The term “Afrofuturism” was coined in the 1990s by the cultural critic Mark Dery, who recognized a preoccupation with the future in the work of a number of black artists. Ever since, it has remained a term that is retrospectively applied to seemingly disparate artists, from Missy Elliot to Toni Morrison. What unites the movement is a shared fascination with the black experience, particularly in America.
The Black, Dallas-based artist Jammie Holmes put George Floyd’s final words in a place where everyone could see them: the sky. Five days after Floyd was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis on Saturday, May 30th, Holmes’s piece took flight across Detroit, Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York. Airplanes carrying banners flew between the hours of 11:30 a.m. and 9 p.m. EDT.
Upon its original release on N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton LP in 1988, the song was safely titled “_ _ _ _ Tha Police (Fill in the Blanks),” and the album cover was among the first to feature the infamous “Parental Advisory” label, warning moms and dads about the album’s explicit lyrics. A censored version of the LP even omitted the song entirely.
The idea was born in an instant.
A curator attending an opening at the Baltimore Museum of Art was immediately captivated by a painting from an artist she had barely heard of, Mary Lovelace O’Neal.
Acción #CronicaDaMorteAnunciada que consistió en la creación de 9 estandartes con informaciones sobre asesinatos a “País do Santo” para denunciar sus muertes por motivos de racismo afroreligioso en la ciudad de Belém, Brasil.
Lil Baby, a popular American rapper, released a song titled "The Bigger Picture" in 2020 in response to the Black Lives Matter movement and the protests that took place following the murder of George Floyd by a police officer.
Creative Time, Social Practice Archive: Brinco is an art project, product, and intervention created by the Argentinean artist Judith Werthein for the 2005 inSITE Biennial held on the border of Tijuana and San Diego. Brinco—Spanish for "jump"—is a specially designed shoe the artist created for illegal migrant workers and immigrants who navigate the border region at night.
(NEWS 8) — A day after pulling double-duty as both the host and musical guest on "Saturday Night Live," actor-writer-comedian-musician Donald Glover was garnering attention on Sunday for another reason.
Social media blew up this weekend with reactions to Glover's new music video for "This is America," released under the name of his musical alter ego, Childish Gambino.
In the wake of hate crimes against Asian-Americans, the New York designer has moved his studio to Chinatown and refocused his energies toward advocacy and fundraising on behalf of the AAPI community. As he said, ‘I can no longer separate Phillip the person from Phillip Lim the brand.'
At a time when the city of Portland was considering stripping Martin Luther King Jr.'s name off a local street, a covert organization calling itself Group X changed the name of another downtown street to Malcolm X Street in a clandestine overnight action.
To foster interests and understanding of the accomplishments of women writers of color. To bring together the Student body of Pratt to explore the literary contribution, showcase the artistic quality and celebrate the contributions of women writers of...
The Creativity Movement (formerly known as the World Church of the Creater) is a self proclaimed white supremacist organization with factions across the United States. In 2004, a high ranking leader of the Montana based faction defected from the group, but not before donating over 4,000 of the group's bibles called the 'RAHOWA' (acronym for racial holy war) to the Montana Human Rights Network.
The Protest Mask Project was co-organized by Maggie Thompson and Jaida Grey Eagle. During the George Floyd protests, the artists' studio, Makwa Studio, created hundreds of masks to give to protestors in the city of Minneapolis where the demonstrations began.
"A Night of Philosophy and Ideas is a thinker’s lollapalooza. The free, 12-hour weekend lyceum at the Brooklyn Public Library includes spirited debate, live music, theater, performance art pieces, and film screenings. At any given hour, five or six different events will be taking place simultaneously. Visitors are encouraged to come and go as the spirit moves them.
This satirical website ridicules hipster racism and black tokenism, using two fictional white characters - Sally and Johnny - who have many black friends. The webpage is fairly simple and features fictional testimonies by black people celebrating the stereotypes and innocuous, but prejudiced behavior of Sally and Johnny. There is also a section of submitted testimonies and hate mail/fanmail.
Drama Queens Ghana's “MoonGirls” is an Afrofuturistic graphic novel series. Through an Afrofuturistic lens, “MoonGirls follows the adventures of 4 African "supersheroes" with varying superpowers to save the world from a diverse range of forces; from patriarchy, rape culture to pollution and global warming.
In the late 1960s, in the aftermath of the Watts Uprising and against the backdrop of the continuing Civil Rights Movement and the escalating Vietnam War, a group of African and African American students entered the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, as part of an “Ethno-Communications” initiative designed to be responsive to communities of color (also including Asian, Chicano and Native American communities). Now referred to as the L.A.
"Amid a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes around the world, Singapore-based dancewear company Cloud & Victory posted a video on March 18 calling for a stop to the hate against the Asian and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. It features prominent Asian dancers and allies, including former professional dancer Miko Fogarty, The Joffrey Ballet's Jeraldine Mendoza and Boston Ballet's Lia Cirio and Paulina Waski.
On July 2nd, 2013, after attending the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) conference, Bolivian President Evo Morales departed Russia from Vnukovo Airport in Moscow aboard his presidential plane. However, a "leak" suggested that Edward Snowden was aboard, which led Spain, France, and Portugal to close their airspace to the aircraft, to then be grounded in Austria.
Born to Heal, a documentary exploring the life of Native American healer, Russell FourEagles, and a handful of the lives he has touched.
Growing up in a tarpaper shack in the north woods, Russell FourEagles was born to be a healer. His grandmother chose him to learn the accumulated wisdom from over 200 generations of family healers.
New York artist Donna Choi wanted to create a “weird, memorable way” to discuss fetishization of Asian women, so she put together a satirical series about how to diagnose Yellow Fever—the specific obsession many Western men have with Asian culture.
The over-the-top series is a discussion of race crafted for the attention span of the Internet.
I emailed with Choi about her thinking behind the Yellow Fever series.
Native American groups are expected to protest the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, calling for the AFC champions to drop their name and logo as they take on the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 57.
The Chiefs wear the arrowhead logo on their helmet and use a large drum to kick of their home games, as fans routinely engage in what’s known as the “tomahawk chop” chant, all of which critics say draw on offensive and racist stereotypes.
The Brooklyn Anti-Gentrification Network is a grassroots movement and campaign to prevent the displacement of low-to-middle income people, elders, families and mom-and-pop businesses from Brooklyn. They say, “Not 1 more person displaced! Not 1 more luxury development, until we have affordable housing for all!”