Afrofuturism Imagining an Afrocentric Future

What would the world look like if European colonialism, Western Enlightenment  rational ideas, a Western universalism that is not inclusive of that which is not Western – if all of this were not the dominant culture? What would an Afrocentric view of humanity and of Africa and the people of the African diaspora look like, rather than a view from the Eurocentric gaze?   Afrofuturism can be seen as a reaction to the dominance of white, European expression, and a reaction to the use of science and technology to justify racism and white or Western dominance and normativity. Art is used to imagine counter-futures free of Western, European dominance, but also as a tool to implicitly critique the status quo. Afrofuturism implicitly recognizes that the status quo globally – not just in the United States or the West – is one of political, economic, social, and even technical inequality. As with much other speculative fiction, by creating a separation of time and space from current reality, a different kind of â€Å"objectivity† or ability to look at possibility arises. Rather than grounding the imagination of counter-futures in Eurocentric philosophical and political arguments, Afrocentrism is grounded in a variety of inspirations: technology (including Black cyberculture), myth forms, indigenous ethical and social ideas, and historical reconstruction of the African past. Afrofuturism is, in one aspect, a literary genre that includes speculative fiction imagining life and culture.  Afrofuturism also appears in art, visual studies, and performance. Afrofuturism can apply to the study of philosophy, metaphysics, or religion. The literary realm of magic realism overlaps often with Afrofuturist art and literature. Through this imagination and creativity, a kind of truth about potential for a different future is brought forward to consider. The power of imagination to not only envision  the future, but to affect it, is at the core of the Afrofuturist project. Topics in Afrofuturism include not only explorations of the social construction of race, but intersections of identity and power.  Gender, sexuality, and class are also explored, as is oppression and resistance, colonialism and imperialism, capitalism and technology, militarism and personal violence, history and mythology, imagination and real life experience, utopias and dystopias, and sources for hope and transformation. While many connect Afrofuturism with the lives of people of African descent in European or American diaspora, Afrofuturist work includes writings in African languages by African authors.  In these works, as well as many of those of other Afrofuturists, Africa itself is the center of the projection of a future, either dystopian or utopian. The movement has also been called the Black Speculative Arts Movement. Origin of the Term The term Afrofuturism comes from a 1994 essay by Mark  Dery, an author, critic, and essayist.  He wrote: Speculative fiction that treats African-American themes and  addresses African-American concerns in the context of 20th  century technoculture—and, more generally,  African-American signification that appropriates images of  technology and a prosthetically enhanced future—might,  for want of a better term, be called Afrofuturism. The  notion of Afrofuturism gives rise to a troubling antinomy:  Can a community whose past has been deliberately rubbed out,  and whose energies have subsequently been consumed by the  search for legible traces of its history, imagine possible  futures? Furthermore, dont the technocrats, SF writers,  futurologists, set designers, and streamliners—white to a  man—who have engineered our collective fantasies already  have a lock on that unreal estate? W.E.B. Du Bois Although Afrofuturism per se is a direction begun explicitly in the 1990s, some threads or roots can be found in the work of the sociologist and writer, W.E.B. Du Bois.  Du Bois suggests that the unique experience of Black folks has given them a unique perspective, metaphorical and philosophical ideas, and that this perspective can be applied to art including the artistic imagining of a future. In the early 20th century, Du Bois wrote â€Å"The Princess Steel,† a story of speculative fiction that weaves together an exploration of science with a social and political exploration. Key Afrofuturists A key work in Afrocentrism was the 2000 anthology by Sheree Renà ©e Thomas, titled Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora and then the followup Dark Matter: Reading the Bones in 2004. For her work she interviewed Octavia Butler (often considered one of the primary writers of Afrofuturist speculative fiction), the poet and writer Amiri Baraka (formerly known as LeRoi Jones and Imamu Amear Baraka), Sun Ra (composer and musician, proponent of a cosmic philosophy), Samuel Delany (an African American science fiction writer and literary critic who identified as gay), Marilyn Hacker (a Jewish poet and educator who identified as lesbian and who was married for a time to Delany), and others.   Others sometimes included in Afrofuturism include Toni Morrison (novelist), Ishmael Reed (poet and essayist), and Janelle Monà ¡e (songwriter, singer, actress, activist). The 2018 movie, Black Panther, is an example of Afrofuturism.  The story envisions a culture free of Eurocentric imperialism, a technologically advanced utopia.

