Podcasts about afrofuturist

The American-Canadian borderlands hold a special significance in Black history that few of us fully understand. In this illuminating conversation with Dr. Dan J. Broyld, author of "Borderland Blacks," we explore how Rochester, NY and St. Catharines, Ontario became pivotal centers of Black freedom, entrepreneurship, and transnational identity during the final years of slavery.Dr. Broyld offers fascinating geographic insights into why Rochester—rather than closer border cities like Buffalo—became the optimal Underground Railroad hub. Just far enough from the border to avoid the concentration of slave catchers but close enough to facilitate escape, Rochester's position combined with its strong abolitionist culture created the perfect conditions for Black liberation work. Frederick Douglass's strategic 25-year residence there, where he established his newspaper North Star, exemplifies how Black leaders utilized borderland spaces to maximize their freedom and impact.The conversation takes an illuminating turn when Dr. Broyld reframes historical figures through a contemporary lens. Harriet Tubman emerges not just as a freedom fighter but as remarkably modern—"global, green, and gender aware." Her seven years in St. Catharines, her expert navigation of natural landscapes, and her strategic decision to seek freedom under "the Queen's soil" rather than "Uncle Sam's land" reveal a sophisticated understanding of international politics and environmental knowledge that resonates with today's concerns.Perhaps most compelling are the stories of borderland entrepreneurs like John W. Lindsay and Austin Stewart, who built significant wealth and community resources despite beginning with nothing. Their ability to create grocery stores, blacksmithing businesses, and other enterprises challenges simplistic narratives about Black economic development post-slavery. The transnational character of these communities—celebrating August 1st (British Emancipation Day) more enthusiastically than July 4th and using cutting-edge technology like suspension bridges—reveals how borderland Blacks were, in many ways, ahead of their time.Discover how these historical Black communities embodied Afrofuturist principles before the term existed, utilizing the most advanced technology of their era and creating transnational networks that transcended national boundaries. Their story continues to resonate today, reminding us that movement itself can be liberation, and that Black identity has always been global in scope and vision.Support the showhttps://www.patreon.com/c/EA_BookClub

Curator Sukanya Rajaratnam and biographer Jon Ott weld together African American culture and 20th century Western/European modernism, through Richard Hunt's 1956 sculpture, Hero's Head.Born on the South Side of Chicago, sculptor Richard Hunt (1935-2023) was immersed in the city's culture, politics, and architecture. At the major exhibition, Sculpture of the Twentieth Century, which travelled from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York in 1953, he engaged with the works of artists Julio González, Pablo Picasso, and Constantin Brâncuși - encounters with Western/European modernism, that ‘catalysed' his use of metal, as the medium of his time and place.Hero's Head (1956), one of Richard's earliest mature works, was the first among many artistic responses dedicated to the legacy of Emmett Till. The previous year, Hunt joined over 100,000 mourners in attendance of the open-casket visitation of Till, a 14-year-old African American boy whose brutal lynching in Mississippi marked a seismic moment in national history. Modestly scaled to the dimensions of a human head, and delicately resting on a stainless-steel plinth, the welded steel sculpture preserves the image of Till's mutilated face. Composed of scrap metal parts, with dapples of burnished gold, it reflects the artist's use of found objects, and interest in ancient Greek and Roman mythology, which characterise his later works.With the first major European exhibition, and posthumous retrospective, of Richard's work at White Cube in London, curators Sukanya Rajaratnam and Jon Ott delve into the artist's prolific career. We critically discuss their diasporic engagement with cultural heritage; Richard collected over one thousand works of 'African art', referenced in sculptures like Dogonese (1985), and soon travelled to the continent for exhibitions like 10 Negro Artists from the US in Dakar, Senegal (1965). Jon details the reception of Richard's work, and engagement with the natural environment, connecting the ‘red soil' of Africa to agricultural plantations worked by Black slaves in southern America. We look at their work in a concurrent group exhibition at the Centre Pompidou, which retraces the presence and influence of Black artists in Paris, and considers the city as a ‘mobile site', highlighting the back-and-forth exchanges between artists, media, and movements like abstract expressionism. Shared forms are found in the works of French painters, Wangechi Mutu's Afrofuturist bronzes, and Richard's contemporaries practicing in France, Spain, Italy, and England.Plus, LeRonn P. Brooks, Curator at the Getty Research Institute, details Richard's ongoing legacies in public sculpture, and commemorations of those central to the Civil Rights Movement, including Martin Luther King Jr., Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Mary McLeod Bethune, Hobart Taylor Jr., and Jesse Owens.Richard Hunt: Metamorphosis is at White Cube Bermondsey in London until 29 June 2025.Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950 – 2000 is at the Centre Pompidou in Paris until 30 June 2025.Listen to Sylvia Snowden at White Cube Paris, in the EMPIRE LINES episode on M Street (1978-1997).Hear more about Wangechi Mutu's This second dreamer (2017), with Ekow Eshun, curator of the touring exhibition, The Time is Always Now (2024).For more about Dogonese and ‘African masks' from Mali, listen to ⁠Manthia Diawara⁠, co-curator of The Trembling Museum at the Hunterian in Glasgow, part of ⁠PEACE FREQUENCIES 2023⁠.For more about ‘Negro Arts' exhibitions in Dakar, Senegal, read about Barbara Chase-Riboud: Infinite Folds at the Serpentine in London.For more about Black Southern Assemblage, hear Raina Lampkins-Felder, curator at the Souls Grown Deep Foundation and Royal Academy in London, on the Quiltmakers of Gee's Bend (20th Century-Now).

Nikta’s research for my dissertation, titled “Queer Remembering: Fractured Memory and Haunted Futures in Contemporary Novels of the Black Diaspora,” focuses on the contemporary re-imagining of archiving Black pasts and futures in Afrofuturist, diasporic, fantasy novels. The authors and texts that I examine refuse the fluidity of time and truth, opting for fantastical representations of space and history. These alternative representations range from ghosts and possessions, to imagining a dystopic life in space. I call these alternative modes of memory, imagination, and geography queer re-membering in the Black diaspora. For upcoming interviews check out the Grad Chat webpage on Queen’s University School of Graduate Studies & Postdoctoral Affairs website.

When you feel the future, how do you share that feeling in order to build community? Over the past quarter-century, Best — first as an actor, musician, and performer, and later as an Afrofuturist scholar and lecturer — has worked to answer that question. Drawing on his experiences as a cast member on the award-winning percussion performance Stomp, as Jar-Jar Binks, the ground-breaking first major CGI character actor in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, and as a lecturer at the Stanford d.school and one of the leaders of the AfroRithms Futures Group. By bringing people together through electrifying performance and thought-provoking conversation, Best's work has been able to make the future not just an abstract, intellectual consideration but something that can be felt in collective experience. The core of Ahmed's argument? Feeling is a form of communication in itself, beyond words — and only by taking action and sharing our feelings of the future with each other in our communities can we create the futures we want for ourselves. Using a diverse range of creative and imaginative tactics, Best incorporates play and motion in order to help audiences Feel The Future. In his Long Now Talk, Best is joined on stage in conversation with Long Now Board Member Lisa Kay Solomon. As a Futurist in Residence at the Stanford d.school, Solomon teaches classes like “Inventing the future” and “View from the future,” to help leaders and learners learn skills to anticipate and adapt to increasingly complex futures. Lisa recently joined the board of the Long Now Foundation, and is passionate about helping infusing futures thinking and practices into both classrooms and board rooms. This talk was presented February 14, 02025 at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. Episode notes: https://longnow.org/ideas/feel-the-future/

