A F R O F U T U R I S M
To see more of Manzel Bowman's Illustrating Us Black to the Future, click HERE
According to Louis Chude-Sokei, Chair of African American Studies at Boston University, "Afrofuturism isn’t about forgetting the past, but reshaping the past towards the future.” Afrofuturism blends science fiction, fantasy, and tribal tradition to imagine a future without non-African influence. (Alyssa Mercant, What is Afrofuturism? An Illustrated Guide from SUN RA to T'Challa)
"Since the 1990s we have seen an explosion of speculative art rooted in the black diasporic experience. Spanning media and crossing borders, the speculative work offered by these voices has coalesced into a movement broadly defined as Afrofuturism.... Afrofuturism is an evolving theoretical framework that seeks to reframe how we think about the past and future of race and identity, colonial legacies and our approach to science and technology." (Dr. Julian Chambliss, course description of IAH221C Fall 2019 syllabus)
Photo Credit: Third Stone
Afrofuturism by
Comprising elements of the avant-garde, science fiction, cutting-edge hip-hop, black comix, and graphic novels, Afrofuturism spans both underground and mainstream pop culture. With a twofold aim to entertain and enlighten, Afrofuturists strive to break down racial, ethnic, and all social limitations to empower and free individuals to be themselves. This book introduces readers to the burgeoning artists creating Afrofuturist works, the history of innovators in the past, and the wide range of subjects they explore. From the sci-fi literature of Samuel Delany, Octavia Butler, and NK Jemisin to the musical cosmos of Sun Ra, George Clinton, and the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am, to the visual and multimedia artists inspired by African Dogon myths and Egyptian deities, topics range from the "alien" experience of blacks in America to the "wake up" cry that peppers sci-fi literature, sermons, and activism. Interviews with rappers, composers, musicians, singers, authors, comic illustrators, painters, and DJs, as well as Afrofuturist professors, provide a firsthand look at this fascinating movement.
Afrofuturism 2. 0 by
The ideas and practices related to afrofuturism have existed for most of the 20th century, especially in the north American African diaspora community. After Mark Dery coined the word "afrofuturism" in 1993, Alondra Nelson as a member of an online forum,
The Blacker the Ink by
When many think of comic books the first thing that comes to mind are caped crusaders and spandex-wearing super-heroes. Perhaps, inevitably, these images are of white men (and more rarely, women). It was not until the 1970s that African American superheroes such as Luke Cage, Blade, and others emerged. But as this exciting new collection reveals, these superhero comics are only one small component in a wealth of representations of black characters within comic strips, comic books, and graphic novels over the past century. The Blacker the Ink is the first book to explore not only the diverse range of black characters in comics, but also the multitude of ways that black artists, writers, and publishers have made a mark on the industry. Organized thematically into "panels" in tribute to sequential art published in the funny pages of newspapers, the fifteen original essays take us on a journey that reaches from the African American newspaper comics of the 1930s to the Francophone graphic novels of the 2000s. Even as it demonstrates the wide spectrum of images of African Americans in comics and sequential art, the collection also identifies common character types and themes running through everything from the strip The Boondocks to the graphic novel Nat Turner. Though it does not shy away from examining the legacy of racial stereotypes in comics and racial biases in the industry, The Blacker the Ink also offers inspiring stories of trailblazing African American artists and writers. Whether you are a diehard comic book fan or a casual reader of the funny pages, these essays will give you a new appreciation for how black characters and creators have brought a vibrant splash of color to the world of comics.
Black women in sequence : re-inking comics, graphic novels, and anime by
"Black Women in Sequence takes readers on a search for women of African descent in comics subculture. From the 1971 appearance of the Skywald Publications character "the Butterfly"--The first Black female superheroine in a comic book--to contemporary comic books, graphic novels, film, manga, and video gaming, a growing number of Black women are becoming producers, viewers, and subjects of sequential art. As the first detailed investigation of Black women's participation in comic art, Black Women in Sequence examines the representation, production, and transnational circulation of women of African descent in the sequential art world. In this groundbreaking study, which includes interviews with artists and writers, Deborah Whaley suggests that the treatment of the Black female subject in sequential art says much about the place of people of African descent in national ideology in the United States and abroad."--Publisher's description.
Dark Matter by
This volume introduces black science fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction writers to the generations of readers who have not had the chance to explore the scope and diversity among African-American writers.