Who is Fidel Castro - 2567 Words

Fidel Castro is arguably one of the most famous political leaders to ever live. He is internationally recognized for being a revolutionary, a supporter of communism, and an opposition of imperialism. Eugenia Charles is just as influential and recognizable around the World. She was the first female lawyer and Prime Minister of Dominica, and only the second female Prime Minister in Caribbean History. The contributions these two individuals have had on their respective nations have led to massive improvements in education, health care, and literacy. Yet similar in some aspect, Fidel Castro and Eugenia Charles are very different in their rise to political power, political ideologies, public image, and accomplishments. Born August 13, 1926, Fidel Castro was described as an academically average student growing up. He showed more love for sports than school but in 1945, Castro enrolled himself at the law school in the University of Havana. He was not involved in politics, even considering himself politically illiterate at the time of his admission. He soon found interest in the politics of Cuba and Cuban nationalism. He developed an anti-imperialism ideology and began to try to understand socialism. He joined, and became president of the University Committee, which was a student organization that opposed the intervention of the United States in the Caribbean and fought for the Independence of Puerto Rico. Fidel Castro had a platform of honesty, decency, and justice. He opposedShow MoreRelatedTo What Extent Was Brutality Used by Fidel Castro During the Cuban Revolution1440 Words   |  6 Pagesa struggle to the death between the future and the past.† – Fidel Castro, 1961. This statement was certainly true for Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries during the Cuban Revolution, an armed revolt that took place between July 26th 1953 and January 1st 1959, which ended successfully. 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He has had an big impact on America, and he an impact on our world. Fidel Castro was a Cuban dictator for a long time coming. Fidel Castro becoming a dictator not only affected the United States, but his arrival affected the world around us. Fidel Castro was a man who had a target on his head. Lots of people from all over the world wanted him dead. Fidel Castro wasn’t a capitalist person, he was a CommunistRead MoreDeadly Revolotionist1361 Words   |  6 Pagesare all what Fidel Castro did. He was good to his people, but had ties with the Soviet Union. The CIA wanted to kill him because of his ties with the Soviet Union, and the United States wanted ties with Cuba. Fidel Castro was the Cuban prime minister, led a revolution, became a Cuban leader, and he escaped death (Fidel Castro, Famous People J1). Fidel Castro Ruz was born August 13, 1926. He was born near Biran, Oriente Province, Cuba, on his family’s sugar plantation. Fidel Castro was illegitimateRead MoreFidel Castro : Hero Or Villain1323 Words   |  6 PagesFidel Castro a Hero or Villain The time of the Cuban Revolution was a great deal of turmoil, not just in Cuba but in almost every corner of the world. It was 1945, shortly after the end of World War Two, the Cold War was taking off between the United States and the Soviet Union. Cuba, in the middle of its own war, was caught up in the international politics of the Cold War. The interaction between international and domestic politics played a major role in the outcome of the revolution. The resultRead MoreFidel Castro: The Clown of Cuba1612 Words   |  7 Pages Current leader and dictator of Cuba, Fidel Castro, was born on August 13, 1926 in Biran Cuba. As a child, Fidel Castro had a good life because his father was very wealthy. His fathers name was Angel Castro. He was very wealthy because he owned plantations and lands. Additionally, he was originally from Spain but then moved to Cuba. 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His father owned a pretty large sugar plantation, which at the time seemed to be fairly prosperous. Due to ow ning such a large plantation, his family did not seem to suffer as much as other families did. The money that Fidel’s father obtained provided him with broad education opportunities. After a few years had passed by, in 1945, Fidel Alejandro Castro RuzRead MoreThe Other Side Of Castro850 Words   |  4 PagesThe Other Side of Castro In my 27 years on this planet, I have heard little to nothing about the revolutionist and Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Of the small amount of conversation which has occurred in front of me, Castro was always described in a negative way. He was described as a cruel, selfish Communist dictator who is against the ideas and beliefs of my own country. For those reasons, I have never bothered educating myself about Castro and his life. 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Music Influence to Teenager free essay sample