In 1992 Bill Duke teamed up with Laurence Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum to create one of the best film noirs ever made and a masterpiece of Black cinema. Walter Greason and Tim Fielder join in to talk about it, the rise of hip hop, and the early 90s. About our guests:A native of Mississippi, Tim Fielder is an illustrator, cartoonist, animator and OG Afrofuturist. He is the founder of Dieselfunk Studios, an intermedia storytelling company, and is an educator for institutions such as the New York Film Academy and Howard University. Tim has served clients such as Marvel, Tri-Star Pictures, Ubisoft Entertainment, and the Village Voice, and is known for his TEDx Talk on Afrofuturism. He won the prestigious 2018 Glyph Award, and his work has been showcased in the Hammonds House Museum, Exit Art and NYU Gallatin Gallery. He attended Jackson State University, School of Visual Arts, and New York University. He lives in New York City.Walter Greason teaches American and world history, using media ecology, economics, and African diaspora studies. His areas of research include urban planning, Afrofuturism, and multimedia user experience design. He is an author, editor, and contributor to more than twenty books, mostly notably the award-winning books Suburban Erasure and The Black Reparations Project.  His work on the Timothy Thomas Fortune Cultural Center has garnered international acclaim for the innovative use of digital technology, leading to multiple urban revitalization projects in Minnesota, Florida, New Jersey, and Louisiana. He has written for or appeared as the feature guest on media outlets ranging from the Washington Post, USA Today, the Canadian Broadcast Channel, the Philadelphia Daily News, the Huffington Post, National Public Radio, Historians at the Movies, the New York Times Read Along, WURD Philadelphia, and Today with Dr. Kaye (WEEA, Baltimore). He was a Future Faculty Fellow at Temple University where he completed his Ph.D. in History and a Presidential Scholar at Villanova University where he studied History, English, Philosophy, Peace and Justice Studies, and Africana Studies. His most recent project, The Graphic History of Hip Hop, with Afrofuturist illustrator Tim Fielder, has been featured at the United Nations, the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum for African American History and Culture, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Schomburg Center in the New York Public Library system, and San Diego Comic-Con in 2024.

Explore the magic monuments of Black Rock City 2025.Katie Hazard, Director of Art, leads the selection, placement, and installation of artwork,  and she leads Burning Man's art grant selection committees. The ARTery is in the center of Black Rock City, slightly offset like the human heart. It's the epicenter of art support for nearly 400 art pieces, from towering sculptures to immersive environments.Before these art projects are sourced, crafted, and assembled with everything from hot glue to heavy equipment, they are first conceptualized by artists and engineers. Burning Man's Honoraria project grants 76 of these art projects about half of the funding they need, a total of $1.3 million.  Katie and Stuart explore how to foster accessibility and agency in artist groups. They describe some of the installations coming this summer, from interactive Sphinxes to a sphere of sinks, from a lost troll of sustainability to a fire-spinning pigeon. Some of the experiences include:an inflatable black cloud from Ukrainean Indigenous deer destined for ceremonial landan Afrofuturist pillar with an ancient modern secreta screaming booth that displays visual reactions to sounda woman with a merry-go-round crown, jump rope dreadlocks, and swing earringsListen in on this sonic journey of how Burner art is co-created and curated, and how BRC's surreal skyline is taking shape.Introducing 2025 BRC Honoraria Art (Burning Man Journal)Black Rock City Honoraria ProgramARTery (Art Services)The ARTery Volunteer TeamsKatie Hazard (Burning Man Journal)2025 Art Theme: Tomorrow TodayBurning Man Art Installation Archive LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Octavia E. Butler was a groundbreaking science fiction writer who defied genre conventions and societal expectations to become one of the most influential voices in speculative fiction. From her early struggles with dyslexia to her journey as a self-taught writer crafting Afrofuturist masterpieces, Octavia's work explored themes of power, race, gender, and survival in ways that continue to resonate today. We'll explore her iconic works like Kindred, Parable of the Sower, and Dawn, and discuss how her prescient storytelling still shapes the way we think about the future. Plus, we'll talk about how her predictions of the future in Parable of the Sower have become reality in 2025.  Follow us on IG: @homance_chronicles Connect with us: linktr.ee/homance Send us a Hoe of History request: homancepodcast@gmail.com

For episode 10, Layman sits down again with Ēlen Awalom, this time to talk about unhealthy and healthy gender models, and the roles of attachment, trauma, and development in contemporary gender relations. Ēlen Awalom is an Eritrean-American Somatic Experiencing practitioner, writer, entrepreneur and cultural commentator. She lives and works in DC where she is the founder of The Almaz Institute, an organization that provides trauma-sensitive leadership and communication trainings steeped in the most cutting edge insights from developmental and somatic psychology. In a previous life she was an exhibiting Afrofuturist visual artist, women's dating coach focused on developing securely attached relationships, political activist and serial tech entrepreneur who successfully raised millions of dollars from Google Ventures. Ēlen's Professional website https://www.elenawalom.com/

The black-eyed pea is not your average bean. Like many staple foods of the African Diaspora, it's become a powerful symbol of food sovereignty and survival. With the migration of the black-eyed pea from West Africa during the transatlantic slave trade came a superstition about good luck. This belief combines folklore from West Africa and Western Europe in the American South. Our episode follows the journey of the black-eyed pea, time traveling through the folklore of the past and an Afrofuturist vision of what's still to come. This episode was reported and produced by Sarah Holtz. Special thanks go to: Michael Twitty Adrian Miller B. Brian Foster Ira Wallace Music by: "Neuanfang" by Kielicaster "Shangri La" by Kielicaster "Dusty" by Crowander "Clay Pawn Shop" by Blue Dot Sessions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I'm a jazz musician first, I feel,” says Bilal. Maybe this comes as news to the many admirers who know him as an ethereal singer with a shape-shifting R&B profile, or as one of the original catalysts for neo-soul. On a compelling new album, Adjust Brightness — his first studio release in almost a decade — Bilal explores a galactic sweep of sound, making genre distinctions feel all the more irrelevant to any conversation. But we had plenty to talk about during a spirited interview backstage at World Cafe Live, before Bilal's homecoming album-release show. “I grew up with my heroes being Miles Davis, or Jimi Hendrix, or Sun Ra,” he attests, aligning himself with a legacy of Afrofuturist improvisers. We put him there too, and this episode explains why.Support WRTI: https://bit.ly/2yAkaJsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Danez Smith's poetry is so many things, a poetry of resistance, of elegy, of joy, of care, of repair. Their poetry is Afrofuturist and Afropessimist. It's nature poetry, decolonial poetry, queer poetry, a poetry that is archival and documentary. And it is also a poetry that questions poetry itself and even more so, questions the […] The post Danez Smith : Bluff appeared first on Tin House.

