M.G. Recap: BSAM Futurismo 2017!

So as you know a few weeks ago I had the opportunity to be part of the Black Speculative Arts Movement Conference, #BSAMFuturismo2017, at the Bronx Museum of Arts! Well, let me share with you some of the highlights from the day! *Aesthetics and Actions in Afrofuturism/Black Speculative Thought: Before I get to the above […]

Astro-Caribbean: Zak Ove

Since tomorrow I will be moderating the Astro-Caribbean panel, Midnight Robber Chronicles, which was inspired by Nalo Hopkinson’s speculative novel Midnight Robber, I thought I’d share an a British artist whose work centers on exploring the significance of Caribbean carnival. According to Trinidadian/Irish- British artist Zak Ove, Caribbean carnival, especially those in Trinidad, started […]

StoryCraft: A Stitch In Time

Guess what? What? I’m on Wattpad! As I continue writing my fantasy novel, I want to keep practicing my story-writing skills, therefore, I will be posting short fiction on there. My first is called, “A Stitch In Time,” which follows a teenage girl who meets an unexpected guest who lives in her home and discovers […]

The M(N)STRY: Black Speculative Fiction Is Protest Fiction

I’ll be honest. These past couple of weeks has made writing for me difficult. I was lacking encouragement to keep writing my fantasy novel and wavering back and forth between if being a writer mattered. But attending events like Writers Resist in Queens and reading my own work, reading from Frederick Douglass’ speech “What to […]

“Space:Queens” Exploring Afrofutures in Queens

Like Dorothy, I took my home for granted… Welcome to Women’s History Month! We just left Black History/Future Month and a thought came to me to do a link between the two with a new segment called “Space:Queens.” In this new blog segment, I will be doing writeups and interviews focused on afrofuturism within my […]

Modern Griots Reviews: Nova Sparks’ ‘Dome’

The first in its trilogy, Nova Spark‘s apocalyptic, alien novel Dome is filled with characters figuring themselves out as their home disappears and a new questionable home arises that forces them to find the truth and what is real home. Alternating between the point of views of a father and daughter, Sam and Emma, the […]

Blogging While Brown Changemakers: “God Is Change” – The Meaning Behind Futuristically Ancient

The quotation above is from Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower. Here is a portion of the chant of the religion Earthseed in the novel: Why is the universe? To shape God. Why is God? To shape the universe. *** God is Change. God is Infinite, Irresistible, Inexorable, Indifferent. God is Trickster, Teacher, Chaos, Clay— […]

Rewind: Retrofuturism of SteamFunk, DieselFunk, Rococoa, Black Medieval, and Black Westerns

When it comes to depictions of black people in history from the Medieval era to the 20th century, the tendency is to show us only as slaves or to downplay stories outside of that narrative. But black people have existed in various forms throughout these periods of time within and outside the narrow scope of […]

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 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 […]