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Afrofuturism

 

Reem Zedan 7711552

Prof. Dr. Bernd Herzogenrath

The Future of [American] Music

02 February 2022

 

Afrofuturism

During this lecture, there was an elephant in the room that needs to be addressed in this paper. There was a white, Danish professor giving us a presentation about Afrofuturism. I was definitely surprised but also very intrigued. The racial plot-twist definitely caught my attention to say the least. Yet, nothing dramatic happened. The music was very lively, the professor was unproblematic and if I am being honest, this lecture was the only one that had music that was quite enjoyable.

My introduction to this genre was through literature, when I read W.E.B. Du Bios’s short story “The Comet.” Because of that, I was familiar with the themes and had a bit of an inkling on the kind of music that will be presented in the lecture. It was also interesting to learn that the term “Afrofuturism” was coined by a white male (second racial plot-twist of the day.) From the term itself, a person can gather that this genre is reenvisioning the future through a black perspective. I found Sun Ra’s take on the genre a bit confusing because it was sort of inspired by and takes place in Ancient Egypt, which I would never have associated with Black culture. On the other hand, George Clinton’s and Wallac Willis’s music have a very agreeable mixture of struggling for equality and hope.

Afrofuturism consists of a combination between science fiction and social justice. It is fascinating but also sad to witness how a minority has to rely on fiction not only to imagine a fair world but to also summon hope and faith in the future. Of course there is an aspect of Afrofuturism that portrays a bleak, harsh future but I choose to focus on the hopeful one.

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