| 1 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1509114232021136700 |
| 2 | %% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread. |
| 3 | %% |
| 4 | [[quoteright:350:[[Film/BlackPanther2018 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_black_panther_cast_social.png]]]] |
| 5 | [[caption-width-right:350:Those [[AppliedPhlebotinum vibranium]] blades look simple, but they can cut through tank armour. Not pictured: the remote-operated aircraft, modular smartphones and [[WeWillHavePerfectHealthInTheFuture universal healthcare]].]] |
| 6 | |
| 7 | ->''"I'm playing dark history. It's beyond black. I'm dealing with the dark things of the cosmos."'' |
| 8 | -->-- '''Music/SunRa''' |
| 9 | |
| 10 | Afrofuturism is an artistic genre that melds SpeculativeFiction with the cultures and experiences of Black people around the globe[[note]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrofuturism As]] Website/{{Wikipedia}} puts it: "A cultural aesthetic, philosophy of science, and philosophy of history that combines elements of {{science fiction}}, {{historical fiction}}, {{fantasy}}, [[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Afrocentric Afrocentrism]], and {{magic realism}} with non-Western cosmologies in order to critique not only the present-day dilemmas of black people, but also to revise, interrogate, and re-examine the historical events of the past... Afrofuturism addresses themes and concerns of the African diaspora through a technoculture and science fiction lens, encompassing a range of media and artists with a shared interest in envisioning black futures that stem from Afrodiasporic experiences."[[/note]]. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | While black artists have been writing science fiction since the 1860s[[note]] Martin R. Delaney's [[https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Blake_or_the_Huts_of_America_1859-1861#start_entry Blake, or the Huts of America]], an AlternateHistory novel about an attempted slave insurrection in the antebellum South, was published in 1859[[/note]], the concept and term were coined in the early 1990s by Mark Dery's essay/interview series [[https://www.kit.ntnu.no/sites/www.kit.ntnu.no/files/Black%20to%20the%20Future%20(Dery)_0.pdf "Black to the Future"]], which contrasted the seeming lack of African-American science fiction writers with the preponderance of sci-fi/fantasy elements found in the work of other African-American musicians and artists at the time. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | A key point of Dery's essay (and a driving force behind much Afrofuturistic work) is [[{{Applicability}} the amount of overlap between sci-fi tropes and African-American history]] -- as an example, he cites the similarity between African slaves and [[AlienAbduction alien abductees:]] captured by unknown and incomprehensible beings with advanced technology, shipped to a strange and alien world for sinister purposes, and frequently subjected to horrific medical abuse. Another common aspect of Afrofuturism is deliberate pushback against the lack of [[HumansAreWhite black (or at least non-white) characters]] in science fiction, and stereotypes of Africa as a [[DarkestAfrica collection of primitive]] [[{{Bulungi}} third-world nations]] and its peoples as [[HollywoodNatives savages]] or poverty-stricken waifs who can't grasp superior Western technology. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | While most Afrofuturist art tends to be retroactively labelled as such, an increasing number of contemporary creators have consciously adopted the genre, and now incorporate it into their work. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | For speculative fiction that explores topics related to other marginalised groups, see FeministFantasy and SpeculativeFictionLGBT. Compare also ModernMayincatecEmpire, which hypothetically would also be this for indigenous American cultures. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | When adding examples, bear in mind this trope is not simply "black people IN SPACE!" It refers to science fiction and fantasy that specifically draws on the aesthetics and history of African and black cultures. |
| 21 | ---- |
| 22 | !!Examples: |
| 23 | |
| 24 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 25 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 26 | * ''Manga/BlasterKnuckle'': A Japanese manga set in an alternate history where the [[TheKlan Ku Klux Klan]] are supernatural demons who eat black people, and are disguised as humans during the daytime. A black man named Victor "Bloody Rain" Freeman goes on a quest to kill as many of the KKK as possible. |
| 27 | [[/folder]] |
| 28 | |
| 29 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 30 | * ''ComicBook/BlackPanther'' is probably the first example that comes to mind in discussions of Afrofuturism. Thanks to the amazing capabilities of the metal vibranium, the African nation of Wakanda is the most technologically advanced society on Marvel Earth. That said, it also zigzags the trope in a number of ways. |