Encyclopedia of Black Comics by
The Encyclopedia of Black Comics, focuses on people of African descent who have published significant works in the United States or have worked across various aspects of the comics industry. The book focuses on creators in the field of comics: inkers, illustrators, artists, writers, editors, Black comic historians, Black comic convention creators, website creators, archivists and academics--as well as individuals who may not fit into any category but have made notable achievements within and/or across Black comic culture.
Longer Views by
"Reading is a many-layered process -- like writing," observes Samuel R. Delany, a Nebula and Hugo award-winning author and a major commentator on American literature and culture. In this collection of six extended essays, Delany challenges what he calls "the hard-edged boundaries of meaning" by going beyond the customary limits of the genre in which he's writing. By radically reworking the essay form, Delany can explore and express the many layers of his thinking about the nature of art, the workings of language, and the injustices and ironies of social, political, and sexual marginalization. Thus Delany connects, in sometimes unexpected ways, topics as diverse as the origins of modern theater, the context of lesbian and gay scholarship, the theories of cyborgs, how metaphors mean, and the narrative structures in the Star Wars trilogy. "Over the course of his career," Kenneth James writes in his extensive introduction, "Delany has again and again thrown into question the world-models that all too many of us unknowingly live by." Indeed, Delany challenges an impressive list of world-models here, including High and Low Art, sanity and madness, mathematical logic and the mechanics of mythmaking, the distribution of wealth in our society, and the limitations of our sexual vocabulary. Also included are two essays that illustrate Delany's unique chrestomathic technique, the grouping of textual fragments whose associative interrelationships a reader must actively trace to read them as a resonant argument. Whether writing about Wagner or Hart Crane, Foucault or Robert Mapplethorpe, Delany combines a fierce and often piercing vision with a powerful honesty that beckons us to share in the perspective of these Longer Views.
Migrating the Black body : the African diaspora and visual culture by
Migrating the Black Body" explores how visual media - from painting to photography, from global independent cinema to Hollywood movies, from posters and broadsides to digital media, from public art to graphic novels -has shaped diasporic imaginings of the individual and collective self. How is the travel of black bodies reflected in reciprocal black images? How is blackness forged and remade through diasporic visual encounters and reimagined through revisitations with the past? And how do visual technologies structure the way we see African subjects and subjectivity? This volume brings together an international group of scholars and artists who explore these questions in visual culture for the historical and contemporary African diaspora. Examining subjects as wide-ranging as the appearance of blackamoors in Russian and Swedish imperialist paintings, the appropriation of African and African American liberation images for Chinese Communist Party propaganda, and the role of YouTube videos in establishing connections between Ghana and its international diaspora, these essays investigate routes of migration, both voluntary and forced, stretching across space, place, and time.
Mothership by
Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond is a groundbreaking speculative fiction anthology that showcases the work from some of the most talented writers inside and outside speculative fiction across the globe--including Junot Diaz, Victor LaValle, Lauren Beukes, N. K. Jemisin, Rabih Alameddine, S. P. Somtow, and more. These authors have earned such literary honors as the Pulitzer Prize, the American Book Award, the World Fantasy Award, and the Bram Stoker, among others.
A Pure Solar World by
Sun Ra said he came from Saturn. Known on earth for his inventive music and extravagant stage shows, he pioneered free-form improvisation in an ensemble setting with the devoted band he called the "Arkestra." Sun Ra took jazz from the inner city to outer space, infusing traditional swing with far-out harmonies, rhythms, and sounds. Described as the father of Afrofuturism, Sun Ra created "space music" as a means of building a better future for American blacks here on earth. A Pure Solar World: Sun Ra and the Birth of Afrofuturism offers a spirited introduction to the life and work of this legendary but underappreciated musician, composer, and poet. Paul Youngquist explores and assesses Sun Ra's wide-ranging creative output--music, public preaching, graphic design, film and stage performance, and poetry--and connects his diverse undertakings to the culture and politics of his times, including the space race, the rise of technocracy, the civil rights movement, and even space-age bachelor-pad music. By thoroughly examining the astro-black mythology that Sun Ra espoused, Youngquist masterfully demonstrates that he offered both a holistic response to a planet desperately in need of new visions and vibrations and a new kind of political activism that used popular culture to advance social change. In a nation obsessed with space and confused about race, Sun Ra aimed not just at assimilation for the socially disfranchised but even more at a wholesale transformation of American society and a more creative, egalitarian world.
Silent Interviews by
Samuel R. Delany, whose theoretically sophisticated science fiction and fantasy has won him a broad audience among academics and fans of postmodernist fiction, offers insights into and explorations of his own experience as writer, critic, theorist, and gay black man in his new collection of written interviews, a form he describes as a type of "guided essay." Gathered from sources as diverse as Diacritics and Comics Journal, these interviews reveal the broad range of his thought and interests.
