Is Technology — a #BlackLivesMatter Superpower? Recognizing #AfroFuturism
I am a huge sci-fi geek, anime lover, gamer, and fantasy fan like many of my friends, but I’m also a technology nerd who happens to run a company, Qeyno Labs, that teaches high potential youth in low opportunity settings how to code through “popup schools” we call Hackathon Academy. Essentially, I teach marginalized youth to be hackers, of not just apps, but of their own lives, because their lives matter to all of us.
In less than a week, we will be hosting our 3rd Annual My Brother’s Keeper Hackathon in Oakland, a three-day popup school focused on lifting the life outcomes of young men of color, but is inclusive of all kids, and their mentors come from all walks of life, and Qeyno does this with amazing company partners, sponsors, and volunteers who want to widen the narrative of what these kids are capable of.
My Brother’s Keeper Hackathon in Oakland — February 26th — 28th http://www.mbkhackoak.eventbrite.com
The best way to widen the narrative is by giving them the power, the language, and the tools for them to tell their own stories.
I wonder though, if there is a pattern to some of the storytelling being told that includes men of color, particularly Black men as superheroes (or villains) in the comic books and graphic novels we all enjoy. Recently there has been a rise of new and diverse superheroes shattering the adamantium ceiling of the typical all-White superhero and super-team. From Wolverine’s daughter, X-23, who has taken on the “Wolverine” mantle to the addition of “Batwing” in the animated direct-to-dvd Batman film “Batman: Bad Blood”.
Batman Incorporated #5 (May 2011), the latest Batwing
(Luke Fox, son of Batman ally Lucius Fox)
Batwing #19 (June 2013)
It was great to not only see a person of color added to the “Batman family” of crime-fighting superheroes, but the film also highlighted the queer-identified hero, Batwoman, and both of their portrayals were done well — kudos to DC. But there is a pattern…
Batwing’s super-abilities (he doesn’t have powers) are enhanced by technology. He is super-intelligent and his fighting capabilities come from his military veteran background, but he also happens to belong to a story-telling tradition of Black males who are enhanced or derive their super-powers from technology.
Most fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are familiar with Falcon, played by Anthony Mackie, who will be returning to the big screen in the upcoming Captain America film, “Civil War”.
He will be joined by another technology-enhanced Black male superhero — War Machine, played by Don Cheadle.
(January, 1979), as War Machine — Iron Man #284
(September, 1992)
Now twice, or three times, might be coincidental — for someone who doesn’t know comic books, but I invite all of you who are huge fans like myself and can recognize a trend, to go deep. Ready to go deep with me? Some of the content below will contain spoilers — reader discretion is advised.
This latest season of CW’s Arrow brings Mr. Terrific (spoiler #1) to television screens globally, and the best part? He’s gay. That is not something you find often in the pattern of heteronormative, socially conservative, paramilitary, clean cut Black male superheroes and I, like many others, welcome the diversity spin.
What Michael Holt aka Mr. Terrific does have in common is being Urkel-smart (yep, I used Urkel from 90’s Family Matters), and he also has a relationship with technology. In fact, he’s one of the smartest people in the DC comics universe, right up there with Batman and Lex Luthor. Then there is Dr. John Henry Irons…
…also know as Steel, the first person of color to don the House of El emblem, thus bringing him into the Superman continuity, is also enhanced by technology and is Urkel-smart. The newest established member of the Justice League is Cyborg.
Thanks to a buddy of mine, I have a figurine of Cyborg between my “A Song of Fire and Ice” book series and “The Magicians”, and I love having him there because anyone who has followed Cyborg knows that he has earned his place amongst the Justice League.
If I were to ask any comic-book fan to combine the words technology and “mutant”, most will bring up Forge, a Marvel Universe mutant with the mutant power to build anything. OP (over-powered) much?
Now, Forge isn’t Black, he’s Native American — still a man of color, and if we want to get technical, Bishop isn’t African-American either —
Bishop is Australian Aboriginal…from the future, but since his debut in X-Men (Uncanny X-Men #282, November 1991) as a time-traveling freedom fighter, he has always been identified, especially by Black kids like me growing up in the 90s, as one cool techno-brother who was dating Storm for a moment, just as Forge did, and this next guy who is about to shake the Marvel Cinematic Universe —
Black Panther. Black Panther doesn’t have techno-oriented powers, but it is his nation-state, the Kingdom of Wakanda that will be the most widely-viewed, beautifully powerful depiction of Africa since Eddie Murphy’s “Coming to America”. The fictional Wakanda is the most technological civilization in Africa, and because Wakanda has never been conquered, colonized, or bombed back into the stone ages by Western/European powers, Wakanda is the most technologically advanced nation on the planet.