| 31 | ** Firstly, when Wakanda debuted, its status as the most advanced African nation on Marvel's Earth was due to a combination of being spared the worst ravages of "the race for Africa" via sheer luck, and a generations-old systemic program of sending Wakandas to the more technologically advanced nations of the world to study science, medicine and other related fields before returning home and applying what they had learned for the betterment of their nation. Whilst still Earth's only known deposit of [[{{Unobtainium}} Vibranium]], it was more a trump card for Wakanda than anything, because it was only recently that their base technology had advanced to the point where it was possible to even begin manipulating a NighInvulnerable metal. It wasn't until later that Wakanda was retconned as having been generations ahead of the rest of humanity, technologically speaking, for centuries. |
| 32 | ** Secondly, DependingOnTheWriter, Wakanda's technological advancement is sometimes shown as not preventing Wakandans from being subject to many human foibles. At their worst, they are xenophobic, arrogant elitists whose primary excuses for not having conquered the world centuries ago are a combination of indifference to anything beyond Wakanda's borders and being too busy fighting an endless series of tribal/ethnic wars with each other. Even when not that bad, Wakanda is still often portrayed as heavily flawed and generally disliked, even whilst other nations envy and resent their technological advancements. |
| 33 | ** Creator/TaNehisiCoates' 2018 ''ComicBook/BlackPantherTheIntergalacticEmpireOfWakanda'' is about a large group of Wakandan astronauts getting lost in space and time and retroactively establishing a galactic empire for Wakanda. |
| 34 | * Creator/DwayneMcDuffie's early work with DC imprint [[Creator/MilestoneComics Milestone Media]] was centered around creating minority heroes, many with a sci-fi bent. One of his creations, ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'', became popular enough to star in his own award-winning TV show. |
| 35 | * ''ComicBook/{{Elephantmen}}'': The eponymous Elephantmen were created and trained by [[MegaCorp MAPPO]] at a huge lab/base somewhere in Northern Africa. |
| 36 | * From Creator/ImageComics comes ''Excellence'', a magical dystopia story wherein certain black people, called the 'The Tenth' have the ability to wield powerful magic but are forced by an organization known by the Aegis to keep it a secret and use their abilities to protect the privileged and the pampered. The main character is Spencer Dales, a child of a prominent Tenth family line, whose deep-set daddy issues and rebellious views set him on a collision course with the Aegis and all the power it can bring to bear. |
| 37 | * The ''Pan-African Judges'' comics set in the ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' universe. Unlike other regions of Dredd's world that have adopted the Judge system, The Pan-African Judges were comprised of people from a wider variety of different backgrounds than in the more unified megacities, with Judges showing political ideologies (such as communism) and more open religious beliefs. |
| 38 | * ''[[http://www.concretepark.com/ Concrete Park]]'' features a cast comprised of Earth's outcasts (coincidentally all black or brown ethnic people), exiled to a distant desert planet and forgotten, left to their own devices. |
| 39 | * ''Cold Equator'', the third and final book of the ''Nikopol Trilogy'' at least vaguely skirts this trope. Creator/EnkiBilal clearly put a lot of love into the eponymous futuristic climate-controlled arcology's fascinating blend of traditional African design and fantastic technology but he just can't resist the temptation to throw in tons of wacky ethnic stereotypes (not that the earlier volumes were much kinder to Europeans, mind you). |
| 40 | * Creator/ImageComics' ''Bitter Root'', a jazz age action-horror comic that surrounds the monster-hunting adventures of the African-American Sangerye family. The series mixes hoodoo rootwork, dark alchemy, sharp racial commentary, and steampunk aesthetics in a different take on the monster hunting genre. |
| 41 | * Creator/ECComics ran a story called ''ComicBook/{{Judgment Day|ECComics}}'' in its ''Strange Fantasy'' comic in 1953, and later reprinted it in ''Incredible Science Fiction'' in '56, that could be seen as an early instance of this subgenre, despite being penned by a white writer, one Al Feldstein. In the story, a human representative from [[TheFederation The Galactic Republic]], named Tarlton, is assessing [[RobotRepublic a planet inhabited entirely by robots]] for possible Republic membership. He finds that the robots are [[ColorCodedCastes divided into blue and orange races]], with the blues [[FantasticRacism treated as second-class citizens]] and [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything required to use different battery-recharging stations]] despite being structurally identical. He concludes that the planet's civilization is not yet worthy of joining the Republic as long as their bigotry persists. Only in the final panel does the human character remove his space helmet, revealing that he is a black man. A bit lame and predictable today, perhaps, but in the mid '50s this was controversial stuff, and the use of a black protagonist caused serious trouble with MediaNotes/TheComicsCode. |
| 42 | -->'''Tarlton:''' Of course there's ''hope'' for ''you'', my friend. For a while, on ''Earth'', it looked like there was ''no hope!'' But when mankind on Earth learned to ''live together,'' ''real'' progress first ''began.'' The ''universe'' was ''suddenly ours.''\ |
| 43 | '''Orange Robot:''' ...And when ''we'' learn to live together...\ |
| 44 | '''Tarlton:''' The universe will be ''yours too.'' Good-bye, my friend!\ |
