Afrofuturism: From Books to Blockbusters | It’s Lit
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With the success of Black Panther, the term Afro-Futurism got pushed into the mainstream. But what is Afro-Futurism and what is its place in Black storytelling? In this episode we give you the starter pack on answering that question.
Hosted by Lindsay Ellis and Princess Weekes, It’s Lit! is a show about our favorite books, genres and why we love to read. It’s Lit has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor.
Interested in using this video as a teaching resource? Check it out on PBS LearningMedia: to.pbs.org/3KFxnDY
Hosted and Written by: Lindsay Ellis and Princess Weekes
Director: David Schulte
Executive Producer: Amanda Fox
Producer: Stephanie Noone
Editor: Derek Borsheim
Sound Designer: Kirby Meador
Writing Consultant: Alexis Soloski
Executive Producer (PBS): Adam Dylewski
Editorial Producer (PBS): Niki Walker
Produced by Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios.
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you should add a reading list under the video
Octavia Butler books:
Kindred
Fledgling
Nnedi Okorafor books:
Who fears death
Akata Witch
Binti
Lagoon
N.K. Jemisin books:
The Fifth Season,
The Obelisk Gate
The Stone Sky
Nalo Hopkinson books:
The Salt Roads
Midnight Robber
Afro-themed fantasy:
Children of Blood and Bone
(Tomi Adeyemi)
Daughters of Nri
(Reni K. Amayo)
Kingdom of Souls
(Rena Barron)
Black Leopard, Red Wolf
(Marlon James)
Tales of Esowon: The Kishi
(Antointe Bandele)
Black Sands The Seven Kingdoms
(Manuel Godoy)
Malika: Warrior Queen (Roye Okupe)
War girls, Beasts Made of Night, Crown of Thunder, Rebel Sisters (Tochi Onyebuchi)
Beloved, Song of Solomon (Toni Morrison)
@@daveroberts5020 thanks
Dave Roberts Commenting here to find this post later
@Karen Maynard Plus Monica Rambeau (the second Captain Marvel) and Blade.
@Karen Maynard You're a Queen 👑! Thank you so much!
Any reference to Janelle Monae's genius gets a thumbs up from me
I adore sci-fi, but traditionally Western sci-fi holds this strangely backward view wherein "culture" is this thing to be outgrown and homogeneity is something to aspire to. What I love about Afro-futurism is that it is a subgenre where sci-fi meets a love of culture.
I think that whether or not we should strive towards one main culture for humanity, or if we should try to maintain all the different cultures in the world is a difficult question. It's not crazy to think that if everyone spoke the same language and had the same culture there would be less conflict in the world.
I think that since white people haven't had to suppress their culture in modern history, it's easier for white writers to imagine futures where cultural conflict doesn't exist because they are either oblivious to it, or feel less attached to a culture they haven't really had to defend.
Amen!
@@eduardo22121999 I doubt speaking the same language would help erase all conflict, seeing as civil wars are things that exist and people once killed each other cuz they were all slightly different versions of the same religion. But I will agree that it's definitely difficult for white people to see culture as important because many see whitness as a kind of "default human" and culture as some kind of extra add-on.
@@margaret_adelle I don't think that this tendency to view one's own culture as the default and everything else as an anomaly is exclusive to western cultures or "white people".
For example there is so much chinese, Latin american, indian and nigerian comedy and/or movies out there where the joke is essentially "look how weird the others are".
And that cultural diversity is dying is not in itself a bad thing. It's only bad because the thing the individual cultures get replaced with, i. e. global capitalism, is soul crushingly dumb and mundane.
But I still think that a global culture of democracy and human rights, where every individual is of equal worth and is not pressured into conforming to traditional roles, be they gender of whatever, is ultimately a good thing. And wanting this means the death or the alteration beyond recognition of most of the cultures around the world, including my own, and I am totally fine with that.