Rone Shavers joins Jared for our annual application episode to discuss the differences between MFA and PhD applications and programs. Rone and Jared talk about how to choose the right program, put together the best application, and get the most out of your time in a program. Before that, they discuss Rone's “funky” novel Silverfish and how getting over the pressure of making a commercially viable book allowed him to write the book he wanted to write. Rone Shavers is the director of the creative writing program at The University of Utah, which offers both an MFA and a PhD in creative writing. Rone is the author of the experimental Afrofuturist novel Silverfish from Clash Books, a finalist for the 2021 Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP) Firecracker Award in Fiction and one of The Brooklyn Rail's “Best Books of 2020.” He is also fiction and hybrid genre editor at the award-winning journal, Obsidian: Literature and Arts in the African Diaspora. Find him at roneshavers.com. MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack and Hanamori Skoblow. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers at MFAwriters.com. BE PART OF THE SHOW — Donate to the show at Buy Me a Coffee. — Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. — Submit an episode request. If there's a program you'd like to learn more about, contact us and we'll do our very best to find a guest who can speak to their experience. — Apply to be a guest on the show by filling out our application. STAY CONNECTED Twitter: @MFAwriterspod Instagram: @MFAwriterspodcast Facebook: MFA Writers Email: mfawriterspodcast@gmail.com

Restoring Trust: Healing the Wounds of the Past | Amaha Sellassie Healing With Angelica Podcast With Guest Amaha Sellassie Episode: 110In understanding our past, we find the strength to rebuild trust for the future and HEAL Join us as we explore the power of healing the hair. We'll discuss:- Historical trauma, and how we can heal from it.- The impact of unity for our salvation- How we can foster healing as individual and communityGuest Information:Amaha Sellassie is an Afrofuturist, peace builder, and social healer. He serves as a Nation Builder in the Africana Village and is an Associate Professor at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio. A practitioner scholar and participatory action researcher, he focuses on building trust, healing historical wounds, and promoting equity in health and education.As former chair of the Dayton Human Relations Council, he advocates for marginalized voices in public policy. Amaha co-founded the Gem City Market, addressing food access issues in West Dayton, and CO-OP Dayton, a coop incubator for a just economy. His work earned him the J.M. Kaplan Foundation's National Innovation Prize Fellowship.Internationally, he is a Caux Scholar Fellow trained in peacebuilding and has contributed to community health initiatives in Ethiopia. Currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of Cincinnati, he studies community-based participatory action research for health equity. In his downtime, Amaha enjoys nature, family, and reading at HeArt Dayton.Support this platform with a small donation to help sustain future episodes!DONATE|CONTRIBUTION Cash App :$healingwithangelicaZell: healwithangelica@yahoo.comVenmo: @healingwithangelica

Former poet laureate of Belfast, Maine, Afrofuturist poet and bass clarinetist Toussaint St. Negritude. He dazzles with his debut collection, Mountain Spells an ensemble of cosmic tones featuring poems the late Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks once called "full of sweet sounds and surprises." This is his poem,  "For All The World To See." enjoy.

Lollise is a musician, fashion designer, and visual artist from Botwana in southern Africa, now based here in New York. After many years of recording and touring with Underground System and the FELA! band, Lollise steps forward with her own bold Afro-futurist pop, rich with layers of kinetic, danceable percussion and gentle waves of ambient noise. Drawing on Setswana folk song, the sounds of nature, and infectious dance beats, she plays some of the hybrid songs from her debut LP, I Hit The Water, in-studio. Set list: 1. Semang Mang 2. eDube 3. Mme Mma Ndi

Neptune Frost is an Afrofuturist fever dream, replete with otherworldly poetry, song, color, drums, wise birds, wheel men, mystical hackers, dancing miners, and a technological/earthly joy. And we're so glad we watched it.

Today, cohost Alex Simmons and Chris Ryan talk with renowned visual Afrofuturist and graphic novelist Tim Fielder and the distinguished author, historian, and economist Walter Greason. Together, they explore the fascinating process behind creating their 92-page graphic novel, The Graphic History of Hip Hop.   Celebrating its 50th anniversary, this ambitious project captures the essence and evolution of the genre from its roots in the Civil Rights Movement to its global impact today.  Learn about Tim and Walter's unique collaboration and the challenges they faced in attempting to include the vast number of artists involved in the music and the movement. Graphic History of Hip Hop web site Have any questions or comments? Then please leave them in the Comments Section. Write: TTDSOnAir@gmail.com And follow us on ... ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Tell The Damn Story⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ www.Facebook.com/Tell The Damn Story⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Youtube.com/ Tell The Damn Story⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ If you're enjoying these episodes, take a moment to help wet our whistle and just... ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Buy Me A Coffee⁠⁠⁠⁠!⁠⁠

When you think about Afrofuturism, what pops into your head? Is it the sci-fi novels of writers Ocatvia Butler, Samuel Delany, or N.K. Jemisin? Or perhaps you've tuned in more recently to the representation of Afrofuturism on the big screen in movies like Black Panther. What about quilting? A new exhibit at Michigan State University showcases the Black artists using fabric and Afrofuturist themes to create unique works of art. On this episode, we'll hear from one of the curators about how these quilts envision a Black future while paying homage to its rich history.  GUEST:  Liv Furman, post-doctoral scholar in the Department of African American and African Studies at Michigan State University Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way. If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episide, we sit down with Camara Rajabari, The Ancestral Psychotherapist. We speak out how she came into this space with personal and professional experience, how and why ancestral work can facilitate healing, and how psychedelics can be used to overcome physical and emotional conditions. Camara Meri Rajabari, is an arts-based, psychedelic-assisted, ancestral psychotherapist based in Oakland, California (ancestral lands of the Chochenyo and Ohlone peoples) and Santa Fe, New Mexico (ancestral lands of the Pueblo and Tiwa people). Her practice specializes in anxiety, depression, and intergenerational trauma. She integrates non-ordinary states of consciousness with ancestral wisdom, ancient archetypes, dreams and imagination. She is the co-author of the pivotal chapter "Invoking the Numinous” in the psychedelic textbook Integral Psychedelic Therapy and is a featured voice on NPR's Life Kit. Beyond therapy, Camara is a spiritualist, AfroFuturist, and artist. From the Bay Area to the sacred lands of New Mexico, she facilitates paths of healing and ancestral connection for Black, Indigenous and People of Color. Connect with her on Instagram or find her online. Disclaimer:  This and all episides are for informational, entertainment, and/or educational purposes only and should not be relied upon for any medical or diagnostic purpose, or for the treatment of any condition or symptom. Please do your own research into substance use laws in your area. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beyondthepelvis/message

Ruth E. Carter spoke with WHRO about her Afrofuturist inspiration and how Hampton and Williamsburg influenced her career in costume design.

In our latest episode, we backtrack to our 2022 conversation with a very special guest: film director David Kirkman. David returns to discuss his latest exciting project, his feature film UNDERNEATH: CHILDREN OF THE SUN - an afrofuturist epic!Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts or Amazon Music.To subscribe to the newsletter, explore the podcast archive, support the podcast, and more, visit EYE ON SCI-FI Link Tree. EPISODE LINKS:Official web site for UNDERNEATH: CHILDREN OF THE SUN: https://www.underneathmovie.com/ Check out our first chat with David regarding his hit viral short STATIC SHOCK (based on the Milestone Comics superhero by the same name).

