‘This May Be Our Last’: Afrofuturism and the Anthropocene

Tomorrow I’ll be holding a workshop space about environmental racism, Black radicalism, and Afrofuturism.

In the workshop we will think about questions such as:

Do Black folk actually belong in the environmental movement? How can we use art to claim radical visions of ecology in a time of increasing planetary crisis? And, what kinds of fugitive planning (or black study) is necessary for unpacking, even abolishing, the Anthropocene?

This workshop will be a space for speculation, listening, expression, and reflection regarding these questions.

As science and society scrambles for answers during a time of climate instability, Black, Brown, Indigenous (and otherwise marginal peoples), who already have unequal inheritances of ecological death(liness), are being disproportionately impacted by climate change’s effects.

Yet, while mainstream environmental movements continue to raise awareness about the ‘Anthropocene’ and the need to save society from its own demise, such ‘green’ movements marginalize Black (and other oppressed) peoples’ histories and struggles, making us more vulnerable to State/capitalist relations that convey a ruse of ‘sustainable’ thinking whilst further consolidating the political, cultural, and economic machinery that reproduce kkkolonialism, kkkapture, kkkages. In this way, a newfound ‘regard’ for the earth becomes a way to keep the Man from fessin’ up to massa’s dirt (and those of us commodified as dirt). In the midst of such environmental racism, then, and the larger planetary crisis we are (soon to be) dealing with, Black people and other oppressed groups must reclaim radical visions of ecology.

As a member of the Afrofuturist Abolitionists of the Americas, I believe that Black Speculative Art contains the conceptual frames and aesthetic approaches for sustaining the intersectional, epistemically diverse, and non-anthropocentric forms of black study the masses will need to develop ecological literacy in the face of erasure by environmental movements. Ultimately, this can be a prelude to the radical ecopolitics capable of powering movements to abolish (and nurture existence beyond) the Anthropocene.

Song, drumming, poetry, breathing exercises, will be included. Furthermore, there will be a recording the workshop, and talking about it live through my instagram profile @prof0und

The workshop will begin in song: a Shout song passed down from captive Africans in the US known as “This May Be Our Last.” We will actually perform a Ring Shout. The title of this workshop is a reference to that song, which is aimed at setting a tone for thinking about impermanence, and the possibility of death — analagous to the apocalypticism abounding in prevailing environmental discourses.

Following this, I will lead workshop participants in reflection through poetry and drumming. While participants are still shuffling in the Ring Shout I will play the drums and recite two poems:

The first asks the group to breathe deep, and reflect on liberation, particularly as envisioned in decolonization movements through the expropriation of land back to those (from whom it was) stolen. What ecological futures exist in these dreams of freedom?

The second poem encourages them to hold their breath (for a short while), before asking the group to pause and reflect on possible hurdles to decolonization that climate change poses. What oppressive possibilities exist in these ecological speculations?

Afterward, we will have a guided discussion, split into three core themes that are detailed below.

Climate Apocalypse: End of the World or a Revelation?

Are the vicissitudes of climate change truly that serious? Is human society as we know it over? Or is an abolition ecology warranted? Why a radical perspective on environmental issues?

Losing our Mother (Earth): Black Struggle and Environmental Racism

Has environmental death truly always been part and parcel of marginalized peoples’ oppression as some have claimed? If so, shouldn’t we and our (eco)political struggles have a place in the environmental movement?

Fugitive Planning: Toward Afrofuturism as an Abolition Ecology

If the political, social, and cultural, and scientific machinery of the colonizers will save neither us nor the earth, what will it preserve? How do we take the fight into our own hands? What power does Afrofuturism hold in this regard?

For those reading this post, I’m curious to know:

Are conversations like this something that interest you, or something you’re engaged in? What answers or insights might you offer to the discussion?

I’m looking to have more conversations like this, online and offline, and build study around it. Let’s make way out of no way.

Peace and affirmation,

prof.Ound