| 45 | '''Orange Robot:''' Good-bye, Tarlton.[[note]]Tarlton gave these parting words to the orange robot who guided him throughout the world of machines as he boarded his rocket to depart for home, [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall but he could just as easily have said them directly to the reader]].[[/note]] |
| 46 | * ''E.X.O.: The Legend of Wale Williams'', written by Roye Okupe with art by Sunkanmi Akinboye and Raphael Kazeem, is an afrofuturist superhero comic published by Creator/DarkHorseComics. Set in 2025, ten years into the future from when it was published, the comic takes place in Lagoon City, a fictional metropolis in Lagos, Nigeria (from which the creative staff comes), and is about Wale, the son of a brilliant engineer. Upon returning to Lagoon City after having been away for years because of a falling out with his father, Wale discovers a high-tech PowerArmor his now missing father built and uses it to fight an insurgent terrorist movement. |
| 47 | * ''ComicBook/InfinitumAnAfrofuturistTale.'' Quite apart from actually having the word in the title, the story focuses on the life of an ancient African king cursed with eternal life, detailing his participation in history, in his campaigns against slavers, his enslavement and resettling in America, his participation in the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement, and ultimately his efforts to protect the human race as a whole in the far future. |
| 48 | * ''ComicBook/FarSector'' brings in elements of this aesthetic in the City Enduring. It helps that about a third of the population resemble humans of African heritage, and the main character is an African-American Green Lantern. |
| 49 | * ''ComicBook/{{Magnus}}'' is a science-fiction comic featuring an alien civilization inspired by Yoruba religion. |
| 50 | * ''ComicBook/NewMasters.'' Dystopian afrofuturistic that serves as metaphor for life during colonization using aliens and mutants as oppressors and black people as the common person in that broken society. |
| 51 | |
| 52 | [[/folder]] |
| 53 | |
| 54 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 55 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Coonskin}}'': A 1970s animated film written and directed by Creator/RalphBakshi which satirizes Disney's controversial ''Film/SongOfTheSouth'' and [[{{Deconstruction}} Deconstructs]] the use of racist {{Blackface}} imagery in old cartoons. The film is a DarkerAndEdgier twist on the African-American slave folktales featuring Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Bear, and Br'er Fox, and puts the characters in New York City with a {{Blaxploitation}} setting, as they try to rise to the top of an organized crime racket while battling crooked cops, criminals, and the Italian Mafia. |
| 56 | [[/folder]] |
| 57 | |
| 58 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 59 | * ''Film/BlackPanther2018'' leans heavily into this trope, with the central conflict centered on how involved the technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda should become in the affairs of the world, more specifically the affairs of the Black Diaspora. The sequel ''Film/BlackPantherWakandaForever'' further builds on this by introducing another civilization (this time leaning to ModernMayincatecEmpire) with similar {{Unobtainium}} resources--posing questions regarding how postcolonial cultures can and should deal with the resource extraction of the Global North. |
| 60 | * ''Film/SpaceIsThePlace'': A film starring Music/SunRa (see his personal example below), who attempts to relocate African-Americans to a new planet. The film has been said to be a response to the Black Panther Party, represented by the Overseer. |
| 61 | %%* ''Film/{{Blacula}}'': A horror film about an African prince who meets with Dracula to negotiate an end to the slave trade. Instead, Dracula turns him into a vampire, causing him to terrorize humanity hundreds of years later.%%Not a science fiction movie%% |
| 62 | * ''Kuso'': A horror-comedy anthology film set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture in a [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic Los Angeles]], directed by music producer Flying Lotus |
| 63 | %%* ''Film/DjangoUnchained'': A unique twist on the {{Western}} genre directed by Creator/QuentinTarantino about a newly freed black slave from Texas named Django who becomes a BountyHunter and fights white slavers.%%Not a science fiction movie%% |
| 64 | * ''Film/District9'': A science fiction film set in South Africa that uses an alien species known as Prawns to explore themes of xenophobia, discrimination, and social segregation (such as apartheid and killings of albino Africans). |
| 65 | * ''Film/BladeTrilogy'': A science-fiction-fantasy superhero series based on the Marvel Comics character. Starring an African-American hero with some high-tech weaponry, it also references Afro-American syncretic religions such as Santeria. |
| 66 | * ''Film/GanjaAndHess'': A "black vampire film" starring African-American actor Duane Jones, previously the star of ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968'', as an anthropologist who was transformed into a vampire after being stabbed with a ceremonial dagger from the Black Myrthian age, the Myrthians being an ancient African nation that ritually consumed blood. |
| 67 | * ''Film/GetOut2017'': A blend of science fiction and horror which satirizes modern-day racism in the United States. |
| 68 | * ''Film/{{Bright}}'': The film uses the metaphor of various fantasy races to discuss present racial tensions and issues (Orcs are the lowest class of citizens, elves control much of the cities' economic and political power) while one of the main characters is a black police officer paired with the first Orc cop. |