Afrofuturism Rising by 
The Afrofuturism Cyclicality of Past, Present, and Future in Kendrick Lamar's to Pimp a Butterfly by 
Black Utopia by 
Afrofuturism and black sound studies : culture, technology, and things to come by 
Avengers of the New World by
Where next for the Black Panther? Find out as a sensational new arc begins! Eons ago - before Black Panthers, before Wakanda, before time itself - there were only the Orishas! The pantheon of gods and goddesses from which the world as we know it was manifested: Asali. Ogutemeli. Bast. But now, when Wakanda burns, they are silent. When she was flooded, they were silent. While her people war amongst themselves, ever silent they remain. Where have all the gods of Wakanda gone? T'Challa means to find out... MacArthur Fellow and national correspondent for The Atlantic, Ta-Nehisi Coates (Between the World and Me) is joined by rising superstar Wilfredo Torres (Moon Knight) - and together they set out to redefine faith and theology for the Marvel Universe! COLLECTING: BLACK PANTHER 13-18
Black Panther by
Black Panther s greatest foe has returned Ulysses Klaw is back and ready for war! Can T Challa defeat the man who killed his father all while his country struggles to its feet? And as war looms, Wakanda s gods have disappeared. Enter the Originators! The former gods are back but what are their intentions for a land that has forgotten them?
Black Panther by
MacArthur Genius and National Book Award-winner T- Nehisi Coates (Between the World and Me) takes the helm, confronting T'Challa with a dramatic upheaval in Wakanda. When a superhuman terrorist group that calls itself The People sparks a violent uprising, the land famed for its incredible technology and proud warrior traditions will be thrown into turmoil. If Wakanda is to survive, it must adapt - but can its monarch survive the necessary change? Collecting: Black Panther 1-4
Black Panther: a Nation under Our Feet Book 3 by
The full truth of the People's revolution - and the power players supporting it - has been revealed! Now, T'Challa must fight like never before for the fate of his nation - and one of his most trusted allies is back to stand by his side. As the final battle begins, the entirety of Wakanda's glorious history may be their most potent weapon. But even if the People fall, can the monarchy still stand? The pieces are all in position, now it's time for Ta-Nehisi Coates and Brian Stelfreeze to knock over the board as their revitalization of Black Panther continues! COLLECTING: BLACK PANTHER 9-12
Black Panther and the Crew by
Black Panther, Storm, Luke Cage, Misty Knight and Manifold band together to take on a dangerous wave of street-level threats in a new series by co-writers Ta-Nehisi Coates (New York Times best-selling author of Between the World and Me and Marvel's Black Panther) and Yona Harvey (Black Panther: World of Wakanda), and legendary artist Butch Guice! The death of a Harlem activist kicks off a mystery that will reveal surprising new secrets about the Marvel Universe's past - and set the stage for a huge story in the near future! Fear, hate and violence loom, but don't worry, The Crew's got this: They are the streets. COLLECTING: BLACK PANTHER AND THE CREW 1-6
Fledgling by
"A master storyteller, Butler casts an unflinching eye on racism, sexism, poverty, and ignorance and lets the reader see the terror and beauty of human nature." - The Washington Post This is the story of an apparently young, amnesiac girl whose alarmingly unhuman needs and abilities lead her to a startling conclusion: She is in fact a genetically modified, 53-year-old vampire. Forced to discover what she can about her stolen former life, she must at the same time learn who wanted-and still wants-to destroy her and those she cares for and how she can save herself.
Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by
Instant #1 New York Times BestsellerWinner of the 2018 Eisner Award for Best Adaptation from Another Medium Octavia E. Butler's bestselling literary science-fiction masterpiece, Kindred, now in graphic novel format. More than 35 years after its release, Kindred continues to draw in new readers with its deep exploration of the violence and loss of humanity caused by slavery in the United States, and its complex and lasting impact on the present day. Adapted by celebrated academics and comics artists Damian Duffy and John Jennings, this graphic novel powerfully renders Butler's mysterious and moving story, which spans racial and gender divides in the antebellum South through the 20th century. Butler's most celebrated, critically acclaimed work tells the story of Dana, a young black woman who is suddenly and inexplicably transported from her home in 1970s California to the pre-Civil War South. As she time-travels between worlds, one in which she is a free woman and one where she is part of her own complicated familial history on a southern plantation, she becomes frighteningly entangled in the lives of Rufus, a conflicted white slaveholder and one of Dana's own ancestors, and the many people who are enslaved by him. Held up as an essential work in feminist, science-fiction, and fantasy genres, and a cornerstone of the Afrofuturism movement, there are over 500,000 copies of Kindred in print. The intersectionality of race, history, and the treatment of women addressed within the original work remain critical topics in contemporary dialogue, both in the classroom and in the public sphere. Frightening, compelling, and richly imagined, Kindred offers an unflinching look at our complicated social history, transformed by the graphic novel format into a visually stunning work for a new generation of readers.
