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Black Arts Movement, Afro-futurism, and its impact on Black identity

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Black Arts Movement, Afro-futurism, and its impact on Black identity

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Content Cullors 1
Black Arts Movement, Afro-futurism, and Its Impact on Black Identity
Author: Patrisse Cullors
Major: Masters in Fine Arts at Roski School of Fine Arts
University of Southern California - MFA 2019
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Table of Contents:
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………3
Origins and Importance of Black Arts Movement…………………………………..3
Development of the Black Arts Movement……………………………………….…5
Black Aesthetic………………………………………………………………………6
Towards AfroFuturism……………………………………………………………….7
AfroFuturism 2.0 Five Dimensions…………………………………………….……9
Impacts and Empowerment………………………………………………………… 11
Impacts Black Panther ………………………………………………………………12
Impacts Black Lives Matter …………………………………………………………14
Art and Social Change…………………………………………………………….… 15
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………16
Introduction
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The power that artists have is to tell stories, create images and develop worlds that inspire
people for action. Ideas that artists reshape and convey to their audiences can start revolutions
and bring dramatic social change. The history of Black Arts demonstrates several examples of
how impactful art can be; two specific examples are the Black Arts Movement and the philoso-
phy of Afro-futurism. To discuss them, it is primarily necessary to explain how the Black Arts
Movement appeared, what needs of the Black community it relied on, and what aesthetics it
used. Further, it is needed to describe the rise of Afro-futurism and the five dimensions of Afro-
futurism 2.0. Finally, the impacts of the two artistic phenomena on both popular culture and so-
cial processes will be addressed. The Black Arts Movement and Afro-futurism helped empower
the African American community and other Black communities by providing voice to and imag-
ining opportunities for those communities’ members.
Origin and Importance of the Black Arts Movement
The Black Arts Movement arose in the 1960s as a reflection of Black artists’ need to con-
nect their art to their identities of African Americans. According to Umoja et al., the movement
was initially seen as “nationalistic and linked to the Black community, giving voice to the strug-
gles of a colonized people” (79). In contrast to previous artistic movements involving African
Americans, such as the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts Movement focused on the African
heritage of the artists and on the experiences of injustice and oppression. It was a major shift of
focus; from being secondary, additional, and often overlooked or ignored, the issues of race and
identity in art changed into central, core themes. The Movement famously popularized the slogan
“Black is Beautiful” and encouraged exploration of African culture as a key element for the new
Black art. This large-scale artistic initiative was closely connected both to the Civil Rights
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Movement of the time and to the global revolutionizing innovation in every sphere of art that
was happening in the 1960s.
It is important to understand why this shift of focus was necessary for the Black commu-
nity. Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie delivered a lecture in which she explained how
storytelling can shape identity (“The Danger of a Single Story”). As a child, Adichie only read
books by British and American authors, and when she started to write her own stories at the age
of seven, all the characters in them were white. Moreover, they would play in the snow and eat
apples, whereas the young girl had not been familiar with either snow or apples in real life be-
cause she was growing up in Nigeria. As an adult, Adichie realized that her community lacked
self-reflection and self-awareness because its stories were not being told. This is why she dedi-
cated her works to the problems to which she and other Black women both in Nigeria and the
United States could relate.
The Black community’s need for art and stories centered on the Black identity is also jus-
tified by the threat created by stereotypes. Adichie suggests that stereotypes occur when there is a
single story about something; for example, many people today have “a single story of Africa: a
single story of catastrophe” (“The Danger of a Single Story”). In other words, a powerful stereo-
type exists about African people being poor, incapable, and unruly. What this worldview over-
looks is that Africa has many different countries with dramatically different histories and current
social situations, and many people in them are talented, enterprising, and competent. This is why
many African writers chose to write their own accounts and accounts of their communities in or-
der to combat stereotypes and build mutual understanding across societies. Similarly, in the
United States, the Black community felt the need for self-awareness, for telling its own stories