A Happy Monday From YOUR KC Morning Show AND HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!On the show today, Fox 4 & KCMS Film Critic Shawn Edwards is back to chat about the 2nd Annual Juneteenth Film Festival in KC at Screenland Armour Theater in North Kansas City! LINKS: Get Tickets: screenland.comA Good Day To Be A Kansas Citian. Alwaysxoxo - Hartzell965, @holeyhearts, @kcmorningshow******THE JUNETEENTH FILM FESTIVAL RETURNS TO KANSAS CITY FOR A SECOND YEARFESTIVAL TO HIGHLIGHT LOCAL BLACK FILMMAKERS INCLUDING OSCAR WINNER KEVIN WILLMOTTThe 2nd annual Juneteenth Film Festival returns to Kansas City on Wednesday, June 4th. This year's festival will primarily feature films written, directed and produced by Kansas Citians including Oscar-winning filmmaker Kevin Willmott. All films will be screened at the Screenland Armour Theater in North Kansas City. Curated by award-winning Fox 4 News film critic Shawn Edwards, the 2nd annual Juneteenth Film Festival will showcase feature films, documentaries and shorts. “As we celebrate Juneteenth, one of the most important days in African American history, I felt it was important that we include groundbreaking cinema that embodies the spirit of the holiday,” said Edwards. “Kansas City has one of the longest running Juneteenth celebrations in the country. Now we have the only film festival in the country that honors the holiday by celebrating Black filmmaking.”This year's film festival is sponsored by the Black Movie Hall of Fame, Celebration of Black Cinema and Television, Wilson's Industries LLC, House of Kush and the Kansas City Film Office.FESTIVAL SCHEDULETuesday, June 4th: Black Filmmakers Happy Hour hosted by Film KC (Screenland Armour) 5:00PMTuesday, June 4th: Film KC presents “Underneath: Children of the Sun” Directed by David Kirkman (Screenland Armour) 7:00PMWednesday, June 5th: “The Pistol” Directed by Paul and Kenneth Rayford (Screenland Armour) 6:30PM and 8:30PMSunday, June 9th: Party Event “We Hanging with Clarence” Hosted by rapper Roblo da Star (The Velvet Freeze Daiquiris/Smaxx) 7:00PMWednesday, June 12th: “Kansas City Dreamin'” Directed by Diallo Javonne French (Screenland Armour) 6:30PMWednesday, June 12th: “What's N Kansas City?” Directed by Skiem Heim (Screenland Armour) 8:30PMWednesday, June 19th: “Binding Us Together” Directed by Kevin Willmott (Screenland Armour) 6:30PM and 8:30PMWednesday, June 26th “Drout 2” Directed by Isiah King (Screenland Armour) 6:30PM*The short film “BF” directed by Jamie Addison will screen before each feature every night of the festival. MEDIA CLIPSTHE VOICE: Film Festival & Hip-Hop Forum Kick Off JuneteenthKC Early - The Community Voice (communityvoiceks.com)KCUR: JuneteenthKC kicks off this year's celebrations with a film festival featuring Black directors | KCUR - Kansas City news and NPRKANSAS CITY FILM OFFICE: KC Film Spotlight: Shawn Edwards - Kansas City Film Office (kcfilmoffice.com)FILM SYNOPSISBINDING US TOGETHERA heartfelt, inspiring narrative that is inextricably linked to the nation's past and present, civil rights activist and public servant Alvin Brooks shares engaging, funny, and tragic stories of his life and career of advocacy in Kansas City.DROUT 2The sequel to the highly successful underground hit “Drout.” After King is released from prison he encounters a tragic event. The results of which start a revengeful war on the streets of Kansas City as he continues his struggles with the law while trying to finally get out of the game.KANSAS CITY DREAMIN'Kansas City Dreamin' is a documentary about the African American music history of the city. It features interviews with Melissa Etheridge, Tech N9ne, Bobby Watson, Oleta Adams, Lonnie McFadden, Oscar winner Kevin Willmont, and many more. With segments on Charlie Parker, Count Basie, Janelle Monae, Big Joe Turner, and other Kansas City natives. The film celebrates Kansas City's contribution to American music.THE PISTOL“The Pistol" is a gripping documentary that delves into the real-life accounts of notorious gangster Kenneth Rayford. Directed by Paul Rayford, the film details the exploits of Kenneth Rayford from his time as a youth growing up on the mean streets of Kansas City, Missouri up to adulthood when he ran the streets of Kansas City. Through interviews with Kenneth himself, his accomplices and actual news footage the documentary reveals the life of a real-underworld crime figure. “The Pistol" paints a compelling portrait of a man who literally dedicated his entire life to the criminal underworld, maintained a solid reputation and actually lived to talk about it.WHAT'S N' KANSAS CITY?Skiem Heim, Kansas City's official street journalist, takes you on a guided tour of the places at the heart of Kansas City's Black culture.UNDERNEATH: CHILDREN OF THE SUNThis mind-bending Afrofuturist story embarks on a breathtaking journey of galactic politics, heritage, and destiny. In 1857, a slave in Little Dixie, Missouri is thrust into an intergalactic crises after helping an alien from a crashed spaceship. An ultra-powerful alien artifact passes through generations of bloody fingers and inheritors here on Earth, including the present, and ultimately leads to an epic battle for control. "Underneath: Children of the Sun" is St. Louis filmmaker David Kirkman's feature film debut.UNDERNEATH: CHILDREN OF THE SUN TRAILER:https://youtu.be/LNY8B7qC2CI?si=TWHqoSLjWNTxlh4aKEVIN WILLMOTT BIOKevin Willmott is a professor of film at the University of Kansas and a film writer and director. He is known for work focusing on black issues including writing and directing “Ninth Street,” “C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America” and “Bunker Hill.” His film “The Only Good Indian,” which he directed and produced, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009. In 2013, Willmott's films “Destination: Planet Negro!” and “Jayhawkers” were both released. He also served as a writer on Spike Lee's film “Chi-Raq” and as a screenwriter on Lee's film “BlacKkKlansman” which won an Oscar and BAFTA for best adapted screenplay in 2019.

We talk to scholar, community organizer, and activist Scott Emerson about the Future of Masculinity. Alongside a discussion of Octavia Butler's Afrofuturist classic Parable of the Sower (1993), Emerson discusses his theory of revolutionary masculinity -- a theory which lays the groundwork for moving beyond critiques of toxic masculinity and begins to imagine the possibilities for masculinities that revolve around flexibility, adaptability, and around using privilege to fight for radical change.This episode is part of an ongoing series titled THE FUTURE OF…, where we chat with experts in various sectors to learn about what they are doing to shift the critical now for a radical new future.Links:Episode WebpageThe Justice Fleet

LA PETITE MORT: SISTA ZAI ZANDA IS GOING TO DIEEvery second week on MHIGTD we explore a conversation about mortality and survival with human beings who have skin in the game. And today we're asking the question: what does African philosophy teach us about the eternal nature of life? Sista Zai Zanda (Sista Zai/VaChihera) is an Afrofuturist, Poet and Womanist. Sista Zai was born in Harare, Zimbabwe and raised in a large extended family. VaChihera is from the Karanga language group and now lives as a Black African settler on Kulin Nations.Amongst career highlights, VaChihera is a 2019 recipient of the Neilma Sidney Travel Fund and a recipient of a Melbourne Strategic Scholarship for a PhD in Afrofuturism at the University Of Melbourne. One of her favourite Afrofuturistic philosophies is the ancient belief that no one and nothing dies, we just change form and, sometimes, reincarnate.Please follow Pan Afrikan Poets Café on Instagram, @papoets. Something delicious is slowly and intentionally brewing at the home of the Afroliterati.Sista Zai (IG @SistaZai)Marieke Hardy Is Going To Die is a podcast made by Marieke Hardy (IG @marieke_hardy).You can follow at IG @GoingToDiePodMusic by Lord Fascinator (IG @lordfascinator)Produced by Darren Scarce (IG @Dazz26)Video edits by Andy Nedelkovski (IG @AndyNeds)Artwork by Lauren Egan (IG @heylaurenegan)Photography by Eamon Leggett (IG @anxietyoptions)With thanks to Amelia Chappelow (IG @ameliachappelow)Camilla McKewen (IG @CamillaLucyLucy)and Rhys Graham (IG @RhysJGraham)Support the show via www.patreon.com/mariekehardy and drop an email to mariekehardyisgoingtodie@gmail.comWhilst acknowledging the privilege that comes with having the space to discuss death and mortality, we want to also recognise that discussing these topics can raise some  wounds. Should you wish to seek extra support, please consider the following resources:https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/online-grief-support-groupshttps://www.grief.org.au/ga/ga/Support/Support_Groups.aspxhttps://www.headspace.com/meditation/griefhttps://www.mindful.org/a-10-minute-guided-meditation-for-working-with-grief/https://griefline.org.au/get-help/ ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Tonight, songs from American singer-songwriter Zsela, a new Afrofuturist album from Moor Mother, and Estonian experimental musician Lolina.