Parable of the Sower by
After her neighborhood is overrun by a pyromaniac cult, adolescent Lauren Olamina gains followers on her way toward refuge in California. Awards: SLJ Best Book; YALSA Best Book for Young Adults.
Parable of the Talents by
Lauren Olamina's daughter, Larkin, describes the broken and alienated world of 2032, as war racks the North American continent and an ultra-conservative religious crusader becomes president.
Wild Seed by
As the acclaimed Patternist science fiction series begins, two immortals meet in the long-ago past--and mankind's destiny is changed forever. For a thousand years, Doro has cultivated a small African village, carefully breeding its people in search of seemingly unattainable perfection. He survives through the centuries by stealing the bodies of others, a technique he has so thoroughly mastered that nothing on Earth can kill him. But when a gang of New World slavers destroys his village, ruining his grand experiment, Doro is forced to go west and begin anew. He meets Anyanwu, a centuries-old woman whose means of immortality are as kind as his are cruel. She is a shapeshifter, capable of healing with a kiss, and she recognizes Doro as a tyrant. Though many humans have tried to kill them, these two demi-gods have never before met a rival. Now they begin a struggle that will last centuries and permanently alter the nature of humanity. Hugo and Nebula award-winning author Octavia E. Butler's sweeping cross-century epic places her "among the best of contemporary SF writers" (Houston Chronicle). This ebook features an illustrated biography of Octavia E. Butler including rare images from the author's estate.
Lilith's Brood by
The acclaimed trilogy that comprises LILITH'S BROOD is Hugo and Nebula award-winner Octavia E. Butler at her best. Presented for the first time in one volume with an introduction by Joan Slonczewski, Ph.D., LILITH'S BROOD is a profoundly evocative, sensual -- and disturbing -- epic of human transformation. Lilith Iyapo is in the Andes, mourning the death of her family, when war destroys Earth. Centuries later, she is resurrected -- by miraculously powerful unearthly beings, the Oankali. Driven by an irresistible need to heal others, the Oankali are rescuing our dying planet by merging genetically with mankind. But Lilith and all humanity must now share the world with uncanny, unimaginably alien creatures: their own children. This is their story...
Imago by
The stunning conclusion to a postapocalyptic trilogy about an alien species merging with humans--from "one of science fiction's finest writers" (TheNew York Times). Human and Oankali have been mating since the aliens first came to Earth to rescue the few survivors of an annihilating nuclear war. The Oankali began a massive breeding project, guided by the ooloi, a sexless subspecies capable of manipulating DNA, in the hope of eventually creating a perfect starfaring race. Jodahs is supposed to be just another hybrid of human and Oankali, but as he begins his transformation to adulthood he finds himself becoming ooloi--the first ever born to a human mother. As his body changes, Jodahs develops the ability to shapeshift, manipulate matter, and cure or create disease at will. If this frightened young man is able to master his new identity, Jodahs could prove the savior of what's left of mankind. Or, if he is not careful, he could become a plague that will destroy this new race once and for all. Readers of Ursula K. Le Guin and N. K. Jemisin will be fascinated by bestselling author Octavia Butler's thought-provoking and compelling vision of humanity. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Octavia E. Butler including rare images from the author's estate.
Dawn by
Lilith lyapo awoke from a centuries-long sleep to find herself aboard the vast spaceship of the Oankali. Creatures covered in writhing tentacles, the Oankali had saved every surviving human from a dying, ruined Earth. They healed the planet, cured cancer, increased strength, and were now ready to help Lilith lead her people back to Earth--but for a price.
The Einstein Intersection by
The Einstein Intersection won the Nebula Award for best science fiction novel of 1967. The surface story tells of the problems a member of an alien race, Lo Lobey, has assimilating the mythology of earth, where his kind have settled among the leftover artifacts of humanity. The deeper tale concerns, however, the way those who are "different" must deal with the dominant cultural ideology. The tale follows Lobey's mythic quest for his lost love, Friza. In luminous and hallucinated language, it explores what new myths might emerge from the detritus of the human world as those who are "different" try to seize history and the day.
