Below are some news stories and opinion pieces that I collected over the week. Since Facebook is changing up its system of how posts are viewed and is fishy with what it considers as “violating community guidelines,” I will post the articles I come across during the week on Sunday along with posting them there throughout the week.
* Storify post of mine and other attendees’ tweets from the Black Comic Books Festival panels.
* Rich Johnston’s “An Oncoming Storm” (about the possibility of the X-Men character Storm’s monthly comic book and wishing artist Afua Richardson would draw it) on Bleeding Cool.
* Afropunk Interview with fantasy artist, Fabiola Jean-Louis: “Interview: Photographer Fabiola Jean-Louis – Magic & The Machine:” “It’s believed that there lies a fine line between
genius and insanity. But what is the case when reality and fantasy stumble upon one another, uniting the ultimate contrasts? Perhaps, creativity? In all my adventures and stumbles upon wonderful artists, I’ve never came across any like photographer, Fabiola jean-Louis. Somehow she’s found a connection between the Victorian era and whimsical urban legends like unicorns and Black fairies. Oddly enough, the two unique cultures mesh well together; not to mention the beautiful people she uses as her subjects to create what I like to call, Afro Magic, her being the Alchemist. In our interview below, Fabiola gives me a deeper understanding of her creative process and provision. Get ready to dive into a an exotic and beautiful mind!”
* Daniel Jose Older’s “12 Fundamentals of Writing ‘The Other’ (And The Self)” (I especially thought the part about American Horror Story: Coven was interesting. Why is it religions outside of the Abrahamic religions don’t receive as much respect and are thought of as fantasy. I don’t see the mainstream religions treated the same way; for example, the talking snake is probably not real.)
*Net Neutrality Ruling Will Affect Communities of Color: Truth Out Article 1 and The Root Article 2.
* Saul Williams Tribute to Amiri Baraka: ” Amiri Baraka: Poet Laureate:” “The real power of influence occurs when you influence people who don’t even realize that they’ve been influenced by you. They may not even know who you are. This mainly happens when your art is so deeply embedded with love and your desire to see change in the world that the message becomes detached from the author and travels on its own. From heart to heart. We felt Amiri Baraka. I wasn’t even born yet and I felt him. I felt my mamma feeling him. He was part of the reason my mom turned to my dad, after having already birthed two mid-complexioned daughters, and said, “I just want a dark, dark boy with curly, curly hair.” Presto. Black Magic.”
* Nnedi Okorafor’s “African Science Fiction Is Still Alien:” “As a Nigerian-American, born and raised in the United States, what distanced me from science fiction novels early on was feeling that I was not a part of the stories; I didn’t exist in them. I suspect the same can be said for many African writers who might consider writing science fiction.
Digging deeper, this leads to two troublesome facts: 1. Africans are absent from the creative process of global imagining that advances technology through stories. 2. Africans are not yet capitalizing on this literary tool which is practically made to redress political and social issues.”
* “The Tech Industry Loves White People Hands” (It could also be light-skinned people of color, maybe they should say they don’t love dark-skinned people’s hands).
* Nettrice Gaskin’s recap of her panel on S.T.E.A.M. at the Studio museum of Harlem.
* Follow Metropolarity and Liberation Technologies on Facebook (and their tumblrs) for intersections between activism, world-building, survival techniques and speculative fiction.
* People who think that we should forget about racism, slavery, colonialism and other oppressions that affect us should consider about these articles: Racism Ages Black Men and Memories Could Be Passed Down Through DNA. It is not that easy to forget when it is cellular.
* Earth Squadron Movie Fundraiser on Indiegogo:
Log line:
EARTH SQUADRON tells the story of what happens when Earth is invaded by aliens, only to find that the only people capable of saving Earth are the planet’s social rejects.
Synopsis:
The Earth is threatened by unknown aliens who travel from their home planet to Earth to subjugate its people and loot it of resources using their superior technology and vicious nature.
Sherese Francis: Futuristically Ancient 