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and creating its own art instead of relying on external, biased portrayal. This explains the impor-
tance of the Black Arts Movement for all African Americans and consequently other minorities.
Development of the Black Arts Movement
The Black Arts Movement was not only an attempt of the Black community to express
itself through art; it was also an attempt to build and enhance a community around art. Umoja et
al. narrate the way Marvin X, a poet and playwright, inspired West Coast students to establish a
Black theater as a San Francisco branch of the Black Arts Movement (80). These people later
created a cultural center for African Americans and the Black Panther Party. This shows how
artistic initiatives later grow into political entities and organizations that provide voice and repre-
sentation to populations previously deprived of proper recognition. Similarly, the development of
the Black Arts Movement in California led to the creation of Black studies educational programs
in universities. As a result, the problems and needs of the African-American community became
more visible; previously silenced and often marginalized, the Black community was fighting for
equals rights on both the civil and the artistic arenas.
A major role in the development of the Black Arts Movement was played by Amiri Bara-
ka, a writer who is often credited as the founder of the movement. He was deeply affected by the
assassination of Malcolm X in 1965, and this event led to a period in his life of active advocacy
for the creation of a movement centered on Blacks Arts. Umoja et al. write about this period,
stating that the writer’s purpose was to “transform…not only African Americans but also the na-
ture and concept of Blackness in North America” (80). In his autobiography, Baraka wrote,
“[T]he Black Arts movement reflected that black people themselves had first moved to a political
unity, despite their differences,…[and]were questioning the United States and its white racist
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monopoly capitalism” (298). The author engaged in the creation of many organizations for sup-
porting different kinds of artists and largely influenced the African-American community and its
resoluteness for celebrating the Black identity.
Black Aesthetic
One of the key concepts in the Black Arts Movement is the black aesthetic. Umoja et al.
suggest that the concept largely relies on the African cultural heritage partially brought by Black
people to the United States (76). At the same time, it is emphasized that this heritage was dramat-
ically disrupted by slavery and decades of oppression. This is why the Black aesthetic was
rethought and in a sense reinvented in the 1960s and 1970s. The main characteristic of the newly
conceptualized Black aesthetic was the idea of celebrating Blackness and its cultural difference
from mainstream narratives of beauty, attractiveness, and fashion. This new way of expressing
the Black identity extended not only to the themes explored by artists in their art but also to
clothing and hairstyles. For example, traditional African garments became popular among not
only artists associated with the Blacks Arts Movement but also among other members of the
Black community. This was a way of showing the society that African Americans were coming
to feel truly proud of who they were.
A vast array of academic literature has been dedicated to the topic of how the concept of
Black aesthetic can transform social norms. For example, Tate suggests that introducing new aes-
thetic forms and motifs helps destabilize perceived acceptability and normality (1). The author
explains that the ideas of what is beautiful are socially constructed, and they subtly affect the
way people perceive those different from them, be it in terms of race, gender, or other character-
istics. This is how aesthetics, which is essentially linked to the perception of beauty, influences
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social and political processes. The notion of Black beauty developed under the heavy circum-
stances of colonialism and continuing racist discrimination (Tate 13). Implicit racism may still be
prevalent, but the important achievement of the black aesthetic as an idea promoted by the
African-American community is that the boundaries of beauty have been expanded. As a result,
diversity in terms of both arts and looks has come to be appreciated as a major modern value of
the American society.
Towards Afro-futurism
Originating in the 1960s, the Black Arts movement developed for thirty years, displaying
its achievements in a variety of art forms and works that challenged the mainstream arts; in the
1990s, a new futuristic turn happened. In 1994, Mark Dery interviewed Black science fiction
writers, trying to understand how their African-American identity affected their literary work.
Dery’s purpose was to find out why so few Black writers turn to the sci-fi genre. He speculated
that the genre should be very popular among Black writers because they can culturally relate to
its major themes (Dery 180). The author’s idea was that the African-American identity was asso-