Stories for Chip by
Stories for Chip brings together outstanding authors inspired by a brilliant writer and critic, Science Fiction Writers of America Grandmaster Samuel R. "Chip" Delany. Award-winning SF luminaries such as Michael Swanwick, Nalo Hopkinson, and Eileen Gunn contribute original fiction and creative nonfiction. From surrealistic visions of bucolic road trips to erotic transgressions to mind-expanding analyses of Delany's influence on the genre--as an out gay man, an African American, and possessor of a startlingly acute intellect--this book conveys the scope of the subject's sometimes troubling, always rewarding genius. Editors Nisi Shawl and Bill Campbell have given Delany and the world at large, a gorgeous, haunting, illuminating, and deeply satisfying gift of a book.
Conscientious Sorcerers by
Fox offers a clear and important, if brief, consideration of the fiction of Baraka, Reed, and Delany. He renders an especially important service by establishing the relationship among three fictionists whose work has been substantially neglected. . . . Readers will find this volume useful as a starting point for the investigation of recent Afro-American fiction and as an example of the application of poststructuralist criticism to Afro-American fiction. Choice This book is a provocative and enlightening study of the fiction of LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka), Ishmael Reed and Samuel R. Delany, three black American writers who are among the most gifted literary artists of the past twenty-five years. These authors, who emerged in the tumultuous period of the 1960s, when the complacencies of the previous decade were being challenged throughout the country, are examined here within the context of Afro-American literature.
Atlantis by
Wesleyan University Press has made a significant commitment to the publication of the work of Samuel R. Delany, including this recent fiction, now available in paperback. The three long stories collected in Atlantis: three tales -- "Atlantis: Model 1924," "Erik, Gwen, and D. H. Lawrence's Aesthetic of Unrectified Feeling," and "Citre et Trans" -- explore problems of memory, history, and transgression. Winner of both the Hugo and Nebula awards, and Guest of Honor at the 1995 World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow, Delany was won a broad audience among fans of postmodern fiction with his theoretically sophisticated science fiction and fantasy. The stories of Atlantis: three tales are not SF, yet Locus, the trade publication of the science fiction field, notes that the title story "has an odd, unsettling power not usually associated with mainstream fiction." A writer whose audience extends across and beyond science fiction, black, gay, postmodern, and academic constituencies, Delany is finally beginning to achieve the broader recognition he deserves.
A Curated Reading/Viewing List from Dr. Julian Chambliss' Introduction to Afrofuturism course syllabus: Afrofantastic: Race, Power, and Gender in the Black Imaginary (IAH 221C - Michigan State University, 2019)
Lisa Yaszek, “Afrofuturism, Science Fiction, and the History of the Future,” Socialism and Democracy 20, no. 3 (November 2006): 41–60.
Samuel R. Delany, “Racism and Science Fiction”
Mark Dery, Black to the Future
Reynaldo Anderson and Charles E. Jones, “The Rise of Astro-Blackness” from Afrofuturism 2.0 (Book order requested)
W.E.B. Du Bois, “The Comet”
Sun Ra Interview (see Interviews)
Sun Ra's Full Lecture & Reading List From His 1971 UC Berkeley Course, “The Black Man in the Universe,” or “The Black man in the Cosmos”
Erik Steinskog, "Blackness, Technology and Changing Same” (Request via ILL)
Lee “Scratch” Perry - Studio Black Ark (see Music); Lee "Scratch" Perry Interview (see Interview)
George Clinton and Parliament – Mothership Connection (see Music); Clinton and P-Funk Interview (see Interview)
Grace Gipson, “Afrofuturism’s Musical Princess Janelle Monae” (in Afrofuturism 2.0)
Janelle Monáe - Q.U.E.E.N. feat. Erykah Badu (see Music); Dirty Computer (see film)
George E. Lewis, “Foreword: After Afrofuturism,” Journal of the Society for American Music 2, no. 2 (May 2008): 139–53.
Pumzi by Wanuri Kahiu (see Film)
Brother from Another Planet (1984) Movie (full run time 1 hr. 48 min.)
