Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth: My Poetry 4

This is the last day of National Poetry Month and I wanted to share a couple of the poems I wrote for the NaPoWriMo challenge this month: Prosthetic Conscience We are the abominations: _ And like a bomb in nations We go off as we enter their spaces _ The sight of us Blowing off […]

Modern Griots Reviews: Futurist Film Showcase

When I first heard that the Black Radical Imagination were showing their Futurist Film Showcase at The Meat Market in Brooklyn, at first I was a little suspicious. Turns out, it’s a clothing boutique with a strange name and nice items. But anyway, I did enjoy the showcase, which for me was a selection of […]

Moving on the Wires: Afrofuturism 2.0 Call for Papers, Janelle Monae + Erykah Badu, Kelis

*Call for chapters for an anthology on Afrofuturism 2.0: “We are soliciting scholarly research, theoretical essays, and applied studies that explore how the concept of Afrofuturism is related to Africana Studies for an anthology…Authors are to submit a 250-300 word abstract for consideration by the editors by June 10, 2013. Authors of accepted abstracts will […]

Modern Griots Reviews: Juice Aleem

(warning for epilepsy!) Remember E.T. with Elliot riding the bike into the sky; that was the first thought I had reading UK rapper Juice Aleem‘s title “MoorKaba Light Bikes” on his EP featuring three versions of this song and “Anumal.” That sense of theatrics and spectacle as well as a theme of elevating oneself are […]

Modern Griots Reviews: Futurology the Musical

“What these women become is what we will be,” Captain Larnyce Gaines gives the purpose of not only the three travelers from the future, but the underlying message of Futurology the Musical. The women finding power in themselves theme throughout this musical is its driving force and compelling feature. The Paper to Pen production, which […]

Moving on the Wires: Remapping the Black Atlantic Conference, Futurology the Musical, Black Radical Imagination Film, Octavia City …

*Still looking for an artist to do design a logo for my blog. For more information, click here. *Remapping the Black Atlantic: (Re)Writings of Race and Space Conference is taking place at DePaul University in Chicago from April 12-14. The theme centers on expanding and remapping Paul Gilroy’s work on the Black Atlantic. *In New […]

Modern Griots Reviews: Films at the Crossroads – Revolutionaries and Outsiders

Free Angela and All Political Prisoners, Toussaint, Boneshaker and Alaskaland may seem like distinct films on the surface, but underneath they all have similar themes of people who feel as if they don’t fully fit as if in a state of in-betweenness, and trying to find a place to belong, whether it’s a community, a […]

Otherworldly Videos: Laura Mvula/Tecla/Sena Dagadu/Galaxy of Tar/Tawiah

Enjoy some videos from these quirky women! Laura Mvula’s “It’s Alright” from her album “Sing to the Moon” Tecla‘s “Fake Tears”

Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth: Sun Ra Poetry

Many know Sun Ra for his cosmic, avant-garde music and costumes as well as a pioneer in afrofuturism, but there is not as much discussion of the poetry he wrote, which he often put together with his music. He did say, “Poems are music: some of the songs I write are based on my poems,” […]

Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth: Tracie Morris

This is national poetry writing month. Yay! So, here is one poet I would like to dedicate this month to: Tracie Morris! Last Friday, I went to Speaking the Blues: An Evening of Poetry at the Whitney Museum. The event featured Harryette Mullen, Cornelius Eady, Patrica Smith, Fred Moten and Tracie Morris and her band. […]