Afro/Black and Indigenous Futurisms
Saturday, April 10 at 2:30 pm EST
In Afrofuturism, Ytasha L. Womack defines this aesthetic as “an intersection of imagination, technology, the future and liberation.” Science fiction and technoculture unite to foster new visions of Black people and communities in the future, based in Black history. Inspired by Afrofuturism, Dr. Grace Dillion (Anishinaabe) coined the term “Indigenous Futurisms,” which refers to a similar use of science fiction in various art forms combined with Indigenous worldviews and cultural practices. By centering Indigenous Peoples in a technological present and future, Indigenous Futurisms rejects the relegation of Indigeneity to a frozen past and asserts agency and self-determination in decolonial work.
A roundtable discussion with Rasheedah Phillips of Black Quantum Futurism, Johnnie Jae of A Tribe Called Geek, and DJ Shub about how artistic work based in Afro/Black and Indigenous futurisms can envision, mobilize, and grow otherwise worlds. Alisha B. Wormsley, artist and creator of the “There are Black People in the Future” project moderates the discussion.
Alisha B. Wormsley is an interdisciplinary artist and cultural producer. Her work is about collective memory and the synchronicity of time, specifically through the stories of women of color. Wormsley’s work has been honored and supported with a number of awards and grants to support programs: The People Are The Light ( part of the Hillman Photography Initiative), afronaut(a) film and performance series, Homewood Artist Residency (recently received the mayor’s public art award), the Children of NAN film series and archive, There Are Black People in the Future body of work.
Johnnie Jae is an Otoe-Missouria and Choctaw journalist, speaker, podcaster, technologist, advocate, community builder and entrepreneur that loves empowering others to follow their passions and create for healing and positive change in the world. She is the founder of A Tribe Called Geek, an award-winning media platform for Indigenous Geek Culture and STEM as well as #Indigenerds4Hope, a suicide prevention initiative designed to educate, encourage and empower Native Youth who are or know someone struggling with bullying, mental illness and suicide. She is also the host of the Indigenous Flame and A Tribe Called Geek podcasts that originated on the Success Native Style Radio Network.
Rasheedah Phillips, Esq. is a Philadelphia-based public interest attorney, artist, cultural producer, and writer. Rasheedah’s writing has appeared in Keywords for Radicals, Villanova Law Review, The Funambulist Magazine, and other publications. Rasheedah is the founder of The AfroFuturist Affair, a founding member of Metropolarity Queer Spec Fic Collective, co-founder of Black Quantum Futurism, and co-creator of the award-winning Community Futures Lab, which utilizes themes of oral history, Afrofuturism and communal memory in an area undergoing redevelopment, gentrification and mass displacement. Phillips is a recipient of the National Housing Law Project 2017 Housing Justice Award, 2017 City & State Pennsylvania 40 under 40 Rising Star award, and 2018 Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity. She is the self-published author of Recurrence Plot (and Other Time Travel Tales) (2014), and the editor of the anthologies Black Quantum Futurism: Theory & Practice Vol. I (2015) and Space-Time Collapse I: From the Congo to the Carolinas (2016).
Considered to be the Godfather of PowWowStep, DJ Shub has undoubtedly pioneered a growing genre of electronic music since his initial start with internationally-acclaimed group A Tribe Called Red. Born Dan General, he is a Mohawk, turtle clan of the Six Nations of the Grand River located in Ontario, Canada. Since the creation of PowWowStep, he has grown more aware of the Indigenous way of life through his music, merging his heritage with his craft. As a solo artist, DJ Shub released his first EP “PowWowStep” in 2016 and has since played some of the biggest music festivals in North America. He’s also been featured in a number of national media outlets. His song “Indomitable” was notably handpicked by Sacha Baron Cohen as the theme music to his hit Showtime series, “Who Is America?” DJ Shub released his debut, full length record entitled “War Club” in December 2020 featuring collaborators like Snotty Nose Rez Kids, Phoenix, Hellnback, Randy Bachman, Stevie Salas and more.
Image credit: “Sun Goddess” by Morgan Overton
