Dark Matter: AfroFuturism

Homer Hickam Supports High School Student Whose Science Project Got Her Expelled and Arrested - SpaceRef

Reblogged from afrofuturistaffair

Wilmot, who has an outstanding school record and whose mother works in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) field, was expelled from school permanently and arrested by police after her science experiment caused a small explosion. Although not authorized by her teacher, no one was hurt in the incident and no damage was caused. Kiera was also charged with possession and discharge of a weapon on school grounds and discharging a destructive device: both felonies.

Homer Hickam can relate to Kiera. In his famous memoir Rocket Boys, adapted into the film October Sky by Universal Studios, Hickam chronicled his own unauthorized experiments with rockets, including a scene where the police showed up at his high school to take him and his friends away in handcuffs.

After being made aware of Kiera’s similar situation, Hickam decided to take action by personally offering her a scholarship to the United States Advanced Space Academy. ASA is a branch of the famous Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama (www.spacecamp.com) and offers a college-accredited program through the University of Alabama in Huntsville that includes STEM education plus college and career preparation.

Kiera has accepted Hickam’s scholarship offer. Kiera’s mother, Marie Wilmot, works at the Florida Industrial and Phosphate Research Institute (www.fipr.state.fl.us) and is excited that Kiera has been provided this opportunity. “Kiera is a bright, imaginative young lady who loves science, technology, engineering and math - and she also loves music and art. In today’s terminology, they would refer to it as STEAM, which is the STEM field with the arts added in. Kiera joined her middle school Robotics Team, which is where her love of robotics began. She is very excited at this opportunity and is intrigued by Mr. Hickam’s story. We have ordered the movie October Sky and will be checking out his books. She would like to speak with Mr. Hickam and would like to meet him in person someday.”

(Source: imthealphabutt)

Posted May 16, 2013 at 1:27 am 24 notes

Reblogged from ladyfresh

ladyfresh:

oh! this is awesome thanks

blackcontemporaryart:

DEAR EVERYONE,

There’s a Romare Bearden app and it’s FREE!

SITES is pleased to announce that two FREE apps are available in conjunction with our traveling exhibition “Romare Bearden: A Black Odyssey.”

For both iOS and Android, the first is a conversational audio tour(available for web here) with 20 stops that gives listeners new intellectual routes into the works of Romare Bearden and into the bewitching heart of Homer’s “The Odyssey.” Voices on the tour include Dr. Robert O’Meally, exhibition curator and Zora Neale Hurston Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. He is joined by Diedra Harris-Kelley, Bearden’s niece and the co-director of the Romare Bearden Foundation. Artist, writer and musician, Paul Miller, aka DJ Spooky, provides additional perspective, contributing his own thoughts about Bearden’s genius. Jazz musician Branford Marsalis contributes to the audio tour with the song “Sea Breeze,” originally composed by the multi-talented Romare Bearden. more

Posted April 13, 2013 at 12:53 am 52 notes

Reblogged from hnknta

rainwood:

Indigenous people of Brazil trying to prevent their eviction from an old indigenous museum which they have been living in for the past 7 years.

On March 22nd all of the inhabitants and their supporters were forcibly removed or arrested.

The building is being destroyed to make a parking lot :(

Posted April 12, 2013 at 12:32 pm 51620 notes

Reblogged from afrofuturistaffair

jijennin70:

Octavia E. Butler portrait and images inspired by WILD SEED

Posted April 12, 2013 at 12:32 pm 314 notes

vandalyzm: #MissingChild #STL #PleaseHelp

Reblogged from newmodelminority

vandalyzm:

#MissingChild #STL #PleaseHelp

Posted April 11, 2013 at 6:55 pm 2883 notes

Reblogged from musicnerdery

realsoon:

brokeymcpoverty:

ikirejones:

Vigilism x Ikiré Jones present “Escape to New Lagos.”

An imagining of Lagos in the year 2081 A.D.  The Great Crude Explosion has just occurred; leaving oil flowing freely through the streets of the slums.  Politicians have been exiled at the heels of bomb blasts and the populace’s uprising.  The building of a new Center of the World has begun, much to the bewilderment of Western nations.  This is the birth of New Lagos…and men of taste are wearing Ikiré Jones.

yeeeees.

Bringing the Science Fiction handle from way back full circle. Good show, sir.

Posted March 12, 2013 at 5:54 pm 1518 notes

tayyib: (via King Britt: A Sonic Journey Into AfroFuturism (Podcast) « okayfuture.)

Reblogged from tayyib

tayyib:

(via King Britt: A Sonic Journey Into AfroFuturism (Podcast) « okayfuture.)

Posted March 10, 2013 at 1:02 pm 4 notes

Reblogged from afrofuturistaffair

thefemaletyrant:

living-in-technicolor:

ktempest:

One of the winners of this year’s James Tipree Jr. Award is: Ancient, Ancient by Kiini Ibura Salaam

YAY

From the website:

In Ancient, Ancient, Kiini Ibura Salaam’s startling stories combine science fiction, fantasy, and mythology in a sensuous exploration of what it means to live while struggling to define self and other. Salaam’s language is poetic and sensuous — a unique and original voice. The stories are ambitious and challenging, demonstrating excellent range in both storytelling style and imagery, from the mundane to the fully fantastical. Salaam is particularly interested in agency in oppressive social realities and explores how oppression works on our gendered bodies.