Reynaldo Anderson, “A Case Study in Visual Rhetoric, Sequential Art, and Postapocalyptic Black Identity,” From The Blacker the Link: Constructions of Black Identity in Comics and Sequential Art (see Books, Chapter 8; ILL from JSTOR)
Dwayne McDuffie and Gregory Wright, Deathlok: The Living Nightmare of Michael Collins (Marvel, 1990) (Book order requested)
Sheena C. Howard, “Black Panther and the Politics of Black Heroism,” Black Perspectives (blog), March 10, 2018. (To locate similar articles use #comicsandrace to search for items on Black Perspectives (see Websites))
BET’s Black Panther, Episode 1 (see Television)
Documentary -- The Last Angel of History (1997)
Andre Carrington, “Space Race Woman” from Speculative Blackness (Book order requested)
Additional Readings
Reynaldo Anderson, AFROFUTURISM 2.0 & THE BLACK SPECULATIVE ART MOVEMENT Notes on a Manifesto
Reynaldo Anderson, "On Black Panther, Afrofuturism, and Astroblackness: A Conversation with Reynaldo Anderson", The Black Scholar
Upcoming Events and Opportunities
Zora Neale Hurston Festival | Afrofuturism Conference | January 30-31, 2020 | Orlando, Florida
In her Hugo- and Nebula-winning novella, Nnedi Okorafor introduced us to Binti, a young Himba girl with the chance of a lifetime: to attend the prestigious Oomza University. Despite her family's concerns, Binti's talent for mathematics and her aptitude with astrolabes make her a prime candidate to undertake this interstellar journey.
Nnamdi's father was a good chief of police, perhaps the best Kalaria had ever had. He was determined to root out the criminals that had invaded the town. But then he was murdered, and most people believed the Chief of Chiefs, most powerful of the criminals, was responsible. Nnamdi has vowed to avenge his father, but he wonders what a twelve-year-old boy can do. Until a mysterious nighttime meeting, the gift of a magical object that enables super powers, and a charge to use those powers for good changes his life forever. How can he fulfill his mission? How will he learn to control his newfound powers?
A year ago, Sunny Nwazue, an American-born girl Nigerian girl, was inducted into the secret Leopard Society. As she began to develop her magical powers, Sunny learned that she had been chosen to lead a dangerous mission to avert an apocalypse, brought about by the terrifying masquerade, Ekwensu. Now, stronger, feistier, and a bit older, Sunny is studying with her mentor Sugar Cream and struggling to unlock the secrets in her strange Nsibidi book.
Sunny Nwazue lives in Nigeria, but she was born in New York City. Her features are West African, but she's albino. She's a terrific athlete, but can't go out into the sun to play soccer. There seems to be no place where she fits in. And then she discovers something amazing—she is a "free agent" with latent magical power. And she has a lot of catching up to do.
They killed my mother.
They took our magic.
They tried to bury us.
Now we rise.
Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.
It’s up to a famous rapper, a biologist, and a rogue soldier to handle humanity’s first contact with an alien ambassador—and prevent mass extinction—in this novel that blends magical realism with high-stakes action.
As the Black Panther and an Avenger, T'Challa has had to save the world time and again -- but those duties pale in comparison to his responsibilities as king of Wakanda. As the nation rebuilds in the wake of revolution, T'Challa finds his people besieged by a massive monster tearing through the country, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake! From acclaimed novelist NNEDI OKORAFOR (BINTI, WHO FEARS DEATH) and illustrator ANDRE ARAUJO (SPIDEY, THE WICKED + DIVINE) comes an adventure set in the world of Ta-Nehisi Coates' landmark BLACK PANTHER run and told in the Mighty Marvel Manner!
The world fell in love with her in the movie. Now, the Black Panther's techno-genius sister launches her own adventures — written by best-selling Afrofuturist author Nnedi Okorafor and drawn by Eisner-nominated artist Leonardo Romero! The Black Panther has disappeared, lost on a mission in space. And in his absence, everyone's looking at the next in line for the throne. But Shuri is happiest in a lab, surrounded by gadgets of her own creation. She'd rather be testing gauntlets than throwing them. But a nation without a leader is a vulnerable one — and Shuri may have to choose between Wakanda's welfare and her own.
THE SEARCH FOR T’CHALLA BEGINS! The king of Wakanda has been missing for weeks. Now, his little sister is tired of waiting. It’s time for Shuri — with a little help from Storm of the X-Men — to go save her brother for what must be the millionth time. But Wakanda expects the princess to take the throne — and the Panther mantle — once again. Can Wakanda survive without a Black Panther? Can Shuri?
I AM…SHURI? A little Wakandan magic, a little astral projection and a very confused tree. Shuri cast her mind into the depths of space in a desperate bid to find her missing brother—and instead she landed in the mind of Groot! Who’s about to become a crunchy snack for a huge, energy-sucking alien! Rocket Raccoon’s best guns won’t get them out of this one. Is Wakanda about to lose its only remaining heir to the throne?!
