Novelist refuses to give up on Afrofuturism dreams (and warnings)
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Andrea Hairston and his latest novel, "Archangels of Funk." Photo: Courtesy of Hairston
A retired theatre and Africana studies professor who spent nearly a decade trying to get her first science fiction book published has released her latest Afrofuturist novel, which she says is a realistic cautionary tale.
The big picture: A new generation of Afrofuturist writers, musicians and filmmakers in recent years has produced work questioning how Black people will be viewed in the future as states have passed restrictions on how schools can teach about Black people in the past.
Zoom in: Andrea Hairston's "Archangels of Funk" follows a Black woman named Cinnamon and her three "Circus-Bots," who are in the middle of a worldwide water war that leaves flood refugees on the run.
- Cinnamon must navigate "Invisible Darknet Lords" who troll the internet and a "nostalgia militia" that's terrorizing communities.
- Like other recent Afrofuturist works, Cinnamon must travel through this dystopian world while calling on her ancestors to guide her through survival for herself and others.
What they're saying: "She has all these possibilities from her elders, but what is she doing with them?" Hairston, 71, a retired Smith College professor, tells Axios.
- Hairston said Cinnamon, like many of the Black women protagonists in her previous works, is doubted, and she doubts herself but must overcome all of that.
- "I really wanted that character to wrestle with all of that and to solve it somehow for herself" in a future world that seems impossible to overcome.
Zoom out: "Archangels of Funk" is being lauded by younger Afrofuturist writers like Sheree Renée Thomas, who see Hairston as a pioneer in the genre.
- Hairston said she does not shun the Afrofuturist label and is happy to be in community with fellow "blerds" — Black nerds.
Context: Afrofuturism describes an alternative place for Black people in space or a fantasy setting or in relation to technology that allows one to escape slavery and discrimination.
- Maurice Broaddus, the author of the "Knights of Breton Court" novel trilogy, said Afrofuturism can take an optimistic tone where outer space might offer a racial utopia.
- Or it can envision a dystopian future where racism can't be shaken, as seen in the 1995 film, "Welcome II the Terrordome."
The intrigue: Afrofuturism was long an underground movement. Its roots date back to W.E.B. Du Bois, though its name wasn't coined by scholar Mark Dery until the early 1990s.
- It has been gaining a more extensive mainstream profile in recent years as the U.S. has seen a national racial reckoning.
- Popular cultural works that fit the genre include blockbuster movie "Black Panther", the HBO series "Lovecraft Country" and musical releases from artists including Janelle Monáe, Flying Lotus and Beyoncé.