ciated with living in a strange environment, coping with the consequences of colonialism, and
calling on the majority to recognize and appreciate cultural differences. All these motifs are
present in science fiction, where the central topic is often the confrontation between different
races. Pursuing answers from writers themselves, the author discovered a concept that he later
called Afro-futurism.
Afro-futurism establishes a link between the Black identity and the future technological
advancements that await humanity. Dery himself defines Afro-futurism as art that “addresses
African-American concerns in the context of twentieth-century technoculture” (180). It was an
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entirely novel perspective on technological development and the future in general. Dery essen-
tially offered to introduce an additional dimension to the global discussion of how humans and
technologies will interact and coexist in the twenty-first century and beyond: the dimension of
race. Moreover, it is not just the issues of race that the notion of Afro-futurism addresses. It is
also the variety of problems caused by the past of the African-American community: the past of
oppression, alienation, and exploitation. Dery argues that “African-American voices have other
stories to tell about culture, technology, and things to come” (182). Afro-futurism relies on black
artists, writers, and musicians who speculate on humanity’s most promising advancements, si-
multaneously reflecting on modern problems that the black community faces.
The concept has become influential and inspired many artists as well as researchers. For
example, the dynamic of Afro-futurism in modern art has been displayed in the emergence of a
new sub-genre of it: Astro-Blackness. In it, “a person’s black state of consciousness, released
from the confining and crippling slave or colonial mentality, becomes aware of the multitude and
varied possibilities and probabilities within the universe” (Anderson and Jones vii). Astro-Black-
ness manifests the expansion of the African or African-American identities beyond social chal-
lenges the communities have experienced towards an empowered state of resolving global issues
that the planet will face in the nearest future. Apart from the notion of liberation, this art trend
also turns to the notions of healing and reconciliation, thus potentially promoting positive social
change (Anderson and Jones 145). All this demonstrates the way Afro-futurism transforms narra-
tives surrounding the Black identity. It creates the images of Black people whose achievements
in terms of innovation and technological progress are strongly linked to their cultural background
and heritage.
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A specific example of Afro-futurist art can help illustrate the described conceptual
framework. Tim Fielder is an illustrator who calls himself an Afro-futurist, and by this, he means
that he creates futuristic art from the perspective of Afro-centricity (“What is Afro-futurism?”).
His characters are Black people whose problems and needs may appear relatable to modern read-
ers, and they are also engaged in high-profile complex-technology work. Fielder claims that
Afro-futurism goes beyond art; for example, he argues that astronaut Mae Jemison is an Afro-
futurist, too, because she is a Black woman training people for future travels in space. Fielder’s
current project Matty’ s Rocket is a comic book dedicated to “a very strong young black woman…
[who] manages to get her space pilots license and eventually her own rocket ship” (“About”). By
combining the Black identity and the themes of technological progress, the author contributes to
the development of Afro-futurism in modern art.
Afro-futurism 2.0: Five Dimensions
Indeed, today’s Afro-futurism has extended beyond art to various other spheres of human
activity; it is a comprehensive philosophy, from the perspective of which various aspects of life
can be regarded. Anderson and Jones identify five dimensions of what they call Afro-futurism
2.0: “metaphysics; aesthetics; theoretical and applied science; social sciences; and programmatic
spaces” (x). Metaphysics is the study of the origin of existence and its essence; in the context of
Afro-futurism, it combines traditional African beliefs with modern science and technology. The
authors list writers and artists who pursue in their work a reconsideration of the most profound
philosophical notions through the lenses of African and Afrodiasporic spiritual vision of the
world. This is an artistic attempt to bring animism, for example, as one of the worldviews associ-
ated with the African cultural heritage to the understanding of contemporary physics and
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robotics. The combination of Afrocentric metaphysical notions and cutting-edge technologies in
the imagination and work of artists and musicians is a major characteristic of Afro-futurism 2.0.
Two other dimensions of it are aesthetics and theoretical and applied science. The aes-
thetical component has been discussed above (see Black Aesthetic); however, a specific charac-