While the rest of the world was using gunpowder, Wakanda had lasers. Isn’t that badass? Wakanda on the big screen can not arrive soon enough, and is something everyone should see as this theme of Afro-Futurism is brought to millions of screens worldwide. Thanks Marvel!
Wikipedia defines Afro-Futurism as “a literary and cultural aesthetic that combines elements of science fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, Afrocentricity, and magic realism with non-Western cosmologies in order to critique not only the present-day dilemmas of people of color, but also to revise, interrogate, and re-examine the historical events of the past.”
Afro-Futurism is a vision that is innovative and inclusive, of not just Blacks, Africans, and African-Americans, but of everyone, but this pattern of technology as an important part of the storytelling of emerging and re-emerging superheroes of color is prevalent, such as Mexican Jaime Reyes as the latest Blue Beetle.
As Blue Beetle:
It is important to note that every Blue Beetle prior to Jaime Reyes, received their powers or inspiration from Egyptian-based mysticism, but this Blue Beetle is alien technology enhanced…which comes to my conclusion:
I don’t think this pattern is caused by stereotype tropes or racism from White comic book writers. If anything, comic book writers have to write compelling stories or simply the comic books won’t sell. They must capture the imagination of readers both old and new, and “new” is getting much more blacker, browner, more female, more queer, more trans-identified, multilingual, and differently-abled, and it is coming at a time when technology innovation is becoming prevalent in our day-to-day society.
Real life superheroes who connect technology with systems that improve the life outcomes of minority-soon-to-be-majority youth like Dr. Marvin Carr:
Or a colleague of mine, Tristan Walker, who has been in the technology world long enough to be an entrepreneur and creator of new gadget products that will help all those live-action, clean-cut Black male superheroes show a smooth face every time they hit the big screen.
Now there are superheroes of colors who don’t have a relationship to technology, like Spiderman Miles Morales, Green Lantern John Stewart, Static (debatable?), Icon, Blade, Luke Cage, Meteor Man (had to throw that in there for kicks), and others — not many others, though, but I wouldn’t be surprised if those aforementioned characters will get a futuristic-reboot (e.g. Night Thrasher).
The world is changing, because of technology, and the impact of technology can widen disparities or create new opportunities, new opportunities for different kinds of stories to be told, through a web-comic or even an app. While internet-trollers and armchair conservatives resist this change, it is happening, and this afro-futurism theme will become stronger, and what I would like to see is more inclusivity, especially when it comes to women of color.
As more girls are getting into technology, they need to see more examples of female superheros in technology. With the exception of Natasha Irons, daughter of John Henry Irons as the latest incarnation of Steel,
as Steel. Also become Starlight and Vaporlock.
Most depictions of Black female superheroes are nature-oriented such as Storm —
(May 1975)
Or Vixen (about to make her first appearance on DC television series — Arrow).
Vixen has the power to conjure up supernatural abilities empowered by Anansi’s animal totems and has the potential to become a household name amongst Black-female superheroes…
…but I’d like to see more female superheroes of color who can be technological role models for girls of color. Thankfully, there are real heroes, like Kimberly Bryant and her organization, Black Girls Code, who are changing the narrative and the rate to which girls are exposed to technology and its wonders, so that they can become heroes themselves in their careers and in college.
Afro-Futurism is here and that means the vision of what it is to be American will converge with what it means for #BlackLivesMatter, a modern civil rights movement powered by social media technology, and this narrative isn’t just Black, or male, or even American anymore — the future is inclusive and technology isn’t going anywhere but will increasingly be a part of how we retell old stories, and the wonderfully new, imaginative, and creative ways we pioneer new ones. The next Stan Lee, George Lucas, and Octavia Butler, just might be in your neighborhood. Excelsior!
Comic book fans, am I missing any Afro-Futuristic superheroes? Noticed any patterns of your own? Add your comments below.
Be a Hero and register to be a Mentor, Trailblazer, or Volunteer at a Qeyno hackathon school nearest you — http://www.qeyno.com.