The word music is a derivation from a Greek word Populous (pronounce as MouseKey), which means the art of the Muses. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of music vary according to culture and social context Music ranges from strictly organized compositions (and their recreation in performance), through improvisational music to alternator forms. Music can be divided into genres and submerges, although the dividing lines and relationships between music genres are often subtle, sometimes pen to individual interpretation, and occasionally controversial.Within the arts, music may be classified as a performing art, a fine art, and auditory art. There is also a strong connection between music and mathematics. Common genres of music includes country, jazz, blues, electronic, Latin, pop, ask, rock, world and hip-hop and rap. According to Wisped. Org, in the prehistoric eras, music can only be imagined by scholars. These imaginations are based on the findings of any tools similar to musical instrument exist to the day. The earliest and largest collection of prehistoric causal instruments was found in China and dates back to between 7000 and 6600 There are also references of music from the Bible and Arabian scholars. The Journal of Religion and Theatre noted that among the earliest forms of litany, Hebrew litany was accompanied by a rich musical tradition. For example, Genesis 4. 21 identifies Jubbah as the father of all such as handle the harp and pipe. In the 9th century, the Arab scholar al-Affair wrote a book on music titled Kit al-Music al-Kabuki (Great Book of Music).He played and invented a variety of musical instruments and devised the Arab tone system of pitch organization, which is till used in Arabic music. Classical music Indian classical music is one of the oldest musical traditions in the world. The Indus Valley civilization has sculptures that show dance and old musical instruments, like the seven holed flute. Various types of stringed instruments and drums have been recovered from Harp and Enjoy Dare by excavations carried out by Sir Mortimer Wheeler.Indian classical music (Marge) is monophonic, and based on a single melody line or raga rhythmically organized through atlas. Hindustan music was influenced by the Persian performance practices of the Afghan Musicals. Carnation music popular in the southern states, is largely devotional; the majority of the songs are addressed to the Hindu deities. There are a lot of songs emphasizing love and other social issues. Chinese classical music, the traditional art or court music of China has a history stretching over around three thousand years.It has its own unique systems of musical notation, as well as musical tuning and pitch, musical instruments and styles or musical genres. Chinese music is pentatonic-diatonic, having a scale of twelve notes to an octave (5 + 7 = 12) as does European-influenced 10th and 21st century music With 20th century music, there was a vast increase in music listening as the radio gained popularity and phonographs were used to replay and distribute music. The focus of art music was characterized by exploration of new rhythms, styles, and composers in 20th century art music. Jazz evolved and became a significant genre of music over the course of the 20th century, and during the second half of that century, rock music did the same. From its early development until the present, Jazz has also incorporated music from 19th and 20th century American popular music. Jazz has, from its early 20th century inception, spawned a variety of submerges, ranging from New Orleans Dixieland (sass) to sass and sass-era Jazz-rock fusion. Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed in the sass from sass rock and roll, rockabilly, blues, and country music.In the late sass and early sass, rock music branched out into different submerges, ranging from blues rock and Jazz-rock fusion to heavy metal and punk rock, as well as the more classical influenced genre of progressive rock and several types of experimental rock genres. The Problems Arises from Music to Teenagers Music has many influences to teenagers. Certain music influenced teens positively where teens can benef it from them while some prove to convey negative impact on teens. One of the negative impact music have on youths are sexual curiosity. Modern music is known for its sexual hints or explicit sexual lyrics.Since teenagers and youngsters are the most concerned about sex of all groups of age, especially when they have not had any intimate relationships, this type of music acted like a trap to them. The US based Rand Corporation, Pittsburgh research found how the music teenagers listen to influence their desire of being sexually active. After investigating 1461 participants with ages ranging from 12 to 17, researchers came to the conclusion that teenagers who listen to music with degrading sexual messages are twice more prone to start their sex life in the following two year period than those who listen to little or no such music. 1% of the heavy listeners started having sexual intercourse within two years, as compared to only 29% of those who did not enjoy sexually explicit lyrics. To add on, music affected youngster negatively when students became p rone and accepting destructive behaviors as a norm. According to WebMD Health News, a research conducted in the US showed that rap and gangs-based music videos affects the young to be more likely to hit teachers and 2. 