| 69 | * Creator/JohnSayles' ''Film/TheBrotherFromAnotherPlanet'', about a mute black-passing [[HumanAliens Human Alien]] named [[Creator/JoeMorton "the Brother"]] wandering the black communities of New York City in The80s and running from [[TheMenInBlack the (white) Men in Black]]. |
| 70 | * Most of ''Film/SorryToBotherYou'''s primary cast is made of black actors and the film mixes dystopian science fiction and surreal comedy and pointed political commentary on race and social class within capitalism. |
| 71 | * ''Africa Paradis'', released in 2006, is a Beninese-French co-production [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture set in 2033]], about [[MirrorUniverse a United States of Africa and its influx of white immigrants escaping from a third-world Europe]]. |
| 72 | * ''Film/FastColor'': The film is about members of the same African-American family: Bo, her daughter Ruth, and Ruth's daughter Lila. All have powerful telekinetic abilities that have been passed down to women in their family across many generations. They are hunted by white government agents who want to use them. |
| 73 | [[/folder]] |
| 74 | |
| 75 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 76 | * Creator/SamuelRDelany: One of the "Big Three" in afrofuturism (specifically he was one of the authors name-dropped in Dery's 1994 essay), famous for being one of the first major black science fiction writers to break into the mainstream[[note]]That we know of; given the prevalence of anonymous authors during the earlier eras of science-fiction it's quite possible some of said authors were black, or at least non-white[[/note]]. Works such as "Aye, and Gomorrah..." were groundbreaking in their time for their explorations of race and sexuality. |
| 77 | * Creator/OctaviaButler: Second of the "Big Three" mentioned in Dery's essay. Works like the Xenogenesis trilogy (which often feature black female protagonists) emphasize the importance of diversity and change in protecting and preserving the human race. |
| 78 | * Steven Barnes: Final member of the "Big Three". A frequent collaborator with Creator/LarryNiven, and writer on sci-fi shows such as ''Outer Limits'' and ''Stargate SG-1''. |
| 79 | * Creator/NKJemisin tends to get labelled as an Afrofuturist writer given that she writes science fiction and fantasy. She [[https://www.tor.com/2016/05/09/author-event-nk-jemisin-nnedi-okorafor-brooklyn-museum/ contests]] the label, however, finding it reductive and ill-defined. |
| 80 | * Most of Creator/NnediOkorafor's books take place in a technologically updated future or alternate universe Africa that is also a MagicalLand. Some examples are ''Literature/ZahrahTheWindseeker'', ''Literature/TheShadowSpeaker'', and ''Literature/WhoFearsDeath''. The trope is lampshaded in ''[[http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/okorafor_11_16/ Afrofuturist 419]]''. However, she contests the afrofuturist label, [[https://nnedi.blogspot.com/2019/10/africanfuturism-defined.html calling]] her works "Africanfuturism" or "Africanjujuism" instead. |
| 81 | %%Creator/NaloHopkinson - '''Administrivia/ZeroContextExample''' |
| 82 | * The novel ''Literature/InvisibleMan'' (not to be mistaken for [[Literature/TheInvisibleMan that other novel with a similar title]]) uses the power of {{Invisibility}} as a metaphor for living as a black person in America. |
| 83 | * ''Literature/MumboJumbo'': AlternateHistory novel (with elements of UrbanFantasy) set in TheRoaring20s about a millennia-old AncientConspiracy devoted to suppressing black history and culture. |
| 84 | * ''Literature/TheEarTheEyeAndTheArm'' takes place in [[UsefulNotes/{{Zimbabwe}} Zimbabwe,]] in the year 2194. |
| 85 | * In ''Literature/{{Otherland}}'' the PostCyberpunk applies to everywhere in the world, but notable is that Renie and !Xabbu are from Durban, South Africa. |
| 86 | * Jon Courtenay Grimwood's ''Ashraf Bey'' books are set in an alternate universe North Africa. |
| 87 | * The Watekni subculture in a TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture Kenya in Creator/IanMcDonald's ''Chaga''. |
| 88 | * ''Literature/ZooCity'' is a {{Cyberpunk}} novel with fantasy elements set in South Africa. It has an endorsement from Creator/WilliamGibson himself and has the same kind of grey market protagonist that Gibson's novels favor. |
| 89 | * Creator/AlastairReynolds's novel ''Literature/BlueRememberedEarth''. While not everything is perfect in the African countries, they've become new economic and technological powers and the overall tone is quite optimistic. A PostCyberpunk sensibility is present, but it's mostly set dressing. |
| 90 | * Raphael Carter's ''The Fortunate Fall,'' a PostCyberpunk novel set in a 24th century where everywhere but Africa is a third-world crapsack. Africa, on the other hand, is the hypertechnological promised land where, in an inversion of the "one drop" rule, only those who prove via blood test to have African ancestry are allowed entry. And did we mention the possibly real/possibly cyber versions of the Egyptian gods? |
| 91 | * Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/TheEvitableConflict": The Tropic Region (a unified Africa, South America, Latin America and Mexico) eventually becomes Earth's primary economic driver, while Europe sinks into a sleepy backwater that's more of a retirement community writ-large than anything else. |