teristic of the aesthetics of Afro-futurism 2.0 is that it takes the Black aesthetic to an unfamiliar
environment. Womack speculates that the Black Arts subgenre challenges the African aesthetics
in its wide diversity by tearing it from its roots and combining it with futuristic narratives (114).
Anderson and Jones suggest that this process is particularly conspicuous in the works of modern
musical performers, such as Janelle Monáe (x). Concerning the theoretical and applied science
dimension, an example of this is the study of so-called African fractals as part of ethnomathemat-
ics (Lutzky 143). The patterns that people in Africa have been using in their art and in their archi-
tecture for centuries turned out to be rather insightful for Western mathematicians when they
started studying fractal lines. This shows the similar fusion of tradition and science that is so
characteristics of Afro-futurism.
Two final dimensions of the art movement are social sciences and programmatic spaces.
Social sciences encompass various disciplines, including sociology, anthropology, and psycholo-
gy, and many modern researchers turn to those from the position of Afro-futurism. Africa and
African diasporas in different countries provide a source of diverse and complicated sociological
structures and models that can be studied and further used for analysis in different areas. For ex-
ample, Black studies as an important part of modern American academia has accounted for vari-
ous public initiatives aimed at reducing inequality and improving the human rights situation.
Concerning the programmatic spaces dimension, Anderson and Jones refer to several types of
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community work in which Afro-futurist artists and activists can come together and share their
achievements (xi). This dimension encompasses exhibitions, organizations, and online communi-
ties that sustain and promote Afro-futurism as not only a genre but also a set of values. The five
dimensions show that Afro-futurism 2.0 is a complicated social phenomenon that may have start-
ed as an art movement but continued as a comprehensive philosophy.
Impacts: Empowerment
A major impact that the Black Arts Movement and Afro-futurism have had on the
African-American community is empowerment. Womack explains this effect by using the culture
of cosplay as an example (14). Cosplay is the practice of wearing a costume of a mass culture
character, often a superhero, during special occasions, such as conferences dedicated to popular
culture or art. For decades, cosplay has been somewhat race-blind because a vast majority of
mass culture characters in the American superhero stories are White. However, recent Black Arts
trends in movies, cartoons, and comic books have created a variety of Black characters to whom
African-American conference-goers and popular culture enthusiasts can relate. As a result, peo-
ple in this group, especially children, acquire role models, images of powerful characters sharing
their racial and cultural identity. The President of the Institute for Comics Studies explains that
cosplay is “about the possibility of what you can be or what you can do” (Womack 14). Convey-
ing the message to Black children that they can be and do what they like without restrictions that
their race imposed on them in the past is precisely the empowering effect of Afro-futurism.
This connection between art and empowerment is one of the most important elements in
the Black Arts Movement and Afro-futurism, and the connection has been overlooked for a long
time. Underrepresented in popular art, the Black community suffered from, among other negative
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effects of implicit racism, the lack of visibility and motivation. If mass culture is dominated by
the majority group, the representatives of minorities have to give up certain aspects of their iden-
tity in order to enter this culture (Anderson and Jones 96). What Black Arts Movement support-
ers did in response to it was to create an alternative cultural context, in which African-American
artists could achieve creative fulfillment along with celebrating their Blackness and cultural traits
it encompasses. As a result, the entire community became entitled to expressing itself on a larger
scale because it was now more extensively represented in art and popular culture. Having spoken
out about themselves in an unapologetic way through artists and musicians, African Americans
thus became more empowered.
Impacts: Black Panther
In a discussion on the impacts of the Black Arts Movement and Afro-futurism, it is neces-
sary to mention one of the most large-scale and influential achievements of these artistic initia-
tives: the Black Panther superhero story. The 2018 movie featuring the character as a protagonist
earned more than 1.3 billion USD (“Black Panther”); millions of people went to see it. The story
is culturally unique not only because it focuses on a Black superhero but also because it incorpo-
rates various aspects of Afro-futurism. The movie shows an African nation that prospers due to
the discovery of a substance that grants supernatural abilities. The nation uses the substance