Thank you for talking about Nnedi Okorafor's dislike for being called an Afrofuturist. I see her recommended a lot when people talk about Afrofuturist works, and her writing is fantastic, but she is very firm on writing from an African lens, not a diaspora one. I'm really glad you acknowledged that :)
It's interesting that Missy Elliot and Timbaland didn't get a mention. Their music has a futuristic sound that is still fresh and hasn't been matched. I still like the vid, I learned a lot.
The DUST science fiction channel on You Tube has a series of videos about Afrofuturism in music which includes a presentation on both of those artists.
Also Andre3000 (who put Janelle Monae on his record label at the beginning of her career) and CeLo Green.
I think this video is seeking to emphasize creatives and essayists of afrofuturiam in its earliest stages to make clear that the genre has been discussed before contemporary and mainstream uses. And it's a 10 min video. It's not going to list every single artist of the style. Rather, it noted currently relevant and accomplished examples to represent all artists.
I think I saw a picture of Sun Ra in there, but other than Black Panther the video is really about books. Otherwise, the truly glaring omission is Parliament Funkadelic.
But is there any actual science fiction in their music?
As a professional in Literature, I appreciate this videos. Please, speak about novelizations. Bye and greetings from Colombia
Read 'Who fears Death' by Nnedi Okorafor and any NK Jemisin/Octavia Butler books (e.g. Kindred).
I love how you've cropped the shirt so it just says "Dirty." I'm sure Monaé would approve. This was awesome! So happy to see you on this show, Princess! -S
I did notice some characters of color in the Hunger Games - Rue and Thresh, in book one, and some hints that the Everdeens should have been at least Mediterranean-ish featured. The movies made Katniss and Prim white, but at least in the books there was more ambiguity, kinda. The capital, meanwhile, were all HWHITE-White.
Yeah, there was a whole district full of black folks.
Jourdan Cameron There was a distinct lack of main characters of color, and I think it’s more about representation than anything else.
SecretConceit Oh, for certain. And, admittedly, as the books are written by a white lady, even if her original intent was for the main characters to be black, it’s not really reflected in their lives and experiences, especially their relationship with the Capital - and even if she had included some nods to that, would that insight be good representation, or appropriation of a plight she would never experience firsthand for her own gain?
The Everdeens as Olive skinned? I didn't get that at all. District 12 is in the coal mines of West Virginia. That place is white as sour cream
i really don't think her intent with katniss was for her to be a person of color, or that would have been more explicit. and her handling of poc in the series (even thresh alone...) is problematic on a couple levels, so i'm not sure she should be lauded for the little that is there.
also fwiw, i am "mediterranean-ish" and really didn't consider katniss to be representing my identity/culture at all, and she clearly isn't marginalized in any way due to her race. and honestly, even though i'm middle eastern, in the united states at least i am functionally white, because my appearance and culture aren't racialized/othered/degraded the way they are for people who cannot pass as white here. that would be true of anyone who looked like me, especially if they didn't have stigmatized cultural signifiers like religious dress, so... eh... it would be cool if a non-white identity in the main character was explicit, but it isn't, and i think "vaguely ethnic" is far from offering actual representation of a racialized minority
"And while many people may have of Afrofuturism before..."
Nope, but please tell me more.
Edit: And suddenly my Audible library has grown. Thanks!
Love the episode. I hope for more "It's Lit" in general. I love this series.
Hopefully on a separate channel where it belongs.
aw man, I'll never forget reading The Ear, The Eye, and The Arm in 5th Grade. Great intro to Afrofuturism. Got back into it when I found Janelle Monae
Wow I was just about to bring that book up, except I was struggling to remember its title thank you!
This also made me think of this book, for the first time in years!! You're absolutely right.
Sounds like something to check out
Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower is the scariest book I’ve ever read. The dystopia she writes is so plausible that it borders on the inevitable, and it is a hell of our own making, an apocalypse of capitalism.
Everyone should read it, to see our our society’s most hideous reflection.
i'll put it on my reading list! thanks!