You can buy the paperback and eBook versions from the Aqueduct Press website.

Looks like I have another  book to read.

This will be worth it!

Posted March 10, 2013 at 12:50 am 447 notes

newmodelminority: mauricecherry: On February 28, I launched a pet project of mine I’ve had on the back burner for a while — Revision Path. While my main focus for starting Revision Path had to do with showcasing black web designers and black web developers, the project really started to take shape based on my frustration with the mainstream tech and design community when it comes to talking about race. My feelings had been bubbling under the surface for a while now, and I think Jamelle Bouie’s recent article in The Magazine titled “And Read All Over”. He talks about how the majority of tech journalists are mostly white and mostly male at high-level technology blogs, websites, and magazines. This spun out of control with a few ill-informed (but perhaps well-intentioned) tweets from Jason Calacanis about how the technology field is merit-based and it’s about hustling hard. That started to spin into how the technology field is biased all-around and blah blah blah.  Thank goodness the Harlem Shake meme came along and broke that up, amirite? But this isn’t just in the tech community — it’s in the design community as well (which some would say is a subset of the tech community). Chris Messina wrote a piece way back in 2006 titled “The Future of White Boy clubs” that talks about how speakers panels at design conferences are largely white men. In 2013, this has changed, but not much. A lot of design conferences still have mostly white men on their speaker panels. And to use Bouie’s earlier example of tech journalism, the design blogs also have mostly white men at their helms. And who are they writing about? Other white men. (And white women too.) Very few web designers or web developers of color — particularly Black ones — are talked about, featured, or even shown on popular design and/or development websites, blogs, or magazines. Anyway, this issue of race and representation in these communities flares up every year or two, burns white hot (pardon the expression), and then dies quickly with no resolution. Tempers flare, people write a few overwrought 2,000 word blog posts, the dust settles, and nothing changes. When I started the Black Weblog Awards in 2005, I did it because I knew there were brilliant, funny, talented black bloggers out there who were not being recognized by the mainstream blogging community (mainly in some other award events like The Bloggies, The Weblog Awards, etc.) Seven plus years later, the Black Weblog Awards is still going strong and still recognizing those voices. I hope to do the same thing with Revision Path, and I’ll need your help to make that happen. This month, I will reach out to several black web designers and web developers I know so I can start pulling together content. If you have any suggestions for black web designers and web developers that would like to be featured on Revision Path, please send me an email at mail@revisionpath.com. I’m looking for all kinds of web designers and web developers from freelancers to agency people. If you’re a black web designer or web developer and wondering why there’s no websites talking about you or featuring people like you in your same field and you have a voice and a vision, then Revision Path is for you. I look forward to hearing from you. Maurice, I totally want to support you in this effort. I will reach out in mid March. I LOVE the idea of not just being pissed off but ALSO taking action. #win.

Reblogged from newmodelminority

newmodelminority:

mauricecherry:

On February 28, I launched a pet project of mine I’ve had on the back burner for a while — Revision Path. While my main focus for starting Revision Path had to do with showcasing black web designers and black web developers, the project really started to take shape based on my frustration with the mainstream tech and design community when it comes to talking about race.

My feelings had been bubbling under the surface for a while now, and I think Jamelle Bouie’s recent article in The Magazine titled “And Read All Over”. He talks about how the majority of tech journalists are mostly white and mostly male at high-level technology blogs, websites, and magazines. This spun out of control with a few ill-informed (but perhaps well-intentioned) tweets from Jason Calacanis about how the technology field is merit-based and it’s about hustling hard. That started to spin into how the technology field is biased all-around and blah blah blah. 

Thank goodness the Harlem Shake meme came along and broke that up, amirite?

But this isn’t just in the tech community — it’s in the design community as well (which some would say is a subset of the tech community). Chris Messina wrote a piece way back in 2006 titled “The Future of White Boy clubs” that talks about how speakers panels at design conferences are largely white men. In 2013, this has changed, but not much. A lot of design conferences still have mostly white men on their speaker panels. And to use Bouie’s earlier example of tech journalism, the design blogs also have mostly white men at their helms. And who are they writing about? Other white men. (And white women too.) Very few web designers or web developers of color — particularly Black ones — are talked about, featured, or even shown on popular design and/or development websites, blogs, or magazines.

Anyway, this issue of race and representation in these communities flares up every year or two, burns white hot (pardon the expression), and then dies quickly with no resolution. Tempers flare, people write a few overwrought 2,000 word blog posts, the dust settles, and nothing changes.