VIBRANIUM 24/7! All of Wakandan history and culture is under threat as the Space Lubber that followed Shuri all the way from the depths of space back to Wakanda makes its move! To stop it, Shuri and her allies will have to go deep into the Vibranium mines — which doesn’t sit well with the claustrophobic Storm!
SHURI TAKES UP THE BLACK PANTHER MANTLE ONCE AGAIN! Nnedi Okorafor returns alongside rising star artist Rachael Stott with a brand-new arc! But this is a Black Panther you’ve never seen before — one who will change Wakanda forever. Something has stolen pieces of the Djalia, the plane of Wakandan memory, and it’s up to the Princess of Wakanda to save it. But for every piece of the Djalia lost, a piece of Shuri disappears as well. Will a new suit be enough to save herself and her nation?
WHEN THE POWER GOES OUT IN WAKANDA...Shuri’s returned from her space adventure with Rocket and Groot — but she’s brought something back with her. And now, centuries-old music and stories are disappearing across Africa. Something is stealing the continent’s cultural history — and its electrical power. Then, as if the heir to the throne didn’t have enough on her plate, a mysterious envoy arrives, and they’re looking for the Black Panther. Life as the princess of Wakanda just got a lot more complicated!
THE TWO BADDEST GAUNTLET-WIELDERS IN THE MARVEL UNIVERSE UNITE! An alien creature has invaded Wakanda! And with her powers strangely malfunctioning and her brother still missing, Shuri is in over her head. Time to call for backup. Enter: Iron Man! But can these two tech geniuses figure out how to de-power an energy-sucking alien before it destroys the entire continent? Don’t miss the end of the first arc — and a dramatic change for the princess of Wakanda!
In a post-apocalyptic Africa, the world has changed in many ways; yet in one region genocide between tribes still bloodies the land. A woman who has survived the annihilation of her village and a terrible rape by an enemy general wanders into the desert, hoping to die. Instead, she gives birth to an angry baby girl with hair and skin the color of sand. Gripped by the certainty that her daughter is different—special—she names her Onyesonwu, which means "Who fears death?" in an ancient language.
PART ONE OF A THREE-PART STORY THAT SEES THE DORA MILAJE TEAM UP WITH THE MARVEL U! The blockbuster Black Panther film has everyone talking about Wakanda’s best warriors, the fierce Dora Milaje! Now witness the Dora outside of Wakanda – and in Spider-Man’s world! When the Dora catch wind of a Wakandan threat causing trouble in New York, they’ll leap into action – with or without their king. Don’t miss Okoye, Ayo and Aneka on a globe-trotting mission to protect the realm at any cost. WAKANDA FOREVER starts here!
Former Dora Milaje member and eternal troublemaker Nakia, A.K.A. Malice, has set a trap to lure the Black Panther into her obsessive clutches! Step One: Take out the Panther’s one true love, Storm of the X-Men! But Nakia didn’t count on the interference of her former warriors-in-arms, the fierce Dora Milaje — and they’re hot on her trail. Can Okoye, Ayo and Aneka capture Malice before she wreaks havoc on their king’s life — again? The talented Ray-Anthony Height joins best-selling author Nnedi Okorafor for the second installment of WAKANDA FOREVER!
A fiery spirit dances from the pages of the Great Book. She brings the aroma of scorched sand and ozone. She has a story to tell....
The Book of Phoenix is a unique work of magical futurism. A prequel to the highly acclaimed, World Fantasy Award-winning novel, Who Fears Death, it features the rise of another of Nnedi Okorafor’s powerful, memorable, superhuman women.
In an alternate world where aliens have integrated with society, pregnant Nigerian- American doctor Future Nwafor Chukwuebuka has just smuggled an illegal alien plant named Letme Live through LaGuardia International and Interstellar Airport... and that's not the only thing she's hiding.
Kabu kabu—unregistered illegal Nigerian taxis—generally get you where you need to go. Nnedi Okorafor’s Kabu Kabu, however, takes the reader to exciting, fantastic, magical, occasionally dangerous, and always imaginative locations you didn’t know you needed. This debut short story collection by an award-winning author includes notable previously published material, a new novella co-written with New York Times-bestselling author Alan Dean Foster, six additional original stories, and a brief foreword by Whoopi Goldberg.
