A History of Afrofuturism and Where It's Going

What is afrofuturism? Is afrofuturism about pasts, presents, or futures? Afrofuturist novels as early as editor and novelist Pauline Hopkins's Of One Blood (1902-1903) imagined black utopic kingdoms. How does Hopkins's afrofuturism help us understand contemporary work from novelist akwaeke emezi, whose fiction imagines conflicts in post-revolutionary worlds? This talk shows how Hopkins and writers more than a century later conceptualize an afrofuturism where the present is the greatest source of possibility.

Hubert Cook is an Assistant Professor of English at Connecticut College, where he teaches black cultural and literary studies. His research focuses on black feminism, affect, emotion, and performativity.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher Liz’s Book Bar