wisely and builds a technologically advanced society. Importantly, the concept of this society and
its success constituted a powerful message for the audiences about Black empowerment (White
421). In contrast to the widespread stereotype of Africa being deeply socially troubled (see Ori-
gin and Importance of the Black Arts Movement), the movie offered an alternative picture of ad-
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vancement and dignity. The fact that this idea was so inspiring for millions of moviegoers shows
an important success of the Black Arts Movement.
It is also possible to examine the Black Panther movie from the perspective of colonial-
ism. Afro-futurist Fielder emphasizes that Wakanda, which is the nation the movie focuses on, is
an example of what could have happened to an African country that hadn’t been colonized
(“What is Afro-futurism?”). It is a widespread theme in Black Arts: speculations on how African
societies would have been developing and what they would be like now if it had not been for the
colonial intervention. In this context, White writes that the movie “explor[es] the tensions be-
tween a never-colonized African nation and its diasporan kin whose history is inextricably linked
to captivity” (423). The fact that the image of a free and remarkably successful African country
has become so popular in today’s mass culture is among the most prominent triumphs of Afro-
futurism as an artistic movement. It reinforces the Black identity by creating role models that are
not just empowered but in many spheres unprecedently progressive.
Wakanda is Afro-futuristic in a number of other important aspects. From the aesthetic
perspective, it is as originally African as a fictitious place can be. The creators of the movie dedi-
cated remarkable effort to such details as the clothes of the characters. Representatives of differ-
ent tribes wear different patterns (White 424); similarly, the architecture is inspired by original
African examples without the influences that had been brought to the continent by colonists. At
the same time, the country has advanced military forces, scientists, and progressive social struc-
tures. This combination of the traditional aesthetics and heritage with modern advancements is
one of the most prevalent themes in Afrofuturist art (see Afrofuturism 2.0: Five Dimensions).
Overall, White suggests that the movie is an important optimistic message for the Black commu-
Cullors 14
nities; it as if “hold[s] up a mirror…[that is] not…distorted by racism and white
supremacy” (427). Looking at this mirror allows celebrating the Black identity, and this is pre-
cisely one of the main goals initially pursued by the Black Arts Movement.
Impacts: Black Lives Matter
The Black Arts Movement has largely affected social processes as well as artistic, and
one of the most prominent social phenomena affected by it is the Black Lives Matter movement.
The initial public campaign started after a particular case in which the vigilantes and police
killed unarmed Black men, but the initiative quickly grew into a national and international
movement (García and Sharif e27). The main idea of it is that strong stereotypes against Black
people persist, and they account for police brutality, systemic racism, and killings. The move-
ment has attracted much support from anti-racist activists and the general public as well as much
criticism. The main point of criticism is that the Black Lives Matter movement emphasizes the
racial dimension of the social problem of violence, thus misleadingly suggesting that racism is
the core problem in it. The critics of the movement stress that all lives are equally valuable (Gar-
cía and Sharif e28). They also claim that placing emphasis on the Black people as the only vic-
tims distracts public attention from the real causes of what the movement combats.
A counterargument to this is that the all-lives-matter approach overlooks the continuing
inequality and discrimination that need to be addressed. Black Lives Matter activists emphasize
that race-blindness in a discussion on modern violence problems is unacceptable because such an
approach ignores the fact that Black people are, in fact, less protected (García and Sharif e29).
Black communities are more vulnerable than White communities in terms of violence and crime
because African-Americans are more likely to live in neighborhoods with less safety and less se-
Cullors 15
curity. This situation is a result of centuries of discrimination, segregation, and unequal access to
education and wealth. In addition to this, racist prejudice still prevalent among police officers in
many communities across the country creates higher risks for Black people to fall victim to po-
lice violence compared to the White people’s risks. This is why, the proponents of the movement
argue, race is a central element of the violence problem, and overlooking it is detrimental to the
safety of Black communities.
The Black Lives Matter movement has been a major social process of this decade, and it
had been largely influenced by the Black Arts Movement. The two, in fact, had the same agenda:
placing the focus on Black people with their problems and needs instead of ignoring the racial