5 times more likely to be arrested for assault. Researcher Ralph J.Decremented, PhD, of Emory Universitys Rollins School of Public Health said that it is alarming to discover that no associations were found with Just violence or one or two risky behaviors but there were connections to a string of these behaviors. In other words, music can affect teens to behave in many unfavorable conducts. Youths fashion senses and attitude are now greatly affected by their musical preference. More and more teens dressed to imitate their favorite singers. Goths will imitate the outlook and even sometimes the behavior of performers whose mainstream is Goth music such as Marilyn Manson.Some of this fashion senses can be seen as too aggressive and unsuitable to teens especially in the Asian region where demureness and reserved attitudes are practiced. Teens are also related to attitude change when and hip-hop artist. Some are even inclined to follow these artists lifestyle where drugs are involved such as accent, Snoop Dog, Lindsay Loan, and atheistic behavior is portrayed such as practiced by Lady Gaga. Lastly, problems related to negative impact of music also includes suicidal intentions.Some songs are notoriously known for its depressing lyrics such as Gloomy Sunday (1935) where it hold the record of 200 suicidal attempts related to it all over the world. Many countries banned this song from being played in the public. People with weak state of mind to be led astray by what they hear repetitively and teens are one of the groups of people who have a weak mindset. Eighteen-year-old Phillip Morton hung himself while listening to songs Goodbye Cruel World and Waiting for the Worms, from Pink Floyd play in the aground.With the high strung guitar, vibrating drums and destructive themes playing, rock music can increase the mood of the individual listening to it and promote anti-social behaviors and suicidal actions. As a conclusion, music may exhibit negative impact to youths of today. It does not matter the music genre teenagers listen to. It may be dance, hip-hop, rap, rock or pop. All that matters is the message comprised in the songs lyrics. Clearly, rap is not the only music that portrays negative stereotypes or can negatively impact behaviors, and not all rap music should be implicated.But there have been nearly husbands of studies that have looked at the effects that the music has on childrens behavior. And nearly all of them find there is a strong effect. Though it is undeniable that music can also impact this group positively, but we cannot simply overlook the cons when there are pros. How to Overcome It? Now that we have seen the negative impact of music, we must come up with ideas to overcome the problems. Firstly, it will be the responsibility of parents to control the type of music that their children prefer.Sure, some would say with the access of internet today, this proved to be easier said than done. Even so, parents must take the initiative to train their children from little. This is because it is easier to mend and set up the discipline of a 5 to 10-years-old child compared to doing so to a teen. Parents must take a more proactive and preventive measures to control teens preferences of music such as putting the radio and internet where we can see clearly what the children are doing and get to know the latest trend and issues concerning music.As Susan Buttress, MD, APP, chief of child development and behavioral pediatrics at the University of Mississippi Medical Centre and spokeswoman for the American Academy of Pediatrics (PAP said, They (parents) cannot stick their heads in sand and expect their child to only look at the good stuff. Parents need to know what their children are exposed to. Having said that, parents must make sure that their methods are not too excessive This behavior is also known as reverse psychology. Next, we should concentrate on how music can be benefic ial to students. Many studies have proved that certain type of music can alleviate tension and improve their academic performance. In an analysis of U. S. Department of Education data on more than 25,000 secondary school students, researchers found that students who port consistent high levels of involvement in instrumental music over the middle and high school years show significantly higher levels of mathematics proficiency by grade 12. This observation holds regardless of students socio-economic status, and differences in those who are involved with instrumental music vs.. Hose who are not are more significant over time. (Lateral,J, Wang,J. , 1999. ) Lastly, the government should work hand in hand with the media to filter music that can provoke irrational behaviors. Music that is brought into the country should be analyzed to detect any potential threat as well as other countries acceptance to hat music. Though some might regard this method as fighting a losing battle since we cannot stop the onslaught of music through internet, it is important to educate people on music and its possible effect on them.There many other ways to overcome the negative effect of music towards teens and all of it requires hard work and cooperation of every parties; parents, society, media and government. Though Asian registered very little impact on music because we are very demure and in some places, traditional and religious beliefs are deeply rooted, but that does not mean we should turn a blind eye on the effect of music awards people particularly teens.