In this Aries Season conversation episode, Renee Sills is joined by Ramon Gabrieloff Parish for a conversation that anchors in astrology and expands into the past and future of social, political and cultural imagination. Ramon is a lifelong star gazer, Afrofuturist philosopher, practicing astrologer, social artist and creative ceremonialist. This is his fourth year teaching with Embodied Astrology.

Jonathan welcomes Doni, the creative force behind The Aperios World Project, to talk about Afrofuturism and its depiction in the modern media landscape. For more of Jonathan's work: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/jonathanballcom⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/jonathanballcom/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.strangerfiction.ca/⁠⁠⁠⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/strangerfiction/message

Afrofuturism is a cultural movement that explores the possibilities of Black futures and pasts and presents through art, literature, music, film and pop culture. And a lot of Afrofuturism has a lot of space in it. Today we're talking about Afrofuturist space and Afronauts and walking through the Afrofuturism exhibit by our friends at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Thanks to our guests in this episode: Dr. Kevin Strait, Curator National Museum of African American History and Culture Tim Fielder, Author and Artists Matty's Rocket Sign up here for the monthly AirSpace newsletter AirSpace is made possible by the generous support of Olay.

On today's episode we are joined by astrologer Imani Harmon to discuss her non-linear time scales for astrology and astrological magic and liberatory thought in the temporal dimension. Imani discusses her work with sending elections backwards in time to ancestors for the purposes of liberation, as well as moving into the future through the greater wheel of time. Imani's Info:IG: @youwomanyou / @blackspeculativeastrologyCheck out her Norwac 2024 talk "Storytelling with Absence and Presence"https://norwac.net/2024-speakers/As always you can find full episodes of the show as well as all sorts of other related content at patreon.com/starnightdwell & starnightdwell.com

Supreme Court to hear a case that could change homeless encampment sweeps. Also, the PPIC discusses retail theft and robbery rates. Finally, Black American folk musician Jake Blount to perform at The Sofia. SCOTUS Homelessness Camping Case Last Friday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case that could change existing restrictions on criminalizing homelessness and sweeping encampments in western states - including California.  CalMatters Homelessness Reporter Marisa Kendall breaks down both the new case and current precedent, and what the high court's ruling could mean for both cities and people who are unhoused across the state. CalMatters is a nonprofit newsroom that is a content sharing partner with public media stations across the state. PPIC on Retail Theft and Robbery Rates in California Since the pandemic, California's crime rate has dominated news headlines– from a reported increase in violent crime, retail theft and robberies in many of the state's largest counties. But when you look at the data, gauging that increase – or whether there is even an increase at all – largely depends on what year you use as a comparison. Overall, although violent crime has trended upward in recent years, it still remains drastically below the peak in the 1990s. And there is a similar caveat with retail thefts and robberies. Shoplifting, commercial burglaries and robberies in California have jumped since 2020. But when you narrow in on the 15 largest counties, some have actually experienced a drop during the same time period. So it's complicated. Magnus Lofstrom is the Policy Director of Criminal Justice as well as a Senior Fellow at the PPIC, and joins us with more about the nuance within crime data. Black American Folk Musician Jake Blount at The Sofia is an Afrofuturist folk musician and ethnomusicology PhD student who is a scholar of Black American folk with a focus on the profound ways African Americans have shaped and defined roots music and Americana. Jake will be performing at The Sofia on Thursday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. You can watch his NPR “Tiny Desk” performance here.  

Faizal Mostrixx, Afrorack, Grove and Kaya Byinshii discuss pop music, musical cultures and the aftermath of live performance.Ugandan producer, dancer and choreographer Faizal Mostrixx was surrounded by music and dancing as a child and began his working life as a professional dancer, before deciding to focus on his other love, sound. After putting out EPs in 2019 and 2022, this year he released his debut full length album Mutations on the Glitterbeat label – an Afrofuturist manifesto from Uganda. Bristol-based producer and vocalist Grove draws on everything from dancehall and dub to hip hop and dance. Their latest album P*W*R PL*Y came out this year. Afrorack is a Ugandan musician who built Africa's first DIY modular synthesizer. Learning electronics and constructing an instrument that would have been impossible to buy in Uganda, he released his debut album in 2022, bringing together the first recordings with his new machine – a wonderful sound melding acid, techno, and African musicality. Born and raised in Rwanda, Kaya Byinshii strongly believes in the spiritual power of music. She released her debut EP Nyabyinshi in 2020 and her first full length album, Ukwiyuburura, in 2022.

Angel Bat Dawid's latest album explores the potential “death” of jazz, providing an Afrofuturist requiem to lay it to rest. Increasingly layered, the Chicago artist's 2023 release also draws parallels to Mozart's last work. In this April 2023 conversation, Angel Bat Dawid joined Reset to talk about her early days learning the clarinet, her goals for teaching Black children and the 1959 documentary that inspired her latest work.

Hip Hop turned 50 this year. It has been five decades since DJ Cool Herc played a party in the Bronx that gave birth to a global cultural revolution. To honor this anniversary and teach this history, the New York City Department of Education has published The Graphic History of Hip Hop. Dr. Walter Greason wrote the text, which is beautifully illustrated by Afrofuturist graphic artist Tim Fielder.  As the first in a series of collaborative graphic novels, The Graphic History of Hip Hop brings together a powerful blend of music, art, and history drawn from over sixty years of research by hundreds of professional historians and other scholars from the humanities and social sciences. The book is designed to engage students as they will see, hear and experience how the world of Hip Hop evolved in response to the rapidly changing political and environments from the 1970s through the 2000s. This work is an essential resource to enhance modern urban and world history curriculums and create a unique and engaging classroom settings for students. This shorter version is free to download as PDF and a longer hardcover version will be published soon. Also see the project website, here.  Michael G. Vann is a professor of world history at California State University, Sacramento. A specialist in imperialism and the Cold War in Southeast Asia, he is the author of The Great Hanoi Rat Hunt: Empires, Disease, and Modernity in French Colonial Vietnam (Oxford University Press, 2018). When he's not reading or talking about new books with smart people, Mike can be found surfing in Santa Cruz, California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Hip Hop turned 50 this year. It has been five decades since DJ Cool Herc played a party in the Bronx that gave birth to a global cultural revolution. To honor this anniversary and teach this history, the New York City Department of Education has published The Graphic History of Hip Hop. Dr. Walter Greason wrote the text, which is beautifully illustrated by Afrofuturist graphic artist Tim Fielder.  As the first in a series of collaborative graphic novels, The Graphic History of Hip Hop brings together a powerful blend of music, art, and history drawn from over sixty years of research by hundreds of professional historians and other scholars from the humanities and social sciences. The book is designed to engage students as they will see, hear and experience how the world of Hip Hop evolved in response to the rapidly changing political and environments from the 1970s through the 2000s. This work is an essential resource to enhance modern urban and world history curriculums and create a unique and engaging classroom settings for students. This shorter version is free to download as PDF and a longer hardcover version will be published soon. Also see the project website, here.  Michael G. Vann is a professor of world history at California State University, Sacramento. A specialist in imperialism and the Cold War in Southeast Asia, he is the author of The Great Hanoi Rat Hunt: Empires, Disease, and Modernity in French Colonial Vietnam (Oxford University Press, 2018). When he's not reading or talking about new books with smart people, Mike can be found surfing in Santa Cruz, California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies

Hip Hop turned 50 this year. It has been five decades since DJ Cool Herc played a party in the Bronx that gave birth to a global cultural revolution. To honor this anniversary and teach this history, the New York City Department of Education has published The Graphic History of Hip Hop. Dr. Walter Greason wrote the text, which is beautifully illustrated by Afrofuturist graphic artist Tim Fielder.  As the first in a series of collaborative graphic novels, The Graphic History of Hip Hop brings together a powerful blend of music, art, and history drawn from over sixty years of research by hundreds of professional historians and other scholars from the humanities and social sciences. The book is designed to engage students as they will see, hear and experience how the world of Hip Hop evolved in response to the rapidly changing political and environments from the 1970s through the 2000s. This work is an essential resource to enhance modern urban and world history curriculums and create a unique and engaging classroom settings for students. This shorter version is free to download as PDF and a longer hardcover version will be published soon. Also see the project website, here.  Michael G. Vann is a professor of world history at California State University, Sacramento. A specialist in imperialism and the Cold War in Southeast Asia, he is the author of The Great Hanoi Rat Hunt: Empires, Disease, and Modernity in French Colonial Vietnam (Oxford University Press, 2018). When he's not reading or talking about new books with smart people, Mike can be found surfing in Santa Cruz, California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Hip Hop turned 50 this year. It has been five decades since DJ Cool Herc played a party in the Bronx that gave birth to a global cultural revolution. To honor this anniversary and teach this history, the New York City Department of Education has published The Graphic History of Hip Hop. Dr. Walter Greason wrote the text, which is beautifully illustrated by Afrofuturist graphic artist Tim Fielder.  As the first in a series of collaborative graphic novels, The Graphic History of Hip Hop brings together a powerful blend of music, art, and history drawn from over sixty years of research by hundreds of professional historians and other scholars from the humanities and social sciences. The book is designed to engage students as they will see, hear and experience how the world of Hip Hop evolved in response to the rapidly changing political and environments from the 1970s through the 2000s. This work is an essential resource to enhance modern urban and world history curriculums and create a unique and engaging classroom settings for students. This shorter version is free to download as PDF and a longer hardcover version will be published soon. Also see the project website, here.  Michael G. Vann is a professor of world history at California State University, Sacramento. A specialist in imperialism and the Cold War in Southeast Asia, he is the author of The Great Hanoi Rat Hunt: Empires, Disease, and Modernity in French Colonial Vietnam (Oxford University Press, 2018). When he's not reading or talking about new books with smart people, Mike can be found surfing in Santa Cruz, California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/performing-arts

Hip Hop turned 50 this year. It has been five decades since DJ Cool Herc played a party in the Bronx that gave birth to a global cultural revolution. To honor this anniversary and teach this history, the New York City Department of Education has published The Graphic History of Hip Hop. Dr. Walter Greason wrote the text, which is beautifully illustrated by Afrofuturist graphic artist Tim Fielder.  As the first in a series of collaborative graphic novels, The Graphic History of Hip Hop brings together a powerful blend of music, art, and history drawn from over sixty years of research by hundreds of professional historians and other scholars from the humanities and social sciences. The book is designed to engage students as they will see, hear and experience how the world of Hip Hop evolved in response to the rapidly changing political and environments from the 1970s through the 2000s. This work is an essential resource to enhance modern urban and world history curriculums and create a unique and engaging classroom settings for students. This shorter version is free to download as PDF and a longer hardcover version will be published soon. Also see the project website, here.  Michael G. Vann is a professor of world history at California State University, Sacramento. A specialist in imperialism and the Cold War in Southeast Asia, he is the author of The Great Hanoi Rat Hunt: Empires, Disease, and Modernity in French Colonial Vietnam (Oxford University Press, 2018). When he's not reading or talking about new books with smart people, Mike can be found surfing in Santa Cruz, California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Hip Hop turned 50 this year. It has been five decades since DJ Cool Herc played a party in the Bronx that gave birth to a global cultural revolution. To honor this anniversary and teach this history, the New York City Department of Education has published The Graphic History of Hip Hop. Dr. Walter Greason wrote the text, which is beautifully illustrated by Afrofuturist graphic artist Tim Fielder.  As the first in a series of collaborative graphic novels, The Graphic History of Hip Hop brings together a powerful blend of music, art, and history drawn from over sixty years of research by hundreds of professional historians and other scholars from the humanities and social sciences. The book is designed to engage students as they will see, hear and experience how the world of Hip Hop evolved in response to the rapidly changing political and environments from the 1970s through the 2000s. This work is an essential resource to enhance modern urban and world history curriculums and create a unique and engaging classroom settings for students. This shorter version is free to download as PDF and a longer hardcover version will be published soon. Also see the project website, here.  Michael G. Vann is a professor of world history at California State University, Sacramento. A specialist in imperialism and the Cold War in Southeast Asia, he is the author of The Great Hanoi Rat Hunt: Empires, Disease, and Modernity in French Colonial Vietnam (Oxford University Press, 2018). When he's not reading or talking about new books with smart people, Mike can be found surfing in Santa Cruz, California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/music

Today, the Cinnamon Cinephile talks to author Denise Crittendon, whose novel Where It Rains in Color was so breathtaking believes it is a film begging for a screenwriter. Ms. Crittenden's book has been described as "a technicolor Afrofuturist fever dream of a book. Set on the planet of Swazembi, a color-rich utopia and famous vacation center of the galaxy, it is also the home of the Rare Indigo - a beauty among beauties - treasured for the perfection of her glorious midnight skin. When the Rare Indigo becomes infected with a debilitating skin disease, a new power awakens in her as they search for a cure. You had the Cinnamon Cinephile at midnight skin! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cinncine/support

Can you imagine a world in which we not only acknowledge the systemic injustices tied to housing and land disparities but actively rectify them? Join us as we engage in a profound conversation with Rasheedah Phillips, Afrofuturist and Director of Housing at PolicyLink to explore spatial reparations -- a transformative approach to rectifying historical wrongs. We journey through local initiatives like those in Evanston, Illinois, demonstrating the possibilities of reparations targeted at specific communities. We also bridge the connection between spatial reparations and movements like the landback movement, emphasizing the holistic approach required to address deep-rooted injustices.The pursuit of spatial reparations is a journey toward a more equitable future. It is a journey that requires us to acknowledge the past, understand the present, and imagine a future where everyone has access to housing, resources, and opportunities. It is a journey that we can all be a part of and one that will undoubtedly shape the future of housing justice.Tune into Radical Imagination as we dive into the stories and solutions that are fueling change. www.radicalimagination.us

