Modern Griots Reviews: A Dream to Fly – The Bessie Coleman Story

This is for all the Diesel Funk fans out there and for Women’s History Month! What legacy are we leaving for others when we dare to dream our special dreams, despite all the limitations that face us or all the naysayers? That is what Madeline McCray aims to answer in her one-woman performance, A Dream […]

Modern Griots Recap: Li Sumpter, Greg Tate and Danny Simmons on Afrofuturism, Myth and “Image as Prophecy”

One of the final events for The Shadows Took Shape exhibition, which recently closed at the Studio Museum of Harlem, featured a conversation between mythologist Li Sumpter of Myth Media:21 Studios, cultural writer and musician Greg Tate and painter and curator Danny Simmons, in which they discussed afrofuturism, the apocalyptic, myth and archetypes. Li Sumpter […]

Modern Griots Recap: Sanford Biggers and Saul Williams in Conversation

Brooklyn Museum assistant curator Rujeko Hockley moderated a conversation at the Studio Museum last week with artists Sanford Biggers and Saul Williams and their relationship to afrofuturism. Here are some notes from the conversation: *Rujeko thinks of Afrofuturism as a process rather than a label, using it as a label may be too restrictive. But […]

Modern Griots Reviews: Man From Tomorrow – The Time Wizard Jeff Mills

Last week, I attended the premiere of the Detroit techno icon Jeff Mills‘ film, Man from Tomorrow, and the film and following conversation stirred some thoughts. Overall, the 45-minute, Jacqueline Caux-directed film was a surreal journey into Mills mindset as a DJ, mixing his music with Caux’s otherworldly imagery. There are obvious abstract influences from […]

Modern Griots Recap: The Black Aquatic and Afrofuturism

We often imagine exploration into worlds beyond ours in outer space, but what about the mysterious depths of the watery underground, of utopian worlds like Drexciya or Atlantis. Below are notes from the panel featuring Jared Richardson, Alexander Weheliye and Edgar Arceneaux: Richardson– *Displacement and collective memory *Azealia Banks, queerness and fluid sexuality in blackness […]

Modern Griots Recap: Highlights from Black Comic Book Festival

Attending the Black Comic Book Festival for the first time this year introduced me to a wide scope of the comic book world from the lens of the black community and so I wanted to share some of the creators and their works that I came across while there. It was difficult walking around the […]

Modern Griots Recap: Divination 101

Divination (n): the art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge usually by the interpretation of omens or by the aid of supernatural powers. Divination, Science and Technology, Transhumanism and Futurism: Definition, including implied ones, are important because they affect our perceptions. That is true for some modern […]

Modern Griots Reviews: Odysella – Empress of Nar

Despite its critics in its early days, Hip-hop as an artistic medium has spread to all corners of the Earth, but could it spread throughout the galaxy? What about world violence against young people? Chicago-author Shirley Hardy-Leonard explores these questions in her latest work, Odysella: Empress of Nar series. The series follows two main leads […]

Modern Griots Reviews: Birth of a Dark Nation

Imagine seeing the journey of the Black Atlantic through the memories of a centuries-old vampiric human. A DC IT specialist working at an HIV organization Justin Kena is privileged with this information when he falls for one named Dante. As he falls in love, he learns of the ancient indigenous Yoruba group, the Razadi, who […]

Modern Griots Reviews: Afrofuturism – The World of Black Sci-FI and Fantasy Culture

I know I am a bit late on reviewing this one, but finally here is my review of it: Ytasha L. Womack’s Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-fi and Fantasy Culture is a well-thought out introductory book that is a smooth blend between a personal memoir and a reference source for those interested in delving […]