#s16capstone

It felt kind of weird having my final paper of my undergraduate career be on something that I didn’t feel I really “connected” with, but after folding in that mystery component, I’m quite satisfied, and I might even expand it between the first draft and the final draft. I think the only way I could have been happier would be if I had been able to just straight-up write about mystery stories.

OutKast’s “ATLiens” video evokes imagery of pyramids and hieroglyphics, which, like Sun Ra, places the group at the center of Egyptian mythology. The preface to the song says, “The hieroglyphics tell us the story of two visionaries: OutKast, not of this world. They led a band of rag-tag followers carrying everything they had, pursued by forces of evil. The symbols show us they reached their destination, but what happened inside is a mystery.” This opening statement mystifies OutKast as otherworldly beings. But this song is not only about black people being placed in histories they have been erased from, but also about making a future for black people. Andre 3000 says, “the future of the world depends on / If or if not the child we raise gon’ have that nigga syndrome / Or will it know to beat the odds regardless of skin tone / Or will it know that if we tune it, it just might get picked on / Or will it give a fuck about what others say and get gone / They alienate us cause we different keep your hands to the sky.” Andre 3000 is commenting on how a young black person should act in order to make it in American culture. 

OSHUN’s video for “Protect Your Self” meets the criteria for being an Afrofuturist work quite obviously. Niambi Sala and Thandiwe present themselves as a part of rapper Proda’s higher consciousness and they are encouraging him to revert to originality. They give him the choice to either help them transform unoriginal, media obsessed, rude people or to let parasites decompose his body. OSHUN, Prado, and a group of black youth purge the streets of New York dressed in all white. I think the all white symbolizes purity because they say in the song, “If you mess with me, you mess with God, I mean it and I quote.” And when they shoot the people in the street, their clothes change from darker colors to lighter colors, symbolizing a transformation. This video is Afrofuturist because the members of OSHUN present themselves as omniscient beings and a group of black people corrects society instead of white people correcting society.

I highly recommend watching this video: for both reasons of enlightening content and hearing two talented musicians. Two NYU students, Niambi Sali and Thandiwe, make up the music duo OSHUN. I discovered through an interview with OSHUN their beliefs and values and focus on African culture, and that the name OSHUN is an orisha from the Yoruba religion. The music video for “stay woke” is a call to all black people to embrace their blackness and be socially aware of white supremacy. In the second verse by Thandiwe says, “Picking and choosing when you conscious like narcolepsy / Thinking you equal in the pot they say is melting / Saying you righteous but you pray at the masters church / And when you’re told bout yourself you get your feelings hurt.” They are challenging black people to separate themselves from their oppressors. I think this video is significant to Afrofuturism because OSHUN empowers black people to rise up and transcend the constrictions placed upon them by dominant white society.  

This link connects to a gallery of art used to depict various Afrofuturist futures from the points of view of 8 different artists. While the paintings, by virtue of originating from different artists, show the great amount of variance in ideas even between those who claim the Afrofuturist label.  A quote from the description of this gallery that I particularly like read, “They’re amazingly diverse not just in their sci-fi visions, but the media they use to express them. Painting, comics, illustration, mixed-media collage, even masks—there are endless ways to bring the future to life.” I like that this quote seems to not only apply to the works themselves, but more importantly to the realm of Afrofuturism as a whole.  There are indeed endless ways to bring the future to life. Hopefully, with the help of potential futures as imagined by Afrofuturism, these futures might just brighter, and like these paintings more beautiful, than the reality in which we currently live. 

This article by Vann R. Newkirk II explores the concept of Afrofuturism as it is evident in the movie “The Wiz.” Newkirk’s argument explores this reimagining of the “Wizard of Oz” to be an Afrofuturist text due to the fact that in reinterpreting the work, it incorporates themes that are associated with this history of oppression of Black people and other associated events. Specifically, Newkirk cites Michael Jackson’s performance of the scarecrow and the other characters in the film to be ones that evokes these Afrofuturist ideals, as evident when he writes, “Scarecrow, first Hinton Battle’s stage version and then Michael Jackson’s colorful film version, becomes a play on Black hopelessness and oppression while embracing a history of Black showmanship and music. The Tin Man is a story of Black emotion and the Cowardly Lion under Ted Ross’ show-stopping portrayal becomes a commentary on Black masculinity.” By connecting the recast of the traditional roles of the “Wizard of Oz” to Black people with the themes they explore which are specific to issues concerning Black people, “The Wiz” emerges as yet another work of Afrofuturism in popular culture.

Mason, Amelia. "George Clinton, Sun Ra And The Sci-Fi Funk Of Afrofuturism." The ARTery. NPR Boston, 2 Mar. 2014. Web. 12 Mar. 2016.

Seinskog, Erik. "Michael Jackson and Afrofuturism: HIStory's Adaptation of Past, Present, and Future." The Politics of Adaptation: Media Convergence and Ideology. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2015. 126-40. Print.