| 92 | * ''Literature/AlienInASmallTown.'' Set in the 24th century, only a brief section near the end of the book is set in UsefulNotes/{{Zimbabwe}}, but we learn that Earth's capital city is located there, and it seems to be a generally good place to live. Tendai grew up here, and he shows his wife Indira the country's ancient stone cities, wildlife preserves, etc. Notably, there is a monument to all who died in the AIDS plague of our own time, and to those who died under "the vile 21st century tyrant Mugabe." |
| 93 | * ''Literature/LegacyOfOrisha'' takes place in a future/alternate universe (it's not specified which) Nigeria in which there is a BanOnMagic, and much of those who practice magic (or maji) were murdered a decade before the book begins. The maji who were not killed are viewed as second class citizens and oppresed by the government. Much of the book parallels modern-day racism, with maji looking different to non-maji (being darker skinned with MysticalWhiteHair). The author, Tomi Adeyemi, states that she was explicitly inspired by modern instances of PoliceBrutality and institutionalized racism. |
| 94 | * ''Literature/StraightOuttaFangton'' by Creator/CTPhipps is the story of Peter Stone, a black vampire who is locked out of the riches and hedonism of the "Old Ones" of his kind by a combination of prejudice as well as classicism. Peter comments on the fact FantasticRacism doesn't really correlate to a lot of his regular experiences as a black man in New Detroit, parodying the concept. He routinely deals with hate groups, Neo-Nazis, vampire hunters, and bill collectors in an UnmasquedWorld. |
| 95 | * The book ''Literature/LovecraftCountry'' by Matt Ruff is a story about a family of black Americans traveling to Creator/HPLovecraft's [[LovecraftCountry Arkham, Massachusetts]] (or the city which inspired it in-universe). There, they are confronted by a mixture of racism and supernatural horror. |
| 96 | * In the 1960s, Creator/MackReynolds wrote his North Africa series starting with ''Black Man's Burden'' in 1961, featured African-Americans going back to Africa to help bootstrap the continent into a high-tech future. The stories were inspired by time Reynolds' had spent in Africa, and were praised for their positive handling of racial issues, but criticized for their paternalistic views of tribal and nomadic societies. |
| 97 | * ''Literature/ThePreyOfGods'' by Nicky Drayden, takes place in a future South Africa where robot servants are commonplace and the country is a burgeoning financial superpower due to its genetic engineering businesses (including the business of reviving extinct species). Things in South Africa goes [[UnmasquedWorld a bit sideways]] when a fallen demigoddess wants to regain her old power back through blood sacrifice... |
| 98 | [[/folder]] |
| 99 | |
| 100 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 101 | * From the [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse MCU:]] |
| 102 | ** ''Series/LukeCage2016'' takes a comic book setup (superpowered hero defends his hometown from evildoers) and uses it as a springboard for exploring police brutality, racial identity, and fighting white supremacy. |
| 103 | ** ''Series/CloakAndDagger2018'' stars an interracial couple with WonderTwinPowers - the black, upper-class Tyrone (Cloak) has [[CastingAShadow darkness-based powers]] while the white homeless Tandy (Dagger) can shoot light-based projectiles. |
| 104 | ** ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'' addresses America's history of racism in the context of an AffirmativeActionLegacy. |
| 105 | * The South African/Canadian sci-fi series ''Series/CharlieJade'' involves [[AlternateUniverse three different universes]] in its storyline. One of them, the "Alphaverse", is dystopian and completely cyberpunk, including [[CyberpunkWithAChanceOfRain lots of rain]]. Its counterpoint is the ecotopian "Gammaverse" (unpolluted, but rife with political corruption and social engineering). The neutral one is the "Betaverse", which is our own early 21st century world. The whole series takes place in the Cape Town region and very little info about the rest of the world is ever given. According to the series's script, both the Alphaverse and Gammaverse are supposedly [[AlternateHistory alternate histories]] of the Betaverse, with a divergence occurring shortly after WWII or during the early UsefulNotes/ColdWar period. |
| 106 | * ''Franchise/StarTrek'': |
| 107 | ** ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', while not afro-futurist in and of itself, did [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5srO5euP9E have an influence on the genre]] due to the presence of Uhura; the fact that a black person had a place on a futuristic space ship left a serious impact on young viewers. |
| 108 | ** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS06E13FarBeyondTheStars Far Beyond The Stars]]": Sisko experiences a series of visions of himself as Benny Russell, a black sci-fi writer in The50s. Russell ends up inspired by Sisko's memories to write a short story called "Deep Space Nine" only to have it rejected by his publisher for featuring a black captain of a space ship. The editor finally agrees to print the story, only for the publisher to pulp that entire magazine issue because of Russell's story, and Russell is ultimately fired. As he experiences an epic breakdown Russell delivers the following speech: |
