To join, email alondra_nelson@hotmail.com. Once upon a time, in the not so distant past, cultural producers of the African diaspora composed unique visions on the world at hand and the world to come. This speculation has been called AfroFuturism--cultural production that simultaneously references a past of abduction, displacement and alien-nation; celebrates the unique aesthetic perspectives inspired by these fractured histories; and imagines the possible futures of black life and ever-widening definitions of "blackness."



Founded by Alondra Nelson, AfroFuturism | List explores futurist themes, sci-fi imagery and technological innovation in African diasporic technoculture. Is there such a thing as a black technoculture? Are recurring speculative and science fictional themes in varied genres of black cultural production simply coincidences? Or are they aesthetic a/effects of a millennial moment? Are science fiction and speculative fiction the most appropriate genres for reflecting black experiences?



Moderators have included Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid; Sheree Renee Thomas, editor, Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora; Ron Eglash, Assistant Professor of Science and Technology Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and author, African Fractals: Modern Computing and Indigenous Design; Nalo Hokinson, author, Brown Girl in the Ring and Midnight Robber and editor, Whispers from the Cotton Tree Root: Caribbean Fabulist Fiction; Alondra Nelson, co-editor, Technicolor: Race, Technology, and Everyday Life; Alexander G. Weheliye, Assistant Professor of English and African American Studies, Northwestern University; and David Goldberg.