In the Ooni Kingdom, children born dada—with vines growing in their hair—are rumored to have special powers. Zahrah Tsami doesn’t know anything about that. She feels normal. Others think she’s different—they fear her. Only Dari, her best friend, isn’t afraid of her. But then something begins to happen—something that definitely marks Zahrah as different—and the only person she can tell is Dari. He pushes her to investigate, edging them both closer and closer to danger. Until Dari’s life is on the line. Only Zahrah can save him, but to do so she’ll have to face her worst fears alone, including the very thing that makes her different. This ebook includes bonus content and images, as well.
Nnedi Okorafor was never supposed to be paralyzed. A college track star and budding entomologist, Nnedi’s lifelong battle with scoliosis was just a bump in her plan—something a simple operation would easily correct. But when Nnedi wakes from the surgery to find she can’t move her legs, her entire sense of self begins to waver. Confined to a hospital bed for months, unusual things begin to happen. Psychedelic bugs crawl her hospital walls; strange dreams visit her nightly. Nnedi begins to put these experiences into writing, conjuring up strange, fantastical stories. What Nnedi discovers during her confinement would prove to be the key to her life as a successful science fiction author: In science fiction, when something breaks, something greater often emerges from the cracks.
An alien artifact turns a young girl into Death's adopted daughter in Remote Control, a thrilling sci-fi tale of community and female empowerment from Nebula and Hugo Award-winner Nnedi Okorafor.
There is witchcraft in science and a science to witchcraft. Both will conspire against you eventually.
Nnedi Okorafor's "Hello, Moto" has been adapted by C.J. Obasi into the short film Hello, Rain.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
"It’s a tragedy for a mere girl to experience such deep sorrow. But things were about to change for this girl. Oh yes. When things are meant to be, they will. The world always turns and the candle always burns. And Chidera was about to learn that one can get the very things one yearns."
A 2012 Hugo Award nominee for Best Semiprozine!
The May 2012 issue of Apex Magazine contains the following great content:
Short Fiction:
"The Chaos Magician's Mega Chemistry Set" by Nnedi Okorafor
The March 2011 issue of Hugo Award-winner, Clarkesworld Magazine.
This issue features fiction by Nnedi Okorafor ("The Book of Phoenix") and Gwendolyn Clare ("Perfect Lies"), an interview with Cory Doctorow, and an article on crowdsourcing science fiction movies by Mark Cole.
The Black Panther’s techno-genius sister stars in her own incredible adventures! T’Challa has disappeared, and Wakanda expects Shuri to lead their great nation in his absence! But she’s happiest in a lab surrounded by her inventions. She’d rather be testing gauntlets than throwing them down! So it’s time for Shuri to rescue her brother yet again — with a little help from Storm, Rocket Raccoon and Groot! But what happens when her outer-space adventure puts Africa at risk from an energy-sapping alien threat? Then, Shuri heads to America to investigate a lead, with Ms. Marvel and Miles “Spider-Man” Morales along for the ride! But with her people in peril, will Shuri embrace her reluctant destiny and become the Black Panther once more? Prepare for a hero like you’ve never seen before!
The water-breathing descendants of African slave women tossed overboard have built their own underwater society—and must reclaim the memories of their past to shape their future in this brilliantly imaginative novella inspired by the Hugo Award–nominated song “The Deep” from Daveed Diggs’s rap group clipping
In an alternate New Orleans caught in the tangle of the American Civil War, the wall-scaling girl named Creeper yearns to escape the streets for the air--in particular, by earning a spot on-board the airship Midnight Robber. Creeper plans to earn Captain Ann-Marie’s trust with information she discovers about a Haitian scientist and a mysterious weapon he calls The Black God’s Drums.
Black Perspectives serves as the blog for the African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS). "Today Black Perspectives is the leading online platform for public scholarship on global Black thought, history, and culture."
ICONOGRAPHY: An assignment created by Dr. Julian Chambliss
For this project, you will create a visual set that explores the themes and highlight transformative ideas linked to Afrofuturism. These posters can be created using desktop tools such as Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft PowerPoint, or online tools such as Canva.com or Ease.lly.com.
The ICO posters are a different methodology to explore the contributions and perspectives linked to Afrofuturism you have read about throughout the course. All posters will be submitted electronically. These posters will be included in an online gallery governed by a creative commons license. You should sign each poster to ensure attribution.
Each student will complete a set of three (3) posters. The poster themes will be:
Your ICO set will be accompanied by a creator statement. In the creator statement, you will discuss why you made the decision you did in creating your images, describe your inspiration, citing specific ideas from the class readings that shaped your choices, and talk explicitly about other works that inspired your approach. This creator statement will be 500 words.
Link to Julian Chambliss
MAFANIKIO: Land, Industry, and Information across the African Diaspora - An assignment designed by Dr. Walter Greason
