The album cover for the Sun Ra Arkestra’s Nuclear War. Not only are these captivating, provocative works being brought forth by Bruin creators, but an entire body of UCLA scholarship also offers perspective on and gives shape to this multidisciplinary movement. These are all examples of Afrofuturism, a term coined in the 1990s to describe a decadeslong cultural wave that’s now being recognized as a powerful creative force. Or Jay-Z and Beyonce’s “Family Feud” music video, set in 2444 and directed by UCLA’s own Ava DuVernay. Marvel’s blockbuster Black Panther and the Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, executive-produced and co-directed, respectively, by Bruins. The saxophone epics spawned by former UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music student Kamasi Washington. Witness the sci-fi novels of one-time UCLA Extension student Octavia E. What is Afrofuturism? It’s the story of musicians, artists, writers, philosophers, fashion icons, filmmakers, costume and set designers, actors, activists and academics who have believed in a better future for Black people - and for all people.Īfrofuturism, more concretely, can be understood as a wide-ranging social, political and artistic movement that dares to imagine a world where African-descended peoples and their cultures play a central role in the creation of that world. Professor Due continued by paraphrasing Angela Davis, one of UCLA’s most famous faculty members: “In order to work toward a better future, we need to believe that future is possible.” For many, Afrofuturism is exploring those possibilities. Tananarive Due, lecturer on Afrofuturism in UCLA’s Department of African American Studies, speaking at the department’s virtual commencement on June 12 “Little did we know at the beginning of this term that Afrofuturism would become now, as we’ve been forced to adapt to new uses of technology - not just to complete the school term, but just to go about our daily lives.”
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