| 109 | --->I am a human being, dammit! You can deny me all you want, but you can't deny Ben Sisko - he exists! That future, that space station, all those people, they exist in here [pointing to his head], in my mind...You can pulp a story, but you cannot destroy an idea. Don't you understand? That's ancient knowledge. You cannot destroy an idea! That future, I created it and it's real! Don't you understand? It is REAL! It's REAL! |
| 110 | * In a similar vein to ''Luke Cage'', ''Series/BlackLightning2018'' centers on a black superhero who uses his powers to fight crime and institutionalized racism. |
| 111 | * ''Series/UtopiaFalls'': The series centers on a city in a post-apocalyptic future, New Babyl, with a fairly significant black population, while the lead character Aliyah is a young black woman. Bodhi too is a young black man, and several supporting characters are black. Part of the plot involves them finding hip-hop again, a style which had been lost, due to a digital library named The Archive preserving them along with other musical genres. They're then soon reintroduced into their society as part of the Exemplar, a major artistic competition. Along with this, they rediscover peaceful resistance against oppression and begin to defy their government, which is very suspicious about new things, based on knowledge they gain from The Archive of the civil rights movement by African-Americans. |
| 112 | * ''Series/TomSwift2022'' re-imagines the [[Literature/TomSwift classic Edisonade hero]] as a black, gay genius and explores how a black man navigates an industry that's usually dominated by white men. |
| 113 | * ''Series/FortyFourHundred'' is a science-fiction series exploring what happens when 4,440 people from different places and historical eras are suddenly brought into the modern day. Unlike the original series ''Series/The4400'', many of these new arrivals are black people from periods where they faced varying levels of racism and repression, and the series looks at the ways in which black people's lives in America have changed... and the ways in which they haven't. |
| 114 | [[/folder]] |
| 115 | |
| 116 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 117 | * Music/SunRa is widely considered the TropeCodifier, with the way he combined alien and space motifs with African (especially Egyptian) imagery. |
| 118 | * Music/KamasiWashington frequently utilizes cosmic and African imagery in his music. With a EtherealChoir colouring the background of most of his solo recordings. |
| 119 | * Music/{{Clipping}}'s ConceptAlbum ''Splendor and Misery'', about a lone black slave that is the SoleSurvivor a rebellion in a slave (space) ship. The album was nominated MediaNotes/HugoAward in 2017. |
| 120 | * [[Music/GeorgeClinton Parliament-Funkadelic]] use crazy sci-fi costuming and imagery in their music and live shows. |
| 121 | --> '''George Clinton, describing the inspiration for ''Music/MothershipConnection'':''' We had put black people in situations nobody ever thought they would be in, like the White House. I figured another place you wouldn't think black people would be was in outer space. I was a [[JustForFun/OneOfUs big fan]] of ''Franchise/StarTrek'', so we did a thing with a pimp sitting in a spaceship shaped like a Cadillac, and we did all these James Brown-type grooves, but with street talk and ghetto slang. |
| 122 | * Music/JanelleMonae uses futuristic and android imagery to discuss contemporary issues faced by the African-American community. Examples can be found in Music/MetropolisTheChaseSuite, Music/TheArchAndroid, and Music/DirtyComputer among others. |
| 123 | -->''[[{{Determinator}} Imma keep leading like a young Harriet Tubman]]\ |
| 124 | You can take my wings but I'm still gonna fly\ |
| 125 | And even when you edit me the booty don't lie\ |
| 126 | Yeah keep singing, I'mma keep writing songs\ |
| 127 | I'm tired of [[Music/MarvinGaye Marvin]] asking me, "What's Going On?"\ |
| 128 | March to the streets 'cause I'm willing and I'm able\ |
| 129 | [[BadassBoast Categorize me, I defy every label]]\ |
| 130 | And while you're selling dope, we're gonna keep selling hope\ |
| 131 | We risin' up now, you gotta deal you gotta cope\ |
| 132 | Will you be electric sheep? Electric ladies, will you sleep?\ |
| 133 | [[DareToBeBadass Or will you preach?]]'' |
| 134 | --->-- "Electric Lady," ''Music/TheElectricLady'' (2013) |
| 135 | %% Music/{{MFDOOM}} - '''Administrivia/ZeroContextExample''' |
| 136 | %% Music/FlyingLotus - '''Administrivia/ZeroContextExample''' |
| 137 | * Music/{{Beyonce}} incorporates Afrofuturist elements into her music videos and live performances, such as her [[https://robobeyonce.wordpress.com/2015/03/30/beyonce-the-queen-of-afrofuturism/ robotic costuming in the music video and live performance of "Sweet Dreams"]], and her cyborg hand in the "Single Ladies" video. Most notably ''Music/Lemonade2016'' leans heavily into the "fantasy" side of Afrofuturism, using religious imagery inspired by Yoruba and Christianity as well as referencing famous African-American legends such as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igbo_Landing Igbo Landing]]. |
| 138 | * The video for "Together Again" by Music/JanetJackson is themed around an Afrofuturistic paradise. |
| 139 | * Boney M did this sometimes-- "Nightflight to Venus" and the A-side of ''10,000 Lightyears'' come to mind. |
| 140 | * The entire subgenre of Detroit techno is Afrofuturist. Drexciya combines sci-fi with aquatic themes. |
| 141 | [[/folder]] |
| 142 | |
