This is from the Bombay Sapphire’s Artisan and Imagination Series. Artist Danny Simmons (brother of Russell and Joseph “Run” Simmons) speaks with several different artists about the work they do and the one who caught my eye was Risha Rox. I have seen the photographs of the male model painted like the universe with stars, […]
Read More Art of This World: Risha RoxCody ChestnuTT’s “Till I Met Thee” was directed by Terence Nance and features Ellie Foumbi from the short film Say Grace Before Drowning. Read Shamira Muhammad‘s interview with him on Africa is a Country’s (the name is a joke).
Read More Otherwordly Videos: Cody ChesnuTT’s “Till I Met Thee”*For those who will be in Missouri, one of my supporters, Reynaldo Anderson will be having a talk at Missouri History Museum on February 1st, called Afrofuturism: Race, Art and Politics in the Age of Digital Reproduction. Hopefully, the conversation will be recorded and the rest of us can listen to it later. *The filmmakers […]
Read More Moving on the Wires: Afrofuturism Talk, The United States of Hoodoo, MUV’s Sankofa, Buli…Meridian – “Truth” This video is interesting. Before I saw the quote at the end, it made me think of how the introduction of an alien or new tool or culture can change another society, and the benefits and/or dangers of that introduction. Some of the clips are from a South African film, The Gods […]
Read More Otherworldly Videos: Meridian’s “Truth”Today is Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. Here is a tribute to him with a few artists who were inspired by him in their work. First, a brief look at the life of King in graphic form:
Read More MLK Jr. in the Imagination….I wrote before about how limbo is a tangible dance recovery of the phantom limb or broken connection (a tangible made into an intangible) produced by the Atlantic between Africa and the Americas. Poet and writer Nathaniel Mackey also has written about it in his poems and essays, like “Sound and Sentiment, Sound and Symbol,” […]
Read More Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth: Nathaniel Mackey’s “Sound and Sentience”Ethiopian-American rapper Gabriel Teodros of group Copperwire, gives a speech about hip-hop, media corporations and technology, activism, and afrofuturism. Some of the quotable parts from it:
Read More Otherworldly Videos: Hip-Hop and Science FictionThe New York City-based duo of Sefu Kafele and Rachel Burrell joined forces to form X Black Superheroes. Together, Kafele, the Malcolm X-inspired lyricist, and Burrell, a singer and poet with Tracey Chapman mixed with Lauryn Hill style and sound, use their music to raise awareness of people, political, and social issues that often do […]
Read More Modern Griots Interviews: X Black SuperheroesPopular culture is filled with worlds of wizards, witches and mystic superhero characters likes that of Harry Potter. But while audiences are excited by the fantasy of those worlds, real life communities of witches either go unnoticed or are demonized as satanic. And even in the fiction, rarely do we get a super-witch character who […]
Read More Modern Griots Reviews: Séan L. Young’s The Mystical Gathering SeriesThis artwork immediately caught my eye on facebook. I liked the blend between ancient wise queen and futuristic superwoman looks (and one of my favorite colors is purple). Created by comic book artist Luis Guerrero, the artwork is for the jewelry and organic body and skin product company, Crown Royalties, of Amonyet Enterprises. Amonyet Enterprises’ […]
Read More Modern Griots Spotlight: Crown Royalties
Sherese Francis 