dimension. Compared to the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts Movement was more radical,
unapologetic, and Black-centered (see Origin and Importance of the Black Arts Movement).
Similarly, compared to the Civil Right Movement, the Black Lives Matter movement is more
aggressive and uncompromising in stressing the problems Black people face rather than social
problems in general in a race-blind manner. Umoja et al. use the movement as an example show-
ing that “Black Power still lives” (xxiii). They suggest that the way activists aggressively protest
against the police resembles the militancy of some Black activists in the 1960s, when the Black
Arts Movement originated. Without this artistic initiative and its focus on the Black identity, it is
possible that today’s Black community would not be so actively engaged in protecting its rights.
Art and Social Change
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Art is not mere entertainment; it is capable of transforming lifestyles and starting large-
scale social and political processes. The Black Arts Movement and Afro-futurism show examples
of how artists can combat stereotypes and create new opportunities for their communities. Fors-
gren argues that the artistic movement was a call for all African Americans to embrace their iden-
tity and design a new aesthetics to confront racism (136). The call was heard, and the American
public became extensively interested in what the Black community had to say as it was becom-
ing more active and more vocal. As it was explained above (see Impacts: Empowerment), this
process, along with the struggle for equal rights on the civil arena, led to the growing empower-
ment of Black citizens. Thanks to the Black Arts Movement, Black Arts became a means of rep-
resentation, visibility, and advocacy for the African-American community. Therefore, the role of
the movement was to raise awareness of how Black Americans lived and to create an artistic lan-
guage in which their concerns and needs could be conveyed to audiences.
Similarly, the continuing role of Afro-futurism is the creation of opportunities for the
Black community and the removal of restrictions imposed on it. Afro-futurist artists combine the
themes of technological advancements, such as space travel, with the African cultural heritage of
their characters. Winchester suggests that this expands the horizons of those who share the Black
identity because it helps them perceive themselves as more capable people (41). The author also
stresses the notion of inclusion in this context; including Black characters in the most futuristic
and technologically advanced settings in fiction translated into augmented entitlement among
Black people in real life. Afro-futurism, therefore, creates a cultural context in which Blackness
is not limited to current sociopolitical issues or the past of slavery, colonialism, and oppression.
In this cultural context, it is also connected to innovation, pioneering, progress, and development.
Cullors 17
This is how Afro-futurism is linked to the activeness of the Black community and the aspirations
of its members.
Finally, it should be noted that the successes that the African-American community has
had within recent decades in combating racism and claiming equal rights are largely due to the
Black Arts Movement and Afro-futurism. On the one hand, it is possible to assert that Black
artists were actively advocating the embrace of the Black identity due to the unfolding Civil
Rights Movement. On the other hand, it is also possible to assert that the Civil Rights Movement
happened and succeeded because Black artists had prepared the African-American community
for activeness by making it vocal. The two are too intertwined historically to determine with any
degree of certainty whether art was changing the society or was changing along with it. At any
rate, the Black Arts Movement and Afro-futurism made remarkable contributions to the shift in
perceptions and self-perceptions of Black people (Anderson and Jones viii). By altering percep-
tions and debunking stereotypes, art changes behaviors and courses of action on the levels of
both individual people and entire communities.
Conclusion
The importance of the Black Arts Movement and Afro-futurism is that the former made
Black communities vocal and the latter showed them that their identity can be successfully in-
corporated into the advanced future world. The Movement promoted new aesthetics and called
upon Black people to embrace their heritage. This inspired generations of Black artists, writers,
and musicians, who ultimately helped African Americans become more visible, more entitled,
and more active in social processes affecting them. Afro-futurism, in turn, created an entire phi-
Cullors 18
losophy in which African heritage was combined with technological and societal advancements.
The two movements affected various modern social and cultural phenomena, from the popularity
of the story about Black Panther the superhero to the support received by the Black Lives Matter
movement. The Black Arts Movement and Afro-futurism demonstrate the way art transforms re-
ality by creating motivations for people to act on change.