| 143 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 144 | * In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', the West Africa inspired Jamuraa was one of the most magically and technologically advanced societies of Dominaria, essentially making it ''Magic'''s Wakanda, though this is downplayed as the focus on the sets featuring it was on the fantasy rather than sci-fi aspects. To a lesser extent Amonkhet, which is based off AncientEgypt with [[Franchise/StargateVerse Stargate-ey]] aesthetics, but still features predominantly African humans and has a colonialist narrative. |
| 145 | %% * The ''TabletopGame/{{Trinity}}'' roleplaying game subverts this; Africa is a leading force in 22nd century Earth, though not without its problems. It helps that Africa managed to avoid the worst damage of the Aberrant War, and the more modern Europe and North America got hit hard. |
| 146 | %% * ''TabletopGame/TranshumanSpace'' has a lot of preppy PostCyberpunk, but one of the biggest themes is that the degree of penetration is horribly uneven and the full benefits of the Fifth Wave of technological advancement are only available to the richest parts of the world. Africa is (mostly) not one of the richest parts of the world, and it's straight {{cyberpunk}} if you're ''lucky''. |
| 147 | %% * While ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' is primarily focused on North America (especially Seattle), Africa receives no small amount of attention, with both the setting's worst WretchedHive and its most advanced space port (and SpaceElevator) being situated on the continent, along with several other places of note. |
| 148 | %% ZCE: As described, these are all just "This is a setting where Africa is acknowledged to exist and things have happened there." |
| 149 | * ''The Other Side'' by Wyrd Games is a tactical strategy game set in an [[AlternateHistory alternate 1908]] where Ethiopia gained access to Soulstone technology early thanks to a temporary space-time breach. The discovery fuelled innovation and made Ethiopia a dominant force in Africa, and soon they surpassed the British Empire as the world's top superpower. Abyssinia has access to a varied army that is fairly proficient in melee and ranged, and combines high technology with traditional African aesthetics. |
| 150 | * In a way similar to the ''Shadowrun'' example, Africa appears in ''TabletopGame/Cyberpunk2020'' as a thriving continent in the midst of a cultural and economic renaissance, all thanks to UsefulNotes/{{ESA}} having built a very important spaceport, not far away from the Kilimanjaro. Consequently, nations in Sub-Saharan Africa became host to much of the critical industries needed for space exploration, giving them a much-needed economic boost and creating a population of skilled laborers with the knowledge needed to colonize space. By the current year of the setting, these spacers of African descent have overthrown their ESA employers and seized control of much of the upper atmosphere, forming a spacer coalition and brand new culture known as the 'Highriders'. |
| 151 | * ''TabletopGame/WagaduChronicles'' is a third party ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' setting based on ancient Africa, the creators wanted to intentionally subvert the MedievalEuropeanFantasy trope and raise awareness of African culture. |
| 152 | [[/folder]] |
| 153 | |
| 154 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 155 | * The 2022 Creator/RoyalShakespeareCompany [[https://www.rsc.org.uk/much-ado-about-nothing/ production]] of ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing'' is set in a futuristic world with a mostly black cast and crew, costuming based on Ghanese Carnival outfits, and music based on Afrobeat and Afrobeats. The director has specifically described it as an Afrofuturist interpretation. |
| 156 | [[/folder]] |
| 157 | |
| 158 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 159 | * One of the campaigns of ''VideoGame/EmpireEarth 2: The Art of Supremacy'' takes place during [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture the "Synthetic Age" (202X-204X)]] (featuring things like nanotech enhanced soldiers and giant mecha) in Africa, and deals with the poor natives taking up arms against the exploitative [[MegaCorp megacorps]]. It ends with Kenya becoming a technologically advanced world superpower thanks to the deposits of otherwise unattainable elements there. |
| 160 | * Played with in ''VideoGame/DreamfallTheLongestJourney'' and its sequel ''VideoGame/DreamfallChapters'', which takes place in a {{Cyberpunk}} future where most of Africa has risen as one of the world's leading economic superpowers following several economic collapses and crises in Europe and America. As a result, most African countries are consistently portrayed and described as peaceful, idyllic, and prosperous; a stark contrast to the run-down and polluted, borderline dystropic Europe. |
| 161 | * Morgan Industries is an Afrofuturistic MegaCorp that serves as a playable faction in VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri. |
| 162 | * The People's African Union is one of the factions colonizing space in ''VideoGame/CivilizationBeyondEarth''. In-universe, it's said to have come about as part of a sub-Saharan renaissance, and has an AI focusing on the [[BioPunk Harmony]] affinity and eschewing the [[CyberPunk Supremacy]] affinity. However, while they're likely to make and keep alliances and their faction bonus is a boost to food production, their leader is a stern ReasonableAuthorityFigure who, behind [[NiceGuy his jovial front]], harbours a measure of resentment over how the the African people were exploited and humiliated by foreign powers in the past few centuries, and is determined to make sure that never happens again. A faction of BewareTheNiceOnes, basically. |
