The World Of Afro-Futurism Goes Way Beyond ‘Black Panther’ – Here’s A Primer

The term comes from a 1994 essay, and it applies to everything from the fiction of Octavia Butler and Nnedi Okorafor to the music of Janelle Monáe and the recent Jay-Z video “Family Feud” (directed by Ava DuVernay). Basically: Afro-futurism “refers to an aesthetic that infuses science fiction and fantasy with cultures of the African diaspora. It shakes up our preconceived notions of history and race by envisioning an often utopic future shaped by black technological innovation.”