Sounds good but don’t think I could read it at the moment. Gone off dystopian stories. They hit a little too close to home right now and my mind is too exhausted to process or appreciate them. I will put it on the list for when the world becomes a little less crazy, whenever that is. Would be interested in reading some of her work though. Any recommendations for something she has written that is a little lighter?
I read the Earthseed books just a couple months before Covid-19 broke out. When protests and looting came to my neighborhood after the killing of George Floyd, it felt like the fulfillment of a prophecy.
Yup that book was powerful n very scary
Definitely one of my favorite novels ever! Too bad we didn't get more than 2 in the series before she prematurely passed away.
Excellent video, and lovely exploration of the genre as it applies to literature with nods to its expression in other media. I'm white and middle aged, but Ramellzee and Africa Bambaata have long been heroes of mine. Their work, along with that of George Clinton/Parliamnet/Funkadelic, Sun Ra and Octavia Bulter, really defined the genre/movement for me and I'm so happy to see others carry the flag forward in so many ways.
Thanks for this. I learned a great deal. I teach African-American History, including teaching my students that they must search and seek the evidence that was cut out or actively suppressed, and I love how you connected this artistic movement to that ongoing historical search.
So proud of you Princess 😍
Clipping's 2016 album "Splendor & Misery." It was nominated for a Hugo
It's Lit is back, and I'm loving it! I especially love that the new episodes are longer and more in depth. Thanks for your hard work, Princess, Lindsay, and Company.
Thank you for making on of your first videos on this new channel and series dedicated to this topic! Something I talk and teach about whenever I can with my students! Hope to see more coverage of various cultures especially non white and non western centric ones, and hopefully we will see more videos over at Say It Loud soon too!
the album Splendor & Misery by clipping. is worth bringing up here, since it is a concept album that is basically a science fiction story set on a slave spaceship
I’d also like to add The Deep by Rivers Solomon, inspired by a clipping. song.
Growing up in the 60s, attending an all-white school, in an all white neighborhood, the all white Jetsons didn’t feel weird. Now it does. I think it reflected the cloistered white neighborhoods of the time. Thank God for diversity awareness. It enriches our lives.
How does it "enrich" your life? I've always been aware of people of other appearances.
@@anonb4632 Good for you! *oprah handshakes*
I mean, we know why there weren't any brown-skinned people in the Jetsons... business-wise. Hell, Charles Schultz was lambasted in the south for wanting to publish a comic-strip with Franklin (The token black character of the Peanuts)
Great job, Princess! I know very little about Afrofuturism. First heard of it in Lindsay's sci-fi episode in the last season of It's Lit. It doesn't get enough love in mainstream marketing. This video gives me a great reading list to start. Thanks!
P.S. the Dirty Computer t-shirt is an instant like ;-)
Inspiring! I was stressed out since junior high school about my writing hobby because of trying to think of a plot that might be good and if people would judge me negatively. Now I feel that I can write from my own personal reference as a 21-year old Black woman.
I really loved this episode! Really informative! And one I definitely want to share with my students!
Since they now share a channel, I’m just hoping we’ll see a monstrum/it’s lit collab! Maybe more on horror novel monsters and their origins in folklore?
Oh my stars! Yes, please!!!
Soon... 🧟♀️
Great entry point. Thanks.
I recently got deep into Tade Thompson's Wormwood Trilogy and it's so good. Neo Cyberpunk set in Nigeria. 😍
Great video, by the way.
💖
Ooo added to my wishlist
I've had some searchs about afrofuturism, but I didn't know I ignore so much history of the genre. Thanks for sharing
"Even the family android sounds white."
Yeah, but imagine the outrage if it sounded black 😅
Yep. Especially if it was the only one sounding black. Still, I get her overall point
In the 60's? Unlikely. Black maids were extremely common at that time.
@@cyber_dildonics No, not in the 60s. Now. No one cared that they were all white in the 60s.
@@DanEllis And by "no one" you mean: no pre civil right movement white mainstream media, I guess?
