*Get Futuristically Ancient t-shirts for $20 on teespring.
*Subtletea’s “David Herrle reviews NEAR KIN: A COLLECTION OF WORDS AND ART INSPIRED BY OCTAVIA ESTELLE BUTLER:” David Herrie writes an analysis of Butler’s work and her influence on the anthology, Near Kin. By the way, he include me and my poem in the review. Cool!
*Check out this new comic from Opportunity Agenda, Helvetika Bold, about a social justice superhero who fights the status quo with her words and media savvy.
From Afropunk: “Working with artist-activist Dragonfly, we have been able to bring Helvetika to life as a living, breathing maven of moxie…Not only does she fictionally save the world, she leads with values and effective social justice communications messaging that actually demands action and change. The more support that Helvetika can gain, the more likely that her story can continue sooner rather than later, and the more damage she can do to The Status Quo!”
*Afrofuturism 849 is “a Chicago-based organization dedicated to creating artistic and educational events and programs that support the Afrofuturist global community,” featuring Floyd Webb and Ytasha Womack. “We encourage the visioning of a peaceful today and tomorrow that engages the best of diverse perspectives from the ancient to the future.
We celebrate the intersection between black cultures, indigenous cultures, technology, the imagination, liberation and mysticism as we champion innovation around the world. The number 8.49 is the apparent magnitude of Sirius B, a star celebrated by the Dogon. This star inspires people around the world and we recognize it as one of many symbols of innovation, uncovered pasts and created futures.” They are currently accepting submission for a February Black History Month film program. Email them at info@afrofuturism49.com.
*This Saturday, TV One is airing its first original horror collection of short films, The Fright Night Files.
*Submissions call from Digital Desperados for Glitch: Queer People of Color Film Festival in March 2015 in Glasgow.
*Submission call for Visa: Traveling While Africa, research and documentation project “that looks to explore the complex relationships Africans have with the visa document, and the things Africans are required to be, do and prove to obtain visas, and what different visas mean to different people.”
*Mail and Guardian Africa’s “Imagining the future: Africa in global science-fiction, and the value of creating for creativity’s sake:” “One much-quoted saying “The future belongs to those who can imagine it” (paraphrased from Eleanor Roosevelt) sounds like those slogans which prosperity-gospel preachers today love to use to rally their congregations into a blessing-claiming frenzy. But there is some truth to it.
The link between imagination and invention is obvious, and science fiction is perhaps the clearest demonstration of the symbiotic relationship between fiction and real-life science.”
“Omenana, a monthly speculative fiction e-magazine, is open to submissions from writers from Africa and the African Diaspora. Stories and art must be speculative fiction (Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror or Magical Realism) and must involve characters, settings or themes directly related to the African continent. Stories and art should challenge normative ideas about gender, sexuality, ethnicity and religious belief. All stories and art must be in English (translations welcome), must be original works (no fan fiction, sorry) and previously unpublished.
We are very much interested in works that explore alternative futures for Africa and people of African descent – with a preference for positive iterations (though dystopias are welcome too). We would also like to see explorations of the past as well as new interpretations of myths, folklore and magic. We do not accept graphic violent or sexual content.” Find out more info here.
*Aspiring writer? Check out the Octavia E. Butler Memorial scholarship.
*London’s Afro-Polis, “an innovative cultural platform, whose aim is to create a multi-dimensional exploration and critical discovery of Africa’s cultural DNA by fostering a participatory forum via events, talks and exhibitions as well as its annual journal, is presenting The African Renaissance or the Affogbolos.”
“The experiential exhibition provides a 360° exploration of the socio-cultural dynamics at the heart of the modern Panafrican way of life. Set in a restaurant transformed as a private family dining room, the exhibition is an immersive Gesamtkunstwerk (all-embracing art form), offering a synthetic, multimedia entity of art, food, design, music and fashion. A rich and stimulating experience, it will encompass an exhibition, a dinning experience, a Pop-Up concept store and will fuse talks, workshops, live performances and much more…The visitors are introduced to the Affogbolos, a fictitious young couple from Lagos, Nigeria. Kolade Affogbolo is an architect and his wife, Remi, who originalily hails from Angola, is a lawyer. Well-travelled, passionate about art, design and culture, this modern and discerning couple embodies the values and aesthetics of their generation. The visitors are invited into their dining room to experience up close and personal how they live. Food is a fundamental human necessity, essential to the sustenance of the body, and at the same time, it is a fantastic way to experience and apprehend someone’s culture. Deep social and cultural meanings are embedded within our everyday food practices and for most cultures, the dining room is the catalyst of that experience. The African Renaissance will explore the sociological and aesthetic dynamics at the heart of the modern Pan-African way of life, as they translate through Food, Art and Design.”
