Beyond Black Panther: Scott Woods on the promise of Afrofuturism

“What’s this Afrofuturism I keep hearing about?” Scott Woods responds to this question in his December 27, 2019 essay, “The Decade Afrofuturism Reshaped Science Fiction and the World,” published in LEVEL. Scott Woods argues that Afrofuturism—an artistic, cultural, and political movement—has moved from fringe to mainstream culture in the 2010s, and he imagines what Afrofuturism might offer in the next decade.

Scott Woods, "The Decade Afrofuturism Reshaped Science Fiction and the World," LEVEL, 27 December 2019.

 

1. Woods spends time in the first half of his essay setting up his “they say”: he explains how others define Afrofuturism, and he points to several Black artists and authors for examples of Afrofuturist work. Summarize these definitions by describing the central characteristics of Afrofuturism. Then, look up one of the authors or artists that Woods cites that you’re unfamiliar with, and check out their work. What do you notice about their work? How does this author or artist’s work match the central characteristics that you identified?
   
2. Woods argues that Afrofuturism is a movement that is important beyond science fiction. At its core, he contends, “Afrofuturism is a hope engine.” What does he mean by that? What are the hopes contained within Afrofuturism? Who are these hopes for? Explain, in your own words, what Woods’ central argument (his “I say”) is. Use a template from Chapter 4 to help you compose this explanation.
3. Look at the last section of Woods’ essay, and notice the pronouns he uses as he makes his argument. Why do you think he chooses to use the first-person plural (“we” and “our”)? Who does Woods include in that “we”? How does this choice, of expanding his “I say” to “we say,” affect his argument? How did you react to this shift in pronouns? How might this choice influence how different readers respond to his argument?
4. The introduction and the conclusion of this essay are set in the same place: a prison. Why do you think Woods chooses this frame for his essay? What does Woods say life is like for the prisoners, and what is their relationship to Afrofuturism? How did you respond to Woods’ description of the setting and his conversations with the prisoners? How does the frame of the prison complicate Woods’ argument about Afrofuturism?

Comments

[Jessica Hudson]

Afrofuturism to me meant a certain culture of people who did great things but made the right choices to become great. Some of the people mentioned in Woods blog I've never heard of before. However, I was inspired. All characters did have a lot in common and that was movement. A movement to be a better person or culture of people. I'm an African American and I've never heard of Afrofuturism but my eyes were open by reading this because I myself hope to change my family way of thinking and doing things as a black race by going back to school and getting my education. I'm the fourth generation of female women and none have ever been to college before me. In my opinion that is what hope. Also, I would like to compare that as an Afrofuturism movement.

[Cy Stavros]

The movement Scott Woods describes in "The Decade Afrofuturism Reshaped Science Fiction — and the World," Afrofuturism, is a broad artistic movement with no real defining aesthetic. From sci-fi futures where Africa has become the newest technological superpower, to more mild futures envisioning Africans thriving in a post-racism world, the author makes a point to describe it as an Afrocentric approach to the typically pearl-white imaginations of the future. This draws from many other Afrocentric cultural movements of the 20th century, like the Black Panther's Black is Beautiful, as well as movements that were more ideology than art, like American Garveyism and it's African relative, Sankarism. Ultimately, the goal of such movements is to empower and envision a world where the yoke of racism is cast off and the scars of imperialism have healed.