Tag: afrofuturism

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 […]

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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 […]

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Rewind: Dapper Ladies


Currently, when we think of a black woman artist who showcases an androgynous or gender-bending look, we think of Janelle Monae. But, before Monae, other black women have challenged gender coding and in less accepting times, and possibly with less conventionally attractive features. Black women doing gender-bending often received less attention than when it is […]

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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 […]

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Rewind: “Cry of Jazz” and Restrictions on Black Excellence


Watching Ed Bland‘s short film, Cry of Jazz, this morning reinforced how times have not changed much. The 1958 controversial documentary-styled film sets on a discussion after a jazz club meeting and the discussions and arguments literally feel like deja vu – white dismissals of black cultural contributions, black suffering, black knowledge and black excellence while […]

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