*Afromum’s “9 African Animations for Children you should look for.”
*The first book in Tiffany Golden’s Midnight story series, called Midnight and The Man Who Had No Tears will be released in November. The book series takes place “in the magical land of Shina, a land where magic’s mystery makes itself known and the Spirit folk walk among the people folk,” and follows, “Midnight is a beautiful spirit, the Keeper of Dreams and Protector of Children, tasked with taking the children down the river of dreams every night and returning them home safely by morning.
*”The Animae Caribe Film and New Media Festival is the largest animation film network with a regional coverage in the Caribbean. Every year the festival is held in the beautiful island of Trinidad & Tobago. This year its on October 27th to November 2nd.
This year’s focus will be on Gaming and Alternative digital platforms for Caribbean and global content. We will celebrate difference and the alternatives that we can provide to the world.”
*Kamau Bakari Abayomi released his novel, Godbody, “the first book of the GODBODY series,” which, “journey[s] through a mystically illuminated San Francisco and experience the synchronicity, choices and connections between unique characters, in different grades of learning and living, along the path of self-knowledge, wisdom & higher understanding.”
The book follows “Heru is a nineteen years old community activist who thought he had himself and the world figured out. That all changes the day he meets the successful entrepreneur I Be and learns that he is much more than he ever imagined. Shauna is a professional dancer who had forgotten the dance of life outside of a studio. After she meets a mysterious young man named Suncere, her eyes begin opening to a dance she never thought was possible. Lorena and Windy are two 8 years old girls quickly developing extra sensory perceptions. All of their destinies are intertwined.”
*Third trailer for the Afro-Brazilian film, The Summer of Gods, which was released on DVD and online.
*Huffpost’s “Numinous Market — Women of Color Creating a Healing Space in Pittsburgh” Interview with Joy KMT about her market: “Magic is the revelation of possibilities and truths that were previously unseen. Any shift or transformation in the status quo is magic, and magic is what we need in order to make this world one in which all people can thrive.”
*The Feminist Wire’s “Black on Purpose: Race, Inheritance and Queer Reproduction:” ” Since the bank we used had only five Black donors, I knew that a misstep in the process would in all likelihood mean that would be impregnated with a white man’s sperm. The thought terrified me: as a child of chattel slavery, the threads of consent, race, and childbearing are all wound together in this womb of mine.”
*The Bridge Called our Health’s “‘The Sacredness of Sensitivity; Arriving At Truth in Our Hearts’ By Danielle Stevens:” “The imposition of white supremacist patriarchal models of expression means that our society overvalues oppressive, harsh, ways of showing up in the world. It means we are told to be ‘rational’, ‘logical’; We are told we cannot feel, we should not imagine, we need not dare to dream. It means we internalize messaging that demand we say no to our emotional truths, to the tenderness of our feelings. There is danger in this — our authenticity, our power, our self-determination are at stake.”
*Brooklyn Museum will be hosting TRIPLE CONSCIOUSNESS: Black Feminism(s) in the Time of Now. The three part event includes Body Rock: The Politics of Black Female Identity on “Stage” (October 18th, 2pm), Mythologies of the “Diva:” Reexamining the Image of Black Women in Popular Culture (November 8, 2pm) and Beyond Binaries and Boxes: Deconstruction and Re-envisioning Black Feminism(s) (November 15, 2pm).
*Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation’s Skylight Gallery presents I Am Here: Girls Reclaiming Safe Spaces, “an exhibition of photographs and words curated by Delphine Fawundu and writer Ibi Zoboi. The exhibition will feature works that reflect on a time when successful women of color were truly comfortable in their skins, homes and neighborhoods and helping to reclaim these spaces for girls today.” The exhibition will be from October 25th to December 19th.
*OkayAfrica’s “British-Somali Writer Diriye Osman Wins Polari First Book Prize For Debut Book About The LGBT Experience:” Osman won for his book, Fairytales for Lost Children.
*Orijin Culture’s “African Sex Culture | Labia Elongation :” Cultural practice of Labia Elongation in Africa and the sexual empowerment of women.
*For Harriet’s “Woman Saves Three Relatives from Ebola:” Twenty-two year old Fatu Kekula nursed her relatives back to health with her own DIY equipment.
