Season (2015)
Nalo Hopkinson – The Brown Girl in the Ring (1998)
Nicky Drayden – Prey of Gods (2017)
Nisi Shawl – Everfair (2016)
Nnedi Okorafor – Who Fears Death (2010), Binti (2015), Binti: Home (2017), Binti: The Night Masquerade (2018)
Octavia Butler – Parable of the Sower (1993)
Rasheedah Phillips – Recurrence Plot (2014)
Rivers Solomon – An Unkindness of Ghosts (2017)
Samuel Delany – Dhalgren (1975)
Sheree Renee Thomas – Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora (2000)
Tobias Buckell – Crystal Rain (2006)
Walter Mosley – Futureland: Nine stories of an imminent future (2001)
MUSIC
Sun Ra – “Space is the Place” (1973)
Parliament – “Mothership Connection” (1975)
Outkast – “Aquemeni” (1998)
Janelle Monae – “The ArchAndroid” (2010), “The Electric Lady” (2013), “Dirty Computer” (2018)
Drexciya – The Quest (1997)
Erykah Badu – Baduizm (1997)
Flying Lotus – 1983 (2006)
FILMS
The Brother from Another Planet (1984) – John Sayles
District 9 (2009) – Neill Blomkamp
PUMZI – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWMtgD9O6PU
INTERVIEW with Wanuri Kahiu – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlR7l_B86Fc
Wanuri Kahiu Ted Talk on Afrofuturism – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvxOLVaV2YY
Janelle Monae Dirty Computer Emotion Picture – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdH2S...
VISUAL ART
Jean-Michel Basquiat – Molasses
Antonio Lopez – fashion illustrations
Tim Fielder – graphic artist, “Black Metropolis” exhibit
Niama Safia Sandy – curated “Black Magic: Afro Pasts/Afrofutures” exhibit
King Britt – curated “Moondance: A Night in the Afrofuture” exhibit (2014)
Comic Books
Black Panther (Christopher Priest, Reginald Hudlin, Ta-Nehisi Coates)
Milestone Comics (Icon, Static, Hardware, Blood Syndicate)
Black (Kwanza Osajyefo)
Non-Fiction
Afrofuturism: the World of Black Sci Fi and Fantasy Culture (2013) – Ytasha L. Womack
Afrofuturism 2.0: The Rise of Astro Blackness (2015) – Alondra Nelson and Reynaldo Anderson
Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements (2015) – Adrienne Maree Brown and Walidah Imarisha
More Brilliant Than the Sun – Kodwo Eshun
The Sound of Culture: Diaspora and Black Technopoetics – Louis Chude-Sokei
Emergent Strategy – adrienne maree brown
Speculative Blackness – andre carrington
Black Quantum Futurism: Theory and Practice Vol. 1 – ed. Rasheedah Phillips
Misc Resources
Tech and Afrofuturism on Robin Thede’s late night show The Rundown:
Pt. 1: https://youtu.be/BltqLsYnOgw
Pt. 2: https://youtu.be/jk0OV_ZIxvw
Mundane Afrofuturist Manifesto: http://martinesyms.com/the-mundane-af...
Aker: Futuristically Ancient – https://futuristicallyancient.com/
