Otherwordly Videos: The All-Seeing Eye of Authority

Living in a world where there is an increasing usage of drones, it forces you to wonder how machines are and will be used to track, arrest and even kill people here and abroad, and the ethics behind using them. Below are two sci-fi films that face these concerns: The Raven – Chris Black possesses […]

A Jacksons’ Halloween…..

After Hurricane Sandy, I am treating myself and everyone to some music from the Jacksons family for Halloween. When we think of Halloween and scary music videos, the first thought may be Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” but the Jacksons have dabbled into a few other scary videos. By the way, read two of my Frankenstein posts […]

I Could Dance, Dance, Dance All Night: Octavia

After attending the Oya and Anyanwu program on Wednesday, I did a search on the Anyanwu from Wildseed and came across a dance performance, called Octavia. Dancer Staycee Pearl choreographed this project and presented it last year. It is a tribute and exploration of Octavia Butler’s work and life, bringing her magical and sci-fi literature […]

Modern Griots Review: Oya and Anyanwu — The Faces of Change

Without stories, we are nothing but shells, only giving others the physical form of ourselves. Stories ground the spirits and forces around us and make them real. Oya priestess Isoke Nia expressed this sentiment last night at the Schomburg Center in Harlem at the enlightening tribute to the Yoruba orisha, Oya, and writer Octavia Butler. […]

The My-Stery: Frankensteinian Females

Last week, I wrote about how the ideas about creation in Frankenstein can be found in records like “Dr. Funkenstein” and “Monster.” Since Nicki Minaj is on “Monster,” I want to continue the Frankenstein theme with women. Although Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, most of the women seem to be weak, secondary characters in the story. […]

Modern Griots Spotlight: Kiini Ibura Salaam

“Sexuality-cum-sensuality is the experiential link between mind and matter, the vivid and eternal refutation of the alleged dichotomy between them. This understanding … is the throbbing glistening heart of Kiini’s body of work. This book is alive. Be not afraid,” is how author Nisi Shawl (Filter House) introduces Kiini Ibura Salaam‘s latest collection of short […]

Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth: Bloodchild

I just finished reading Octavia Butler’s Bloodchild and Other Stories and I want to highlight a passage from her essay “Positive Obsession:” …what good is science fiction to Black people? What good is any form of literature to black people? What good is science fiction’s thinking about the present, the future and the past? What […]

The My-Stery: Let Me Ride Part 2 — Escape and Escapism

Above is a conversation I recently listened to about escapism in Afrofuturism from Native Thinghood. The conversation stirred my thoughts about the concept of escapism. For I see escapism, or better escape, as having two sides, as with anything else in life. Yes, escapism can be a way of not dealing with the problems of […]

What Is Afrofuturism? Part 11: Cosmic Yoruba

Cosmic Yoruba wrote a piece on Afrofuturism from various African perspectives. Read an excerpt of “’We’ve Been to the Moon and Back:’ Afro-futurism in Music” and the rest at This Is Africa: Although Afro-futurism doesn’t have one clear-cut definition, for the purpose of this article we’ll go with the one that defines it as a […]

Otherwordly Videos: Women of Power

The film is Y: The Last Man Rising [Fan Film], starring Kent King and Travis Quentin Young. It is based on a critically-acclaimed comic of the same name about a plague that has wiped out all the men on the earth except one, Yorick (Young). Special Agent 355’s (King) job is to protect his life […]