*The Guardian’s “Texas Ebola cases expose troubling contrasts and spark fears of race divide:” “The faltering response to a Liberian’s Ebola diagnosis in Texas contrasted starkly to the mobilization after the mere suspicion of the disease in a local law enforcement officer. Some wonder whether it was no coincidence.”
*Global Research’s “Ebola, Cholera: The Epidemiology of Anti-Blackness and the “White Savior Industrial Complex”- Black Lives Don’t Matter.”
*Indiegogo for The Fab Lab with Crazy Aunt Lindsey (Lindsey E. Murphy), a web series that teaches science and makes it relatable through DIY projects for kids.
“Colorlines’ “Cinematographer Bradford Young on Lighting Dark Skin and the ‘Subversive’ Power of the Black Church:” “I’m trying to decolonize my mind from all the images of black folks in American cinema that have bombarded me since I was a kid. All of these images since “Birth of a Nation” still sit with us because we haven’t had an opportunity to change them. How many black films get made each year? You can’t change the image of black folk when you only make five films each year that are at least trying to push back against that imagery.”
*Atlanta Blackstar’s Blerd’s “Bringing Unseen Worlds to Light: Interview with Fine Artist Fabiola Jean-Louis:” “Fabiola Jean-Louis is a fine artist and photographer currently based out of Brooklyn, N.Y., whose imagery seamlessly blends magic with the mundane and reality with the speculative to bring unseen worlds out of hiding. Jean-Louis renders her portraits in such a way that it is often difficult to tell whether you are looking at something she dreamed up in her mind’s eye, or whether she was able to actually capture a glitch in the matrix, or if it is some ethereal piece of nature that let its guard down and unfolded before her. Although she has only been working at her craft since last November, she is already making waves as a visionary who can manifest diverse patterns of space-time, sci-fi, costume design and surrealism within the worlds of her art. We asked Jean-Louis about her inspirations, her creative process, her use of technology and her upcoming projects.”
*Photographer James C. Lewis is unveiling his latest series entitled Icons of the Bible from November 14th – 16th in Atlanta,GA.
*Afropunk’s “FEATURE: The work of Ethiopian photographer and artist, Aida Muluneh:“ “Check out the work of award-winning Ethiopian photographer and artist, Aida Muluneh. She is widely known for her photography book ‘Ethiopia: Past/Forward’ which was published in 2009 – an exploration of the country through, “identity, personal journey and family nostalgia after a 30-year absence” – and now is the founder of D.E.S.T.A (Developing and Educating Society Through Art), a non-profit cultural organization in Addis Ababa.”
*Smithsonian’s “The Earliest Known Artist’s Studio:” “The discovery of a 100,000-year-old art studio in Africa hints at when modern human behavior emerged.”
*Afropunk’s “FEATURE: Beasts of Brown Nations: How imperialism changed the way Black people relate to animals:” “It’s 2014 and the United States of America has never had a black host on a show about animals. The visibility of cultural diversity in any given field greatly affects a child’s propensity towards said field. Even greats like Neil DeGrasse Tyson struggled with committing to a discipline that lacked role models from his community. This lack of diversity can be traced back to the colonial era and the birth of western science. A time when white Europeans began labeling all non-white people as animals in order to justify countless horrendous acts. These stigmas still haunt black and brown communities today.”
*OkayPlayer’s “Flying Lotus Provides A Track-By-Track Breakdown Of ‘You’re Dead!:” “FlyLo took to the Twittersphere to answer some of our more burning inquiries i.e what collaborations got passed on, the depth of Thundercat‘s presence on the record (in short, he’s everywhere) who else was involved in the creation of the album that isn’t featured on a track, which other cut Kendrick Lamar was supposed to grace with his grammar and so much more for your feeble mind to try and wrap itself around.”
*The Comeback’s “Saroc The MC: The Goddess of 21st Century Hip Hop” Interview.
*Kickstarter for Monica McIntyre’s Mourning to the Moonlight.
*Afropunk’s “FEATURE: Celebrating Creative Underground Rappers.”
*New Music:
—Heliocentrics & Melvin Van Peebles‘ The Last Transmission. Read more about it here.
—Fantasma‘s Future Sounds of Mzansi: Wildebeats
—AlunaGeorge‘s “Supernatural”
—Manisia‘s Hypnosé EP. Buy it on iTunes here.
Sherese Francis: Futuristically Ancient 