Janelle Monae’s Dirty Computer is set in the future. It is a time where differentiating qualities are not valued. If you are “dirty” you get stripped off your memories of the past and become “clean”.
Continue reading “Afrofuturism in Janelle Monae’s Dirty Computer”
Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower
The Parable of the Sower is a novel set in California in 2024-2027. It is the near future where Butler envisions a gated society in the fictional town of Robledo. This science fiction novel has a young black woman, Lauren, as a protagonist. Continue reading “Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower”
How the World was Made- a Super Crown
While searching for an afrofuturistic piece of work, I found this poem written by Rodger Bonair-Agard. The poem titled How the World was Made- a Super Crown incorporates aspects of West African and Caribbean folklore and does something new with it.
Blog Post Week 3
What has really interested me in this class is analyzing afrofuturism in different mediums; not just literature. I like that we watch clips of Black Panther and talk about the artistic choices made to portray afrofuturism and the effect it has.
Another thing that has interested me is reading texts that are quite challenging. It is had to come across classes that assign texts written by authors/poets of color. Continue reading “Blog Post Week 3”
Blog Post Week 2
Tolson’s Libretto for Liberia is a poem in which he views the history of Liberia and portrays a future for the country. It includes the past, present and future. Every section of the poem is represented by a note from the solfège scale. Continue reading “Blog Post Week 2”
Repetition in Culture
Repetition that seems like “‘a quality of difference’ compared to what has gone before” is a constant is one of James A. Snead’s claims in Repetition as a figure of black culture. Snead says that human culture evolves and things from the past emerge in the future as either improved or retrogress. Culture either progresses or regresses. I agree with James Snead that culture is constantly evolving.
I found that claim interesting and it made me think about what American culture is at the present moment compared to its history. Continue reading “Repetition in Culture”