Rethinking the ‘Fantasy’ of Africa in Roots Reggae

Professor, author and cultural analyst Louis Chude-Sokei speaks in his lecture, “When Echoes Return: Roots, Diaspora and Possible Africas (A Eulogy).” The lecture centers on the death of South African reggae singer Lucky Dube and how the fantasy of a singular Africa in roots reggae music has been both a dangerous space and a space […]

A Speculative Tribute to Harriet Tubman

Yesterday, I wrote a post about historical revisionism, which included the whitewashing of Harriet Tubman in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Today, I want to showcase artists who have created speculative fiction with Harriet Tubman. * Pierre Bennu of Exit the Apple‘s Black Moses Barbie mock commercials: #1 #2 #3 These commercials “for a Black Moses […]

The My-Stery: Problematic Historical Revision

With the release of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and the upcoming Django Unchained, it is important that we discuss the practice of historical revision, given the political climate we live in today. First, nothing is inherently wrong with historical revision. As we learn more about the past, we revise history. Sometimes we do it as […]

“Naming Evil in the World: Hip-Hop’s Blues Footprints”

From the Blues and the Spirit symposium, Mark Anthony Neal discusses the secular and sacred aspects of hip-hop and Black music in general. He speaks about their visionary and prophetic tradition, their practice of naming evil in the world, the subtlety of the musical forms, the musical technology used, and concepts of escape, freedom, fugitivity, […]

The My-Stery: Some Thoughts on the 4th of July…

As I get older and learn more about the world, I am increasingly less impressed or ecstatic about holidays, Independence Day included. Can I really celebrate completely and wholeheartedly a country that was built off the enslavement and imprisonment of others and a country where I do not fully feel free and independent? That freedom […]

Art of This World: Radcliffe Bailey

Artist Radcliffe Baily speaks at the TEDx Atlanta about the mystery of art, the influence of family, music, spirituality and history in his creative process, and his use of art to bring kinfolk together.

Art of This World: Janel Jefferson

Artist Janel Jefferson talks about her use of photographs from the 19th and 20th century to create colorful and haunting painted portraits that give life to the past and show that records are like gifts from the past to the present and future. The video is from the Juneteenth Jamboree site on Kiru. Listen to […]

Moving on the Wires: “Space Into Time: Africa In Science Fiction”

In relation to my earlier post on the museum trip I went on, I am posting this lecture about an exhibition on the portrayal of Africa and science fiction. The lecturers discuss how Africa is used as a backdrop in some science fiction work and also its place in the science and speculative fiction world. […]

W.E.B. Du Bois, Africana Studies and The Human Future

Dr Yaba A. Blay discusses colorism and black Identity within the context of global white supremacy in her lecture, “Whiteness and the Color Line…” Watch the other Temple University lectures here. The lectures included conversations on representation vs. self-determination, capitalism, neoliberalism and marxism, blackness and philosophy, social activism and social transformation, and Black Philadelphia.

Moving on the Wires: Slavery By Another Name

The thirteenth amendment of the constitution states: “Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.6″ In […]