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Works Cited
“About.” Matty’ s Rocket, mattysrocket.com/about. Accessed 4 May 2019.
Anderson, Reynaldo, and Charles E. Jones, editors. Afrofuturism 2.0: The Rise of Astro-Black-
ness. Lexington Books, 2016.
Baraka, Amiri. The Autobiography of LeRoi Jones. Chicago Review Press, 2012.
“Black Panther.” Box Office Mojo, www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=marvel2017b.htm. Ac-
cessed 4 May 2019.
Dery, Mark, editor. Flame Wars: The Discourse of Cyberculture. Duke University Press, 1994.
Forsgren, La Donna L. “‘Set Your Blackness Free’: Barbara Ann Teer's Art and Activism during
the Black Arts Movement.” Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, vol. 36, no. 1, 2015,
pp. 136-159.
García, Jennifer Jee-Lyn, and Mienah Zulfacar Sharif. “Black Lives Matter: A Commentary on
Racism and Public Health.” American Journal of Public Health, vol. 105, no. 8, 2015,
pp. e27-e30.
Lutzky, Raymond. “African Fractals and Culturally Situated Design Tools: Mathematics Educa-
tion through Self-Empowering Technology.” Critical Interventions, vol. 6, no. 1, 2012,
pp. 143-158.
Tate, Shirley Anne. Black Beauty: Aesthetics, Stylization, Politics. Routledge, 2016.
“The Danger of a Single Story | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.” YouTube, uploaded by TED, 7
Oct. 2009, www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg.
Umoja, Akinyele, et al., editors. Black Power Encyclopedia: From “Black is Beautiful” to Urban
Uprisings. ABC-CLIO, 2018.
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“What is Afrofuturism?” YouTube, uploaded by Black Enterprise, 12 Mar. 2018, www.youtube.-
com/watch?v=AgXujySEuIE.
White, Renée T. “I Dream a World: Black Panther and the Re-Making of Blackness.” New Polit-
ical Science, vol. 40, no. 2, 2018, pp. 421-427.
Winchester, Woodrow W., III. “Afrofuturism, Inclusion, and the Design Imagination.” Interac-
tions, vol. 25, no. 2, 2018, pp. 41-45.
Womack, Ytasha. Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture. Chicago Review
Press, 2013.

Abstract (if available)

Abstract The power that artists have is to tell stories, create images and develop worlds that inspire people for action. Ideas that artists reshape and convey to their audiences can start revolutions and bring dramatic social change. The history of Black Arts demonstrates several examples of how impactful art can be

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Asset Metadata

Creator Cullors, Patrisse (author)

Core Title Black Arts Movement, Afro-futurism, and its impact on Black identity

School Roski School of Art and Design

Degree Master of Fine Arts

Degree Program Fine Arts

Publication Date 08/06/2019

Defense Date 08/06/2019

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag art,Black Lives Matter,Black Panther,Black Power,Dance,empowerment,Healing Justice,OAI-PMH Harvest,performance

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Blair, Brent (committee chair), Arcenaux, Edgar (committee member), Lacy, Suzanne (committee member)

Creator Email cullors@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-208062

Unique identifier UC11663141

Identifier etd-CullorsPat-7754.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-208062 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-CullorsPat-7754.pdf

Dmrecord 208062

Document Type Thesis

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Cullors, Patrisse

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA