Otherworldly Videos: The Brother Moves On

I found out about this band some time ago and also just found out that Spoek Mathambo said in an interview they were one of his favorite groups. The Brother Moves On are also from Johannesburg, South Africa. They describe their group as “The ghost inside the magic, the stranglers of an innocent idea of […]

Modern Griots Recap: The Outsider in Science Fiction Panel

I am one who likes to believe in synchronicity and having watched a National Geographic documentary a few days ago called, “When Aliens Attack,” this panel at the Museum of the Moving Image happened at the right time. What does our encounters and representations of the outsider or “alien” reveal about our psyches? On Sunday, […]

Otherworldly Videos: Mami Wata Films (Lady in the Water/Nkiru)

The legend of Mami Wata is one that has traveled from the shores of different countries in Africa to the shores of shores of the different countries all over the world in which the African diapsora lives. The media production company 37th State has produced a short documentary and short film that explores the figures […]

Otherworldly Videos: Tchaiko Omawale

One of my favorite videos is the one for Yahzarah’s “The Tickler (Daddy Go Faster).” The director of the video is Tchaiko Omawale and besides being a music video director, she also directed a few speculative short films that you might enjoy. Watch them below: “Sita” – An short experimental fantasy about a fairy who […]

Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth: Limbo by Edward Kamau Brathwaite

Will you make it to the other side? It’s amazing how many aspects of my culture and other cultures, too, are either hidden or diluted. One, for example, is the limbo dance that originated in Trinidad and Tobago. For many, it is only a fun dance game in which you try to pass under a […]

Modern Griots Interview: Blayer Pointdujour

Blayer Pointdujour and the Rockers Galore are a band based in Philadelphia. Calling themselves the adopted child of Saul Williams and Paul Simonon (of The Clash), the group combines different musical styles, including punk rock, reggae, funk, hip-hop, and Haitian rhythms. Pointdujour aims to put a new twist on old music, making a new style […]

Spacing Out in Zazzle…

Recently finding out about Zazzle, I decided to spend a couple of hours searching for relevant items. After a somewhat extensive search, I found a decent number of goods. Take a look at my list below; they might make some nice gifts: The Future -Not What It Used to Be Greeting Card (More from Retropolis […]

Moving on the Wires: Giveaway Winner and Invisible Man Paper

*The winner of the Sankofa Journal is bigfatjamaicanwedding. Email me at svfreebrid87@gmail.com your address and I will send it to you by the end of next week. Thanks to you and everyone who enters or spread the word about it! _ *For a limited time, you can read a draft of the independent paper I […]

Otherworldly Videos: The Afronaut

Directed by Gary Land, Phobos stars Victor Grant and is about a young astronaut trying to find the will to survive after crashing onto a distant planet. Land also directed this Ghede dance video with Russell Ferguson. Christina De Middel‘s video for her photography series, The Afronauts, based on the 1964 pace program started in […]

Modern Griots Review: Ancestral Voices

What are the spiritual and physical consequences of us not studying the spiritual and magic systems of the African Diaspora in depth? This is one question amongst several explored in the British documentary film, Ancestral Voices: Esoteric African Knowledge. Premiering in New York City last Saturday at the New York African Diaspora International Film Festival, […]