Afrofuturism IRL

  The 2009 film District 9 directed by Neil Blomkamp follows a dystopian setting of Johannesburg, South Africa where an alien spaceship settled and South African scientists discover a million under-nurtured aliens taking refuge in the spaceship. Therefore, the government creates an alien refugee camp in the heart of Johannesburg where many of the South African residents are residents are resentful and frustrated with the government giving financial resources for providing for the aliens. The social tensions escalated to the point of riots, surges of violence, and general hostility between the aliens and humans. People created the derogatory slang/slur of “prawns” to refer to the aliens as bottomfeeders. The scientist struggled to understand why the aliens docked on earth, many brought attention to the fact that a command control of the spaceship fell and thus the mothership was docked for decades without any sign of activity. Wickus a shallow-minded human is appointed by the Multin...

  The short story Herd Immunity, it follows the protagonist Nayima who spends three days trailing behind a united guitarist in a dystopian landscape. The story offers glimpses into the desolate state of the world brought on by a destructive disease that’s brought death to many. Nyima travels on an abandoned interstate road following this stranger, in hopes of reaching a settlement or town of some sort with others who have managed to avoid the deadly illness. It’s revealed that the pandemic has spread to a point where only 1 in an estimated 10,000 people has developed immunity from the illness. Its described as a deadly illness that takes approximately 3 days to kill, with the first sign being nausea and vomiting. As Nayima follows this stranger, she expresses her desire for companionship and exhibits many signs of loneliness. Even though, the stranger meaningfully keeps his distance from her (as he is aware of her following). As Nayima follows the stranger with the guitar he scaven...

  Riley Boot’s 2017 film follows protagonist Cassius “Cash”, a young Black man who is down on his luck financially and who is living in the garage of his uncle’s garage in a futuristic urban city of Oakland California. Cassius comically lands a job as a telemarketer for a company called Regalview. Initially, Cash is not successful with landing deals, but when his Black co-worker recommends he adopts a white voice while on the phone, Cash quickly finds himself rising in the ranks of the company. Cash’s coworker Sal organizes a protest against Regalview for better labor conditions after Cash hesitatingly participates in the protest he expects to be dismissed from the company but to his surprise, he is promoted to the coveted position of being power caller. In this new position, Cash is told to always use his white voice and Cash soon learns the secret hidden agenda of Regalview, that Regalview sells slave labor to another corporation WorryFree. Cash is invited to a party hosted by th...

As I reflect on the world and its embedded atrocities, I can identify climate change which is the slow destruction of the one world we have been given, and late-stage capitalism that sustains systematic poverty as mechanisms of horror in our modern framework. In my Earthseed community, my newfound family and I would shelter ourselves from rising carbon levels, and excessive pollution of our land, sea, and air. We would isolate ourselves from the unnecessary slaughter of livestock and the rainforests. Instead, we would concentrate our efforts on living our lives as sustainably as possible. Modeled after the no waste lifestyle of Indigenous peoples who would honor their land, and treat the Earth with the utmost respect as we are all just visitors of this planet. Regarding late-stage capitalism, we would reject corrupt corporations such as big pharma would profit from the sick, we would have free access to education, home-ownership, holistic medical care, and would not be subjected to any...