What do we do about recommendation algorithms? What ethical standards could we use to reshape technology? Hosts Annanda and Keisha talk to Stewart Noyce, a technologist who helped develop the internet, and Rev. Dr. Sakena Young-Scaggs, an Afrofuturist scholar and philosopher, to understand how we can all navigate recommendation algorithms in a life-giving way. SHOW NOTES Learn more about Stewart's work in marketing and consulting at StewartNoyce.com See IBM promoting their work at the 1994 Winter Olympics in this vintage ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNZ7k9Kgmek How do algorithms drive social inequality? Virginia Eubanks explains in Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police and Punish the Poor (St. Martin's Press) What's Afrofuturism all about? Read Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture by Ytasha L. Womack (Lawrence Hill Books) Learn about Black entrepreneurs receiving 1% of all venture capital: Sources of Capital for Black Entrepreneurs, Harvard Business Review, 2019 by Steven S. Rogers, Stanly Onuoha, and Kayin Barclay Explore more on “life giving and death dealing” from African feminist theologian Mercy Oduyoye in Beads & Strands: Reflections of an African Woman on Christianity in Africa (Theology in Africa), Orbis Press (2013)

Are you ready to be inspired, provoked, and galvanized into action? Prepare yourself for a stimulating journey, as we kick-start Season 5 of Radical Imagination! I'm your host, Angela Glover Blackwell, and this season, we dive deep into the minds of activists, artists, educators, and leaders who are not just dreaming big but are also crafting innovative solutions for transformative change.Our guests range from those using cutting-edge technology to preserve cultural languages and traditions, to educators pioneering an Afrofuturist high school curriculum. We explore movements to create land and housing justice and lift up the passionate young activists leading the charge toward a sustainable planet.   Join us as we chart paths toward a radically inclusive, multiracial democracy, and envision a more equitable nation and a better world! Coming soon on Season 5 of Radical Imagination!Tell your family, friends and community!Dive into all the Radical Imagination stories that are fueling change. www.radicalimagination.us

Broken beat, or bruk, is intrinsically collaborative. Its London originators often recorded together, taking inspiration from jazz, hip-hop, deep house, drum & bass and Afrobeat. Because the genre was born of fusion, it brought together heads from all corners of the music spectrum—sound system purists to junglists to Latin Nuyorican aficionados—who each resonated with bruk's complex rhythms in their own ways. Ian Grant, AKA IG Culture, is an early pioneer of bruk, and his story underlines the style's synergetic nature. Starting out as an MC, he struck fame in the early '90s as one half of Dodge City Productions but quickly grew disillusioned with the major label business. After immersing himself in early George Duke records, Fela Kuti, Fuji music, The Headhunters and the like, he started experimenting in the studio. The jazz inspiration, plus his roots in reggae and background in hip-hop and acid jazz, led to his now-seminal, late '90s productions as New Sector Movements—widely considered as the starting point in bruk history. Since then, Grant has kept building infrastructure for the hybrid sound. Alongside Bugz in the Attic, Phil Asher, Dego of 4hero, Demus and Orin Walters, he cofounded the legendary CoOp party, which became a meeting place for diverse musical minds and enabled bruk to keep evolving. Grant remains deeply committed to co-creating, as seen by the Selectors Assemble artist collective he runs with Alex Phountzi (the two are also known as NameBrandSound), his releases with Psykhomantus as Shall I Bruk It, his Afrofuturist take on bruk as Likwid Continual Space Motion and various other projects. On his RA Podcast, the veteran artist presents a forward-thinking portrayal of bruk, adjacent styles that were directly inspired by it and other global club cuts. There are cerebral, jazzy cuts from his CoOp label, Nigerian cruise music, percussive UK garage, 2-step swing, dancehall dub and much more. This is Grant's world, where rhythmic and swung beats reign supreme. @ig-culture Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/897

In this episode, Steve and Tananarive talk to their friend Nalo Hopkinson, the award-winning Afrofuturist author of novels like SKIN FOLK, MIDNIGHT ROBBER and BROWN GIRL IN THE RING, named a Damon Knight Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America in 2020. She talks about overcoming homelessness, her journey in the arts, and transitioning to comics with Neil Gaiman. Also, how she copes with stress and uncertainty.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alvin Schexnider is an emancipatory designer and a business operations strategist who helps institutions become more effective, just, citizen-centered, and innovative. He has 15 years of experience in leadership across design, strategy, equity, and business operations in the government, nonprofit and for-profit spaces. Currently he is a part of Capital One's Equity and Design team as a senior equity design strategist. Outside his day-to-day work, he runs GraffitiVersal, an organization that makes resources to inspire, elevate, and catalyze change. GraffitiVersal's latest release is called A Continuum of Freeing Design and Vigorous Futures, a card deck detailing an approach for designing for both equitable and just outcomes in the present, and for thriving worlds in the future. We talk about bringing human-centered design to operations and human resources.   Listen to learn about: Alvin's roundabout road into design Alvin's experiences at the Greater Good Studio Using design at the Illinois Department of Health during the COVID-19 pandemic Alvin's role as Senior Equity Design Strategist at Capital One   Our Guest Alvin (he/him) is a designer, futurist, strategist, and illustrator. He's a right brain / left brained DesignOps leader, with 10 + years of tri-sector people management, who uses foresight and equity to build and vitalize impactful organizations. He leverages his 15 years of experience and leadership across strategy & business operations, multidisciplinary design (service design, human-centered design, equity design), and org change to drive concepting, adoption, and implementation of major initiatives. At present, he is a Manager, Design Practice & Equity Design on Capital One's Experience Strategy & Operations Team; previously, he was Sr. Equity Design Strategist in its Equity by Design Program. Before this role, he was Chief People Officer of the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS - agency budget of $9 Billion), focused on improving the experience of 14,000 staff while leading a department of 130 people, and before that, he was also Senior Operations Lead for IDHS focusing on strategy, bizops, and service design projects. Alvin began to build capacity in human-centered design as the first Director of Design Operations at Greater Good Studio, a human-centered design firm that works with global foundations, government agencies, and national NGOs. Outside of his day job, Alvin is also Founder & Organizer of GraffitiVersal — an emancipatory lab using design, art, foresight, & Afrofuturism for change. GraffitiVersal's Racial DeckEquity Cardset & Continuum of Freeing Design & Vigorous Futures CardDeck have been used at organizations such as: Meta, LAB at OPM, Univ. of Chicago, and Slalom Consulting. He's also the author of A Kids Book About Radical Dreaming (via A Kids Co.) and is currently writing & illustrating his first Afrofuturist graphic novel for middle schoolers through the Sequential Artists Workshop's Graphic Novel Intensive. Besides hanging with his partner and 2 kids, you'll find him reading N.K. Jemisin or a Black Panther comic book.   Show Highlights [00:39] Alvin's love of art and storytelling started early, as a kid creating his own comics. [05:06] Starting college as a PolySci major with plans to be a lawyer. [07:18] The moment Alvin realized he didn't want to pursue law as a career. [07:56] Moving on to business management studies, and his time in Beijing. [09:02] Starting his business career at Abbott Laboratories and returning to China. [13:21] Sidestepping away from for-profit into mission-driven and non-profit spaces. [15:14] Realizing he had a knack for business operations and systems thinking. [16:47] How his time as Director of Operations at Greater Good Studio transformed his thinking and started him on his own path into design. [21:07] Immersing himself in design spaces and in learning design. [21:57] Taking all he'd learned about human-centered design into his next job — COO of Erie Neighborhood House Services. [23:52] Getting recruited to work for the Illinois Department of Human Services. [27:10] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Alvin used design to help shape the department's response. [29:19] Redesigning policies and spaces to keep staff healthy as essential workers. [35:27] Taking over as the head of HR for the department, and working on improving employee experience. [38:33] Alvin's current role as the Senior Equity Design Strategist for Capital One's Equity by Design team. [43:06] You don't have to be an official designer to use design in your work.   Links Alvin Schexnider on LinkedIn Alvin Schexnider on Medium GraffitiVersal GraffitiVersal on Instagram A Kids Book About Radical Dreaming (A Kids Co Publishing) by Alvin Schexnider - recently released! Wakanda Forever - A Film Review - Human Futures Magazine AIGA Chicago Podcast - Designing For: Equity Interview with Slalom Consulting Continuum Deck of Freeing Design & Vigorous Futures Traveling through the spacetime continuum to escape racism   Books Recommendations Kindred, by Octavia Butler We Do This Til We Free Us, by Mariame Kaba Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet, by Ta Nehisi Coates Design Justice: Community-Led Practices to Build the Worlds We Need, by Sasha Costanza-Chock This is Service Design Doing, by Marc Stickdorn, Markus Hormess, and Adam Lawrence Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture, by Ytasha Womack Far Sector, by N.K. Jemisin Employee Experience: Develop a Happy, Productive and Supported Workforce for Exceptional Individual and Business Performance, by Ben Whittier Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds, by Adrienne Maree Brown Good Services: How to Design Services that Work, by Louise Downe Drawn Together, by Minh Lê and Dan Santat   Other Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like Designing for the Greater Good, Strategy + Design Thinking, and Measuring Design Thinking with Jeanne Liedtka — DT101 E1 Critical and Emancipatory Design Thinking with Lesley-Ann Noel — DT101 E57 5.5 Things Every Designer Should Know About: The Opioid Overdose Epidemic (Part 1) with Stacy Stanford — DT101 E102

