While at illogicon this weekend, one of the panels I’ve participated in was AfroFuturism, Blerds, and BlackTwitter. We also provided a brief overview of the cinematic history of African-Americans in speculative fiction. Below is the list of references that provide a brief introduction AfroFuturistm, Blerds, and Black Twitter.

Please note, this isn’t a complete list. It’s just a quick guide I compiled for introductory reasons. If you have suggestions or better resources, feel free to email or Tweet me (@nicolegkurtz).

Definitions:

Blerds-black nerds

Afrofuturism-Afrofuturism is 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. First coined by Mark Dery in 1993, and explored in the late 1990s through conversations led by scholar Alondra Nelson.

Steamfunk-is defined as a philosophy or style of writing and visual aesthetic that combines the African and / or African American culture and approach to life with that of the steampunk philosophy and/or steampunk fiction and cosplay.

Black Twitter- a cultural identity on the Twitter social network focused on issues of interest to the black community, particularly in the United States.

Articles:

What is Afrofuturism?

http://thepandorasociety.com/what-is-afrofuturism/

 

What is Afrofuturism?

http://www.ebony.com/entertainment-culture/black-alt-enter-afrofuturism-999#axzz3wlULHuja

 

Nalo Hopkinson on Racial and Gender

http://www.newblackmaninexile.net/2015/12/nalo-hopkinson-on-racial-and-gender.html

 

The Rise of the Black Nerd in Pop Culture

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/31/showbiz/rise-of-black-nerds/index.html

 

What is Steamfunk?

http://chroniclesofharriet.com/2012/04/05/what-is-steamfunk-exposing-the-big-steampunk-lie

 

Steampunk!

http://mvmediaatl.com/steamfunk.html

 

The Truth about Black Twitter

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/04/the-truth-about-black-twitter/390120/

 

Websites:

Black Girl Nerds                                                http://www.blackgirlnerds.com

We Need Diverse Books!                                  http://www.weneeddiversebookgs.org

BlackScienceFiction Society                              http://www.blacksciencesociety.com

iafronfuturism.com                                          http://www.iafrofuturism.com

The Chronicles of Harriet                                 http://chroniclesofharriet.com

MV Media                                                        http://mvmediaatl.com/

 

Popular Black Speculative Twitter Hashtags and People to Follow

#afrofuturism               #diversesff       #BlackComics   #steamfunk      #blackpulp       #blacksf           #BlackTwitter

 

@blackgirlnerds           @GraveyardSister         @GeekSoulBrother