Modern Griots: John Jennings

John Jennings, who describes himself as a “a professional bender of time,” and is an associate professor in visual studies at University at Buffalo, blends together the worlds of comics, hip-hop and racial discourse. Here is some of his article from Buffalo’s website: John Jennings centers his life on provocative questions: How can we show the […]

Otherworldly Videos: Journey Through the Mind

Big K.R.I.T. – The Vent Ab Soul – Pineal Gland

Moving on the Wires: “H(A)UNTED” Exhibition

Tomorrow in Manhattan, the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute will be having an opening reception at 7pm for “H(a)unted,” an exhibition in response to Trayvon Martin and the historic criminalization of Black men. The exhibition will run from tomorrow to May 18th and Shantrelle P Lewis is curating it. Fyeahafrofuturism will be there as […]

Moving on the Wires: Bard Exhibition

Curator Andrew Rebatta sent me information on the Sunday opening of exhibitions at Bard College. He and six other student curators will be presenting their exhibitions. If you live near Bard and want to attend, this is the website for more information and directions. Here is Rebatta’s thesis exhibition: Donna Huanca “The myth is neither […]

Otherworldly Videos: Hip-Hop and Shakespeare?

Award-winning rapper Akala describes the similarities between Shakespeare’s works and hip-hop lyrics and rhythm. Akala wants to challenge those who have power to define and allow certain people to be “custodians of knowledge.” His lecture makes one think of what is poetry and what is knowledge or intellect.

Modern Griots: M. Jacqui Alexander

Black feminist lesbian writer, scholar, activist and conjurer M. Jacqui Alexander on the web series, Signified. She speaks about the connections between spirituality and social revolution in that they allow one to envision new worlds, to understand one’s purpose in life and to connect with others.

Art of This World: Michael Ray Charles

“You’ve got to think of how these images were used in American culture…they were everywhere and they were used to market anything from oils to ink, from food products to clothing…People operate from an emotional place when they see these images because they think of the past as being something that happened and that the […]

The My-Stery: Images of Mami Wata

The more I study mythology, religions and popular culture, the more I realize the mythological symbolism in a lot of popular culture. For example, in two of Aaliyah’s last videos, “We Need a Resolution” and “Rock the Boat.” The video for the first song contains scenes where she appears to be in a underground setting […]

Otherworldy Videos: Phone Home

Copperwire– Phone Home This group produced the album “Earthbound,” a hip-hop space opera. “Phone Home” uses NASA recordings of the cosmos and the video takes them through the land of Ethiopia as well as space. I strongly suggest that you check them out!

Modern Griots: Poetry Reading

This is me reading a couple of my poems at Baruch’s Celebration of Women in the Arts last month. I was so nervous that day! I hope you like it!