Start your sublight engines! Join the gang as they dive into Star Wars: Visions season 2. May the Force be with you and DON'T kriff it up!Points of Interest: Wedge Antilles' affiliate links, Chilean Pride flag, Jean Jacket imagery, Studio Ghibli and its consequences, please give Ahsoka brown contacts, Visions season 3 Rael Averross short, Scar Wars, the Avatar “franchise”, Across the Christo-Verse, Pryce Family Reunion, Meghan Trainor's hit song “Wallace and Gromit”, the Try Guys try cutting off the Dark Head, “I am a Jedi, Dr. Han”, Darth Maul is a Christ-like figure, and Aau is a girlie in STEAM.---- The specific cultural influences behind “Sith”, “Screecher's Reach”, and “In the Stars,” including more info we didn't know when recording about the indigenous Patagonian inspirations for “In the Stars.”- More info on “In the Stars,” including background on how the specific animation style was achieved.- Introductory information on the Selk'nam genocide, the eradication of an indigenous tribe in southern Chile and Argentina, in the Tierra del Fuego archipelago.- A bit of background on the situation of recognition of indigenous tribes in Chile at the time “In the Stars” was being developed in 2022-Info about “Los Colonos,” the Chilean film that just premiered at Cannes about the Selk'nam genocide (it is in Spanish, so you may need to translate it).- The current situation with lithium mining in Chile and how it affects indigenous communities- The co-production story behind “The Pit” and Lucasfilm's Leandre Thomas working with D'ART Shtajio.- Background on how Lucasfilm worked with the studios on Visions S2- The unique backstory behind “I Am Your Mother,” (that we didn't know when we recorded).- The story behind the production and cultural influences of Au's Song- An in depth interview with the co-writers and directors of “Au's Song”- How Lucasfilm's collab with South African studio Triggerfish for “Au's Song” led to a long term Disney partnership and creation of an Afrofuturist animated anthology, Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire- More about Kizazi Moto, coming to D+ soon---Find us elsewhere: Tiktok - @rupalpspodraceTwitter - @RuPalpsPodraceInstagram - @rupalpspodraceTumblr - @rupalpspodraceSubscribe to Ollie & Klaudia's podcast, the Mystery SpotcastSubscribe to Jess' Star Wars TTRPG podcast set in the High Republic, For Light and Dice---Contact us:- Send us a question in our TikTok Q&A or Tumblr ask box.- Email us at rupalpspodrace@gmail.com- Submit a fic for Name That Ship---Star Wars: The High Republic Reading GuideJoin the RuPalp's Storygraph High Republic Reading Challenge

Sharifah and Jenn discuss the D&D movie trailer, awards season, Afrofuturist book vending machines, and their favorite books of 2023 so far. Follow the podcast via RSS here, Apple Podcasts here, Spotify here. The show can also be found on Stitcher here. To get even more SF/F news and recs, sign up for our Swords and Spaceships newsletter! Check out our new newsletter, The Deep Dive. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. News  It's time to nominate for the Hugos! Nebula Award Finalists [SFWA] D&D: Honor Among Thieves Movie Trailer [Vulture] Book vending machines for Black and Indigenous authors [WBUR] Books Discussed The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older (cw: mention of animal cruelty) The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai (cw: violent misogyny, sexual assault, police brutality, homophobia) Bad Cree by Jessica Johns (cw: alcohol addiction, death of a sibling) Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez, translated by Megan McDowell (all the CWs) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey! If you enjoyed our review of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, then we have a special treat for you. Today, we're sharing an episode from the Webby Award-winning podcast American Masters: Creative Spark, produced by our friends over at PBS.  In this compelling episode from American Masters' podcast, host Joe Skinner sits down with one of the definitive artists of Black cinema: costume designer Ruth E. Carter. This interview was recorded just *minutes* after Ruth got word of her 2023 Oscar nomination for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. And remember, she's already received an Oscar and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, working on iconic films like Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X, and (of course) both Black Panther movies.  Within this episode, Ruth takes us through the beginning of her career, how she started work on Marvel movies, the Afrofuturist approach (and hidden meanings!) she took when imagining Wakandan dress, and more.  Without sharing any other spoilers, here's the episode… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sharifah and guest Vanessa discuss news including an Afrofuturist Netflix series, the discovery of a possibly habitable planet, The Fifth Season RPG, and talk about SFF TikTok and Reels. Follow the podcast via RSS here, Apple Podcasts here, Spotify here. The show can also be found on Stitcher here. To get even more SF/F news and recs, sign up for our Swords and Spaceships newsletter! We're hiring for a full-stack web developer! Get all the details here. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. NEWS Netflix's new Afrofuturist series [Rolling Stone] A possibly habitable planet [IFLScience] Sphere‘s 25th anniversary and new series [Space.com] The Fifth Season RPG [Backerkit] Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur now streaming [Disney+ Informer] VIDEO RECOMMENDATIONS Tomes and Textiles, plus this vid, and this vid (mentioned) cultofbooks (mentioned) jemilabereadin (mentioned) torithatnerd (mentioned) Dreareads (mentioned) pagemelt Danzibooks latearareads theroomiesdigest bookofthegay darrelyeo madisontican Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yazzus is one of the most exciting DJs out of the UK right now. But she doesn't play the usual UK stuff. Instead, her work—her productions and her DJing—is both a historiography and a dialogue of the Black Atlantic connection, taking in dance music genres from both sides of the pond. Her work, encompassing techno, electro and sometimes house, is an Afrofuturist project that combines past, present and future. Her recent EP, Black Metropolis, accomplishes this with a genuinely innovative take on '90s Black dance music that uses a vintage template to do something fresh. She calls her RA Podcast a "Black excellence" mix, traveling between eras and places, featuring artists like Skin On Skin, Paul Johnson, Drexciya and Huey Mnemonic. It's part of her mission to highlight (and remind people) about the Black origins of dance music, and also the vitality of today's Black dance music. This mix is a history lesson, a narrative and a rave all in one, something we're proud to host from an exciting young mind in the electronic music scene. @yazzus-1 Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/862