Space:Queens Interview with Susan Varo

Susan Varo is a local Queens visual artist who is also the author of the speculative science fiction book called The Happening. In the Fall of 1983, she began writing The Happening inspired by thoughts and visions she had about the future and a world in the midst of constant technological advancement. It wasn’t until […]

M.G. Reviews: Black Panther + Brown Girl Begins + S0.CI3.TY (SPOILERS!)

Black Superheroes + Black Leadership + The Responsibility of Building Societies in World-Changing Times Last week I had the privilege to see three films — of course, Black Panther, Canadian filmmaker Sharon Lewis’ Brown Girl Begins inspired by Nalo Hopkinson’s book, Brown Girl in the Ring, and Martinique-based filmmaker Khris Burton’s S0.CI3.TY.

Moving on the Wires: Museum of Moving Image + Brown Girl Begins + More!

Happy Black History Month, or Black Futures Month, depending on who you ask! 2018 is off to a great start for Futuristically Ancient! See the news below: *The Afrikan Poetry Theatre is hosting Past, Present and Futurism at the Museum of the Moving Image on February 24th from 2pm-6pm. The day includes film screenings, such […]

Moving on the Wires: Happy New Year ! + Exceptional Scribble

Happy New Year to you all! I hope 2018 will be a year full of blessings for everyone and thank you for staying with me on this journey! I’m looking forward to a year filled with magic and to start, next Tuesday at 8pm, I will be on the radio show Exceptional Scribble with Francine […]

The M(N)STRY: The Legacy of Black Arkives

Etymology of Legacy: late 14c., legacie, “body of persons sent on a mission,” from Medieval Latin legatia, from Latin legatus“ambassador, envoy, deputy,” noun use of past participle of legare “send with a commission, appoint as deputy, appoint by a last will” (see legate). Can the archive be our arsenal and the archivist our warrior in this current war on memory and information? […]

“Space:Queens” — Dark Neighborhood

With issues like gentrification and displacement of marginalized communities as well as the redevelopment of the Jamaica/Southeast Queens area, those of us who are from the area have a lot to think and worry about. What does the future of the neighborhood look like for us? Local design student, Sada Spence, who lived in Southeast […]

M.G. Interviews: Yasmine Lancaster and Ida B. Wells for President Posters

Today is “Columbus Day,” and as you all may be well aware of there is the growing controversy of whether to keep or remove statues of Columbus and other problematic white figures of history. There is also the growing conversation of replacing these statues with statues of civil rights heroes and other notable black figures. […]

M.G. Recap: The Bag Lady Manifesta

Based on Taja Lindley’s solo healing performance ritual that debuted at La Mama’s SQUIRTS in 2015, “This Ain’t A Eulogy” is drawing parallels between discarded materials and the violent treatment of Black people in the United States. People in the African Diaspora have a long history of repurposing, remixing, and transforming oppressive systems into valuable cultural […]

Moving on the Wires: Lucy’s Bone Scrolls Has Landed!!!!

Lucy’s Bone Scrolls is officially here!!! Thank you to everyone came to the reading on the 17th and for those who were unable to make it, below you can watch a video of the reading from the night and view pictures! The book is available here for purchase and please write a review. View pictures […]

The M(N)STRY: Phillis Wheatley and Fugitive Imagination

What happens when an enslaved person is given the tools to express her desire for freedom after being captured? When a young child taken from Senegal to Boston and renamed after the slave ship on which she was brought is then taught to read and write in not her own language and history, but in […]