Interview with Jennie Wright of The Sankofa Experience

The Sankofa Experience kicks off at People’s Liberty in Over-the-Rhine next month. The first half of the programming – Feb. 2-24 – explores the Harlem Renaissance while the second half – March 7-24 – explores the dawn of the age of hip hop. We recently talked to Jennie Wright, Chief Imagination Officer of The Sankofa Experience, about how she and her crew tie speculative fiction, African-American history and the Afrofantastic together for this imaginative programming.

Midwest BSFA Members to Participate in Steamfunk Panel

Midwest BSFA members will participate in a panel on steamfunk at the International Steampunk Symposium on Saturday, March 30, and Sunday, March 31! The panel will focus on how black American cosplayers/steampunks see themselves in and operate inside of the steampunk genre, and discuss how re-imagining the country’s antebellum past can be represented and reworked in a steampunk future.

Blessed Be the Nerdy Grandmothers: A Requiem

My long bout of vegging out in the week between Christmas and New Year’s included a re-watch of the Star Trek reboot. When the movie first came out back in 2009, a friend and I saw it in the theater five or six times, and I even dragged my mother and brother to see it once when I was home for a visit. It really wasn’t that great, not for me to devote as much time and money as I did to it that spring, but something about it seemed to compel me to keep going back. I now think it was my grandmother.

“What Does the Future Look Like?” Short Film Program

Each year during Black History Month, we collectively discuss past experiences and contributions of African-Americans, but Midwest Black Speculative Fiction Alliance’s “What Does the Future Look Like?” programming focuses on our futures through a distinctly speculative fiction lens. We are encouraging black filmmakers in the Midwest to show us their interpretations of what the future looks like for black people.