Modern Griots Review: Pumzi, The Power of Dreams

The best science fiction is the one is based on reality of the times we live in and given the current world crises of famine, water contamination and global warming, Pumzi is definitely an appropriate film. Written and directed by Wanuri Kahiu, the 20-minute film is about Asha (portrayed by Kudzani Moswela), who lives in […]

Modern Griots: Yaba Baker

Remember the Disney film, Princess and the Frog? Did you know Princess Tiana was based on another princess, Princess Briana. Creator of the Just Like Me series, Yaba Baker started the company in 1996 with How African American Inventions Changed America, Just Like Me – The Beginning of Civilization and Just Like Me – The […]

“I AM A MAN: Black Manhood & Sexual Diversity”

This film addresses the historical, social, political, media and religious contexts of black masculinity and black male sexuality in Africa and America. A panel, including Marc Lamont Hill, Esther Armah, Cleo Manago, Rev. Al Sharpton, Bishop John Selders, and Dr. R. L’Heureux Lewis, also contribute to the discussion of sexuality in the African Diaspora. This […]

Alchemy of Ideas

A few days ago, I watched Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child documentary and one of my favorite quotations from Basquiat involved the. rethinking of influence and borrowing from the past, which everyone does. He described it as more of a transformation of ideas, taking old ideas and putting them in a new context. Basquiat said, […]

Modern Griots: Blitz the Ambassador and Terence Nance

The pairing of rapper Blitz the Ambassador and director Terence Nance for the short film for Blitz’s album Native Sun is a coming together of two visionary minds. Ghana-born musician, Blitz the Ambassador, first gained attention with his album, Stereotype, which featured the startling image of a radio man shooting himself in the head on […]

Thoughts for Food…

I was listening to the podcast Blacking It Up yesterday and documentary filmmaker Byron Hurt was there discussing his new film, Soul Food Junkies. Lolis Eric Elie, who came to my college Baruch in September to discuss the show Treme, is in this film, too. Not only is he a jazz journalist, but he is […]

What is Afrofuturism? Part 3

Here are two posts expanding more on the term afrofuturism: “Afrofuturism: A Beautiful History, A Brave New World” by Nicole D. Sconiers “We have a beautiful history, and we shall create another in the future that will astonish the world.” — Marcus Garvey AfroFuturism is a culture that has emerged to render a portrait of […]

The Mambos

I have mentioned mambo a few times on this blog and this will be another one. Did you know that the word for the high priestess in Haitian Voodoo is mambo? Mambo, which means “important words, matters, etc” or “conversation with the gods,” in the Central African language of Kikongo, is also used for the […]

Orfeu Negro

Two weeks ago, I was studying Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo opera in my Antiquity to Baroque music history class and by coincidence the singer Imany released her song, “You Will Never Know,” whose video is a take on the 1959 Brazilian film, Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus). For those who do not know, Orpheus was the Greek story […]

Cosmic Slop

One of my favorite songs is Parliament Funkadelic’s Cosmic Slop. Just a few days ago, I found out about a collection of films called Cosmic Slop, which was produced by the group. Basically, this is the Afrofuturist version of the Twilight Zone. The first film is about what would happen if America was in shambles […]