Afrofuturism or Africanfuturism: what we think

If you’re like me, you probably began to hear the term “Afrofuturism” after Black Panther’s box office success — and when you tried to read up on the term, you got pointed in the direction of Octavia Butler, Janelle Monae, Sun Ra, and most recently Beyonce’s Black is King, but no real clarification of what Afrofuturism was. Soon after, you probably stumbled upon Africanfuturism; another “-ism” for you to contemplate with.

Full Disclaimer: I am not an Afrofuturist, an Africanfuturist or an English major with a thesis on Afrofuturism/Africanfuturism in my back pocket; but I am someone who is passionate about these stories and wants to remain consistent and informed. As with everything, there is a lot of information and opinions about Afrofuturism and its relationship with Africanfuturism on the web. So for the purposes of Afrinomenon, I, along with a group of similarly engaged individuals, have created a guide of how we will be defining, applying and engaging with these terms in the future. In the case where we might have to update these definitions, we will let you know! Now that we have that covered, let’s dive in.

As the terms Afrofuturism and Africanfuturism are going to be significant to understand as we dive into the nuances and building blocks of Black-authored Science fiction, we at Afrinomenon have done some ‘basic’ research to…