| 163 | * In ''VideoGame/GuildWars'', the designers studied the old North African empires, projected them forward a few centuries, and added the use of magic. The result was Elona, a nation with [[https://www.gamepur.com/files/styles/max_width_770px/public/images/tldr/2017/08/Guild-Wars-2-Path-of-Fire-Announced.jpg?itok=o3nc72xt pretty awesome]] aesthetics. |
| 164 | * ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' has the city of Numbani in the West-African savanna. It is a gorgeous, technologically advanced metropolis built after the [[GreatOffscreenWar Omnic Crisis]] and is one of the few places where humans and [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots omnics]] live side by side in peace, working together to create a Utopian Africa. As a result, it is unofficially known as "The City of Harmony". Certain characters have special dialog on the location, ranging from admiring its peace to rage and disgust at the idea of tolerating omnics. |
| 165 | * ''Franchise/LeagueOfLegends'' champion Ekko, the Boy Who Shattered Time has an Afrofuturist sensibility: A street-smart, anti-authoritarian black kid capable of [[TimeMaster manipulating time with his high-tech equipment.]] |
| 166 | * Some people interpet the ''VideoGame/ToejamAndEarl'' games as a science fiction allegory to the African diaspora. |
| 167 | * ''VideoGame/{{Technobabylon}}'' takes place in the independent high-tech city of Newton. Based on some comments, it's implied that Newton is located in Kenya, not too far from Mombasa. |
| 168 | * ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'': In Jax's Tower ending, he uses Kronika's hourglass to [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong reshape history into one where African people were never enslaved by the colonialists]], which results in a prosperous Africa in which he and his family live peacefully and adopt its cultures and fashion. |
| 169 | * ''VideoGame/{{Wipeout}}'' has Assegai, a team representing the EU-like "United African Nations," based out of South Africa. They're a highly innovative team, with a new strategy every time they appear and and historically good placements according to the lore. Their crafts tend to lean on FragileSpeedster territory, sacrificing shield strength for higher-than-average speed, acceleration and handling. |
| 170 | * Several stages in the ''Franchise/MegaMan'' series are set in Africa, and there's obviously always a great deal of futuristic elements about. Examples include Search Man (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Aqua Man's (Madagascar) stages in ''VideoGame/MegaMan8'', Mattrex/Burn Dinorex (either Ethiopia or Somalia) and Dark Dizzy/Dark Necrobat's (Egypt) stages in ''VideoGame/MegaManX5'', Soldier Stonekong (Algeria) and Flame Hyenard's (Angola) stages in ''VideoGame/MegaManX7'', and Dark Mantis's (DRC) stage in ''VideoGame/MegaManX8''. |
| 171 | [[/folder]] |
| 172 | |
| 173 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 174 | * The animated sci-fi anthology series ''WesternAnimation/KizaziMotoGenerationFire'' is developed by African creators across six countries to present an African vision of the future. |
| 175 | * The planet Doloraam introduced in the second season of the TV series ''WesternAnimation/MyDadTheBountyHunter'' is styled with afrofuturism in mind. The planet is a CrystalSpiresAndTogas society where high technology like space travel, energy shields and a local species of humanoid felines mixes with an emphasis on close range weapons like spears and blades, some of which shoot laserblasts, a race of [[HumanAliens aliens who look like Africa-descended humans]] and old African garbs and architecture. |
| 176 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Iwaju}}'' is about a young Nigerian girl in a future version of Laos with {{Flying Car}}s and robots, but still with a sharp rich/poor divide. |
| 177 | [[/folder]] |
| 178 | |
| 179 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 180 | * Africa is a resource-rich continent - the second largest continent after Asia in terms of population, a treasure trove of natural resources, and ''very'' long crop growing seasons on most of the continent - and a great many international observers feel that as Africa increasingly outgrows its post-colonial strife and resolves its issues of poverty and disease. Africa is probably the "Next Big Thing" in the global economy by the middle decades of the 21st Century. China's ever-increasing investments there[[note]] Admittedly done to increase Chinese political influence on the continent as for economic purposes; China is a vastly preferred investment source by Africans because A: It doesn't have [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scramble_for_Africa the racist and imperialist legacy of the West in Africa]], and B: It's rich.[[/note]] may either accelerate or hinder this process, only time will tell. |
| 181 | * [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_metallurgy_in_Africa Potentially]] Africa might have developed iron metallurgy a thousand years before anywhere in Eurasia, so for a while Sub-Saharan Africa was technically the most technologically advanced place on the planet. |
| 182 | [[/folder]] |
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