Afrofuturism is a genre that gained mainstream prominence through Marvel's Black Panther film in 2018 but for those not in the know, it's a genre looking at Africa's potential had it not been exploited and carved up in the Age of Exploration (and exploitation). It's a great ‘what if’ alternate timeline where elements of sci-fi, history and geopolitics are reconsidered and combined in interesting ways. These ideas were put forth by social change agents who looked at the potential of what could be, what not was or had been- it was not a critique of society with its history of slavery and subjugation but rather it looked to the future perspective.
The book was written by Ytasha Womack in 2013, so this predates the ascent of Chadwick Boseman, Little Nas X, Jordan Peele, Zendaya and other entertainers who have raised the profile of a people's who have traditionally been marginalised or underappreciated (ahem 2015 Oscars where not one black person was nominated for any lead awards in any categories #OscarsSoWhite).
When talking about the role of black people in sci-fi, Womack briefly discusses Independence Day, Men in Black, I Am Legend, Book of Eli and, the black sci-fi representation cultural lodestone: The Matrix. Morpheus, played by a kickass Lawrence Fishburn, made black leather trench coats and tiny sunglasses cool, changing attitudes towards black representation in sci-fi, which was usually the reserve of homogenous white archetypes like Flash Gordon, Dan Dare etc. I'm obviously aware of black actors playing Hollywood stereotypes, usually portraying characters in a negative light, but I'd never considered them as usually the first victims in sci-fi films.
Womack discusses how the Internet and social media have allowed Afrofuturists to share their vision without being beholden to the usual gatekeepers. In the past, many black people and people of colour were often not in sci-fi films, video games, comics, books or other media almost like in the future they would simply cease to exist. Representation has got better but there are still issues as black geeks face descrimination, like the black bird watcher who was accused of some unknown crime by some Karen or being excluded out of videogames genres as black people couldn't possibly exists... in the fake world with dragons (Final Fantasy 16).
Now, I have been pretty ignorant of this scene so this book has been a great primer for me and directed me to learn more about Afrofuturism, Afrosurrealism and black fantasy as well as the works of creatives like Sun Ra, Octavia Butler, Janelle Monae and so many more people who have contributed to the majestic tapestry of this aesthetic and movement. For those who are willing to learn about the birth, growth and evolution of the movement, this book does a lot of the ground work that can be built upon.
Killmongers speech is not wrong in Black Panther as the potential of the African continent has been undermined and suppressed through the legacies of colonialism. What could it have achieved if left to its own devices? Well, this book looks at that and wonders...