Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture

I love this book. It gives a lot of history and explains the genre in a cohesive, informative and entertaining way

Excellent explanation and wonderful examples. So glad I read this book. I look forward to following up on other books mentioned.

This book helped me to understand the genre and world of Black science fiction by connecting the historical dots.

As a self proclaimed Afrofuturist author and artist, I found Ms. Womack's work to be both informative and inspiring. Growing up in the inner city of Cleveland, OH, I often felt alone and isolated while watching Star Trek and dreaming of a better and diverse future. I now feel a sense of community...I have truly found my tribe. :D Many thanks to Ms. Womack for her thought provoking and well researched work. Power Up!

Reading Ytasha L. Womack's book AFROFuturism is like having a fascinating conversation with a knowledgeable friend while sharing a generous cup of Earl Grey tea, hot. For anyone who has not heard of AFROFuturism, Womack's book is an excellent starting point. For those of us who have been involved in AFROCentric speculative fiction, photography, art or multimedia with a futuristic feel, Womack's book is a delightful confirmation that we are not alone in the universe. Womack did considerable research and her notes at the end provide helpful guidance for readers and writers of speculative fiction who want to get more involved. Womack tell us that AFROFuturism is much more than sci-fi stories about starship captains bouncing throughout the galaxy on sexual conquests. Literature, music, art, dance, politics are all linked to inspire us to create a new future. People of African descent are seeking to go were no "person" has gone before. Each chapter explores a different aspect of AFROFuturism. She manages to meld together anecdotal material, research facts as well as personal insight without being too preachy or lofty. This is not a dry "thesis" written for academic credit, nor smoky, whimsical abstraction. It is a thoughtful document crammed with personal insights. She suggests that the word "AFROFuturism" is fairly new to the cultural scene. It was first mentioned in 1992 by a writer named Mark Dery. But George Clinton's Mothership had landed long before Dery popularized the term. Sun Ra had been creating music that talked about space and other planets in the 1950s and 60s. Samuel Delany was winning awards for his sci-fi writings in the 1970s. The Dogon nation in Africa had revealed discoveries that puzzled modern scientists long before NASA had been created. Black science fiction was being published in the 19th century. In literary magazines during 1920s and 30s, Black heros were uncovering lost civilizations, constructing ray guns, and envisioning a bright, new future for all humankind. I particularly appreciated how Womack credits organizations, websites and people taking up the AFROFuturist mantle. Therefore, it would be shorted-sighted and mean-spirited to accuse Womack of leaving out a few references or new activities. AFROFuturism is growing faster than print. Anyone who desires the most up-to-date activities can use Social Media on the Internet. My ultimate rating for Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture should be a 4.5 (but Amazon doesn't allow for .5).

I love this book so much. It really connected a lot of dots for me about Afrofuturism's presence is popular culture. I wish there was an updated version discussing all of the cool new things going on today like jordan peele movies, black panther/wakanda forever, the current wave of futuristic fashion, current musicians, etc

There are a few interesting ideas here, but this book is not clear about what it wants to be. It is not really deep dive into the ideas, it is not really a history, it is not really a reading list... it is a bit of all those things but ends up feeling more like a personal testimonial about how cool afrofuturism is than anything else.

I bought this book right after reading Octavia Butler's "Bloodchild" (which I highly recommend) because I wanted a little more insight regarding black's in science fiction. I have sadly read very little author's that are Black/African American, and I'm glad I'm correcting that. Without spoiling it, I will say that this definitely a book you may not necessarily read for pleasure, though I did. This is one of those books you could take notes in, learn something, use as a reference. This could be a gateway book to other books in the genre of afrofuturism. Of course, I did enjoy it because I learned some history regarding famous artists and where afrofuturism originated from (to an extent) and where that influence has led since. I would recommend this to anyone interested in a little history lesson, some more author's and artists to discover, etc.

Super interessantes Thema, top aufbereitet von der Autorin!

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I liked but I thought it was a little too basic for me personally- don't get me wrong, it is a great introduction to the theme and all, but it is not as deep as I wanted. It gives you a good list to start searching for things and studying. A very nice book, well-written, well researched, clear and very tight. If you are getting to Afrofuturism right now, I think this is THE entrance door for you - take it as afrofuturism 101 for noobs. =)

Great book! Very interesting topics, easy to read and doesn’t expect you to have much precious knowledge on the subject as it is generously written and explains a lot. The print quality isn’t the best