_ musique that or Aria Stark
I read an afro-futurist book in 5th grade involving a mile-high hotel, Gondwanaland, and some kind of mask. I can't remember what it was called. Does anyone have an idea of what it could be?
The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm. Wonderful book.
Octavia Butler is amazing, I highly recommend her works :)
I gotta get my hands on some of these stories, especially The Comet. A story from the 1920s that portrayed a black man and a white woman as the new Adam and Eve? Sign me up, I want to read that story.
Yeah except that they don't really get together at the end, but are shoehorned into relationships with members of their own race.
@@liem11 spoilers!
That reminds me of 'The World, the Flesh and the Devil' movie from 1959, it had similar premise
Loved this explanation. Now just gotta do something with it.
The video was great. I know that the octopus quote was on screen during the bit, but it was very hard to hear you over the water sound effects.
Really fascinating video! 👍🏼
The song The Deep is great :)
I know I maybe pointing out the obvious but I think Naughts & Crosses by former children laureate Mallorie Blackman is an example of afrofuturism even though its an alternate timeline set in an alt version of my country of Britain.
I would agree.
I'm surprised Ta Nehisi Coates did not get a shout-out, especially considering many elements of Ryan Coogler's Black Panther came from Coates' comic run.
(Not a criticism, just an observation.)
Nathaniel Petersen It’s arguable that Reggie Hudlins run is what sparked the reboot in Black Panthers popularity. The marriage to Storm, and other things started on his time.
@@BossRedRanger Don't forget Christopher Priest.
Everything you need to know about the current state of race relations is wrapped up in a white dude mansplaining afrofuturism with a well-actually about Ta Nehisi Coates.
(Not a criticism, just an observation.)
Came here from Lindsay's channel
Great stuff
Waiting on more hopeful scifi, but also this
Writing something of my own kind of like this; layman's terms, Age of Aquarius fully kicks in in the near future, turning Mali and some surrounding countries into THE manufacturer of most of the world, toppling the Chinese monopoly (among other things); look up what a Nyamakola is, and then add written language and modern developments/technology to the practice, it's going to put wish-granters out of business.
Okorafor's comments make a lot of sense; the background, problems, and hopes of people in Africa and people whose families emigrated from Africa of their own accord are related to, but different from the background, problems, and hopes of African-Americans and other people descended from the slave trade (I'm very curious about what Black authors from Latin America contribute to the literature). Not that either viewpoint is "better" or "more appropriate" to the other, just different. What will be fascinating, I think, will be seeing how these cultural lines grow around and influence one another in the future.
As for Latin America, I can only speak about Brazil.
Brazilian literature overall is deeply, profoundly, obsessively focused in realism.
We had two fantasy novels published in the late 19th Century (one of them written by a woman) and the rest was never accepted by the local critics and Academia, fading into obscurity about as fast as they were published.
And that even before we factor race.
Thousands upon thousands of dry realist novels intercut with a few witty realist novels and a pinch of socially conscious realist novels, though.
You can take your pick of our realist litter.
Great ep
Wonderful video! Now I have so many new stories and worlds to explore
Parliament did some funky stuff with Afrofuturism.
want to tell me more about it?
Was thinking that too. Also, as defined in the video, we should really give an Afrofuturisticaddillacnod to OutKast as ie ATLiens was quite explicitly (and not just as in ___ lyrics) about sublimating alienation.... But! That Janelle Monae album is freaking amazing. And probably less people know about it -- so I'm gmt and I endorse this video's musical shout out.
Loving this😊!
The podcast "Adventures in New America" is fantastic, and I'm like 90% sure its afrofuturism and deserves more credit.
First time hearing about this podcast, I'll definitely have to give it a listen.
Could you please make a video about deconstruction or fictional languages ?
Saludos desde Venezuela
Marco Quiroz Reyes you may like channels like Artifexian, Biblaridion, or Jan Misali if you like fictional languages
This is an excellent video! Awesome information, and fantastic delivery and presentation of ideas. Beautiful visuals too! Amazing job!!! ✊🏿✊🏿✊🏿👽🛸💯💯
octavia butler's books are truly amazing
Great video
This sounds very interesting! I knew nothing about this so thank you! I now have a lot more books to read and stuff to research :D
This is such a good video 🙂👍
Really interesting and not crazy vid! Subbed!
I am a great fan of Octavia Butler, I read Wild seed and I was hooked. What I don’t like about some of the general themes in some Afro-futurism is it’s relationship to the past.
Either the future is the the past copy/pasted onto a science fiction scenario without explanation or contextualization (such as An Unkindness of Ghosts) or there is some version of reality where ancient African traditions exist completely unaltered by the course of time, changes of technology, power, politics or outside culture(such as Wakanda).
The former is usually just bad writing, but the latter can often sneak by unnoticed. There are plenty of examples of culture changing without the influences of colonization. Women wearing pants in the West was rare city years ago and unheard of a few hundred ago. Thailand was never colonized and yet their culture is very different(aesthetically and generally) from their pre-modern ancestors.
Maybe that’s just a pet peeve but it is a sign of unrealistic world building and I find it very reductive of African people to unintentionally imply that they’re culture is somehow more stagnant than every other.
Okorafor was on a red carpet with GRRM who is working with her when he was asked by a journalist what hhe was working on, George tried to introduce her and talk about their project.. The jurno plomptly reoriented the convo to WoW/DoS absolutely dismissing her! Smh
To-read list is now greatly increased.
This was a fantastic introduction to a topic a lot ofpeople are only just now starting to learn about!
This is pretty awesome. Thank you for showing me this exists. Gonna go look up some afrofuturism stuff!
🙌🙌🙌
Subbed
A concise background on one of my favorite subjects of recent years. Thanks for creating this, great job PBS!
Thank you so much for this episode!!! 🙌🏿
Nice
I really wanna explore afro-futurism in my own work
I ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜 your seires it's lit
Excellent video. I was unfamiliar with the genre. You explored ideas and concerns that I was not aware of from a perspective I’m not familiar with, and I loved it. More of this please!
We read Binti as well as a few other afrofuturism works in one of my higher level college courses but I feel like the context and discussion around them was brushed aside a little in an effort of just making sure we read more content. This video reminded me of some of the things I wanted to explore, so thank you.
Thank you! I've been a little vague on what Afrofuturism means and what falls into it and what doesn't. This was the perfect resource.
Such a great video!! Love this series!
I love this!
Princess Weekes is a brilliant commentator where one senses her in depth literary background. Look forward to more videos filled with her amazing insights.
Just found this channel and I love it. Very informative and entertaining! ❤
Great review! I have been getting into reading afro scifi books this last year. Now I have more authors to put on my book list. Thx!
This is cool!
This episode's copy was very well written 🔥
Thank you for such a great video! :) . I just went and bought six of these books. Would be great to have a reading list in the description, I had to pause the video lots of times to catch them.
Nice job. I really liked the mention of Octavia Butler, and it is good to hear she is getting the recognition now that she deserves. One of my favorite authors is actually Nalo Hopkinson, especially her novel "Midnight Robber."
About the Jetsons, it’s weird to think about how scifi writers so often show possible futures with crazy advances in technology but rarely show advances in social norms, like gender roles or race relations. So much scifi of the past has the same white cast, same family unit values, same strict masculine men, feminine women roles even tho this isn’t realistic to what the future will be like at all
I really recommend the books from Ursula Le Guin, specially "The Left Hand of Darkness" and "The Dispossessed", both science fiction books, the former's main theme is gender roles and how they shape our perception of the world and our social relations, and the latter's main theme is about an utopian society and how life in there would be vs a capitalist society kina like the one we have now. I didn't know the author until last year, and just finished reading these two books, and her stories are so unique that she already became one of my favourite scifi authors.
I thought about the Jetsons statement in the episode and realised it's a bad example because Hanna Barbera just transposed what worked in the Flintstones and stuck in the future. Then sucked out all the characterisation and play on expectations - how would a prehistoric vacuum cleaner work. A lot of that show is underwritten. A lack of social discussion or world building is hardly surprising.
It is disappointing that much of the mainstream science fiction (movies and TV) do not reflect the reality of the society we live in today. You will get one or two ethnic minorities (considering that in a few years we will have no ethnic majority I'll be happy to see that term bite the dust.), and maybe one LBTQ character. I live in a small Southern town, hardly a bustling cultural metropolis, and a walk down the street would provide greater cultural, sexual, and racial diversity. Well... it would if everyone wasn't inside trying to avoid the plague.
Yeah I agree; Judy is depicted as a "boy-crazy" teenage girl and Jane as a dutiful housewife. I noticed that there were no people that look like me.
This is very informative! Thank you!
Fascinating. I'll have to check out some of those books.
The other issue with Atwood's work is that everything that happens in the novel to its ...characters happened historically in real life throughout history to BIPOC. All of whom were erased from the novel. 😬😬😬😬😬
PBS always coming through with the knowledge
Love the shirt! And Janelle! And the video!
Please could you list the music you use in these? I want a copy of most of what you've used :3
This was incredibly educational!
I loved this ONE HOST video. Better rhythm, better flow, and racially appropriate to the theme.
I'm so glad this comment section is filled with positive comments and great discussions!
As a writer, this has taught me to open my eyes to way cooler sci-fi concepts. I have a lot of reading to do.
Really interesting! Thanks!
I'm more into fantasy then sc-fi but i love Octavia Butler her books are so good. I also plan to read "Binti" and "An unkindness of ghosts" it sounds pretty amazing ngl.
Oh my God, I love your channel!
Hey guys, really interesting video! That definitely inspired me to dig into this genre that I knew nothing about.
But for the future, could you maybe put a list of all the authors and books into the description? Would make researching them a bit easier :)
Thanks for this, looking forward to getting into some new (to me) authors!
I love the Binti novellas. I recommend buying the collected edition, as it has an additional novella. They really blew my mind.
Some really good books mentioned there. Which makes me happy. So this makes me happy. Yay happy 💚
Thanks for this. Very informative. I've added Du Bois to my reading list.
Besides, afrofuturism sounds so cool
People somehow missing that It's Lit got folded in two videos ago like -
Interesting video. Thank you.
Definitely something I need to read more books on.
When you mentioned The Hunger Games as "having no place for black bodies" I was surprised. Since, at least in the films, there were three characters that were black: Rue, Thresh and Cinna. And from further research online, I didn't find anyone discussing The Hunger Games as leaving out people. I found quotes from Suzanne that she told people Rue had to be played by an African-American. I wonder why, then, you put The Hunger Games as a bad example?
I know you probably meant no harm by this comment but having three black characters is not a sign of having a place for black people. The hunger games tackled a lot of relevant social issues such as classism but very rarely mentions race explicitly. I will concede in the book there is some allusion to race and the plight of black people in the story but overall black people are not centered or given depth in the world. When rue is introduced she is quickly killed off, she has one or two pages to explain her reality and then she is used as a catalyst for katniss actions. The other black characters you mention are given no depth outside of the roles they play in katniss story and inspiration they give to her. This becomes even worse in the movies where any mention of race is taken away. I understand how to some people this might seem like diversity but what it actually is a version of tokenism.
Awesome vid!
That Janelle Monae ref!!!
As a African American male who loves Sci-Fi, rather it deals with the past, present or future, i use to wonder where are all the "black" people or POC if you will. Sure on Star Trek the first one, you had LT Ohura, and maybe a minor bit player every now and then, but that was about it. I would wonder, where are the African mythology movies, the African heroes, the African space Captains, and why when dealing with Alien races, they are always either "white" blue, green, and every other color except "Black"? I never understood this and even now, with Netflix, they really dont do it either, why is that?