When I started the Black Weblog Awards in 2005, I did it because I knew there were brilliant, funny, talented black bloggers out there who were not being recognized by the mainstream blogging community (mainly in some other award events like The Bloggies, The Weblog Awards, etc.) Seven plus years later, the Black Weblog Awards is still going strong and still recognizing those voices.

I hope to do the same thing with Revision Path, and I’ll need your help to make that happen.

This month, I will reach out to several black web designers and web developers I know so I can start pulling together content. If you have any suggestions for black web designers and web developers that would like to be featured on Revision Path, please send me an email at mail@revisionpath.com. I’m looking for all kinds of web designers and web developers from freelancers to agency people.

If you’re a black web designer or web developer and wondering why there’s no websites talking about you or featuring people like you in your same field and you have a voice and a vision, then Revision Path is for you.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Maurice, I totally want to support you in this effort. I will reach out in mid March. I LOVE the idea of not just being pissed off but ALSO taking action. #win.

Posted March 2, 2013 at 11:17 am 12 notes

Uganda to launch its first space observer

Reblogged from 37thstate

prepaidafrica:

Uganda will soon launch the first space observer called Cadimella, Capt. Chris Nsamba, the chief executive officer and founder of the African Space Research Program (ASRP), has revealed.

Nsamba was briefing the Vice-President, Edward Ssekandi, who inspected the launch pad of the space observer at Kimaka Airfield in Jinja on Monday.

“This has demonstrated that Ugandans can also participate in sophisticated programmes. This is impressive and the Government will support the association. I am going to brief the President about this,” Ssekandi said.

Nsamba and his eight-man team demonstrated to Ssekandi how the space probe works while in transit in the orbit.

The team also hid the space probe and demonstrated to the Vice-President how it can be tracked using satellite in case it lands in another country.

Nsamba revealed that the space probe has self-defence, anti-time missile features, which protect it from being hit by missiles destined to destroy it in case it passes in the space of another country.

After its launch, they will put a mouse in it and will have it lifted to the stratosphere by a helium balloon.

Posted February 13, 2013 at 5:41 pm 52 notes

blackcontemporaryart: Black Radical Imagination is an upcoming show at Papillion Institute of Art in LA. Next week Feb 16th Featuring emerging filmmakers Akosua Adoma Owusu, Adebukola Bodurin, Jacolby Satterwhite, Amir George and Anansi Knowbody.  It was recently written about on Shadow and Act  http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/black-futurist-short-films-screening-in-l-a-next-week  

Reblogged from kbas

blackcontemporaryart:

Black Radical Imagination is an upcoming show at Papillion Institute of Art in LA. Next week Feb 16th

Featuring emerging filmmakers Akosua Adoma Owusu, Adebukola Bodurin, Jacolby Satterwhite, Amir George and Anansi Knowbody. 

It was recently written about on Shadow and Act  http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/black-futurist-short-films-screening-in-l-a-next-week

 

Posted February 12, 2013 at 6:56 am 66 notes

comicsalliance: Top Shelf Teams With Civil Rights Legend John Lewis To Publish New Graphic Novel ‘March’ By Joseph Hughes Congressman John Lewis is a living legend. A more than 25 year veteran of the United States Congress, Lewis was one of the original Freedom Riders. He’s also the sole living member of the Big Six — leaders of six of the significant civil rights organizations active during the height of the civil rights movement — whose members included Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Lewis’ story is a significant part of American history, and now he plans on sharing that story with a new generation, as Top Shelf has just announced March, an autobiographical graphic novel trilogy co-authored by Lewis and drawn by Nate Powell. The first book arrives in stores this August. More at ComicsAlliance.

Reblogged from afrofuturistaffair

comicsalliance:

Top Shelf Teams With Civil Rights Legend John Lewis To Publish New Graphic Novel ‘March’

By Joseph Hughes

Congressman John Lewis is a living legend. A more than 25 year veteran of the United States Congress, Lewis was one of the original Freedom Riders. He’s also the sole living member of the Big Six — leaders of six of the significant civil rights organizations active during the height of the civil rights movement — whose members included Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Lewis’ story is a significant part of American history, and now he plans on sharing that story with a new generation, as Top Shelf has just announced March, an autobiographical graphic novel trilogy co-authored by Lewis and drawn by Nate Powell. The first book arrives in stores this August.

Posted February 11, 2013 at 8:54 pm 115 notes

Reblogged from afrofuturistaffair

(Source: hettie)

Posted December 25, 2012 at 3:23 pm 100 notes

After Earth International Trailer #1 (2013) - Will Smith Movie HD (by movieclipsTRAILERS)

Posted December 10, 2012 at 7:19 pm

Reblogged from ladyfresh

dynamicafrica:

Omar Ba is a Senegalese artist who holds a degree from l’Ecole Nationale des Beaux-arts de Dakar, and has been living in Geneva, Switzerland, since 2003, where he completed an MA at the Ecole Superieure des Beaux-Arts.

He has since has participated in four separate exhibitions at the Galerie Anne De Villepoix, as well as the Guy Bartschi gallery, and in 2011 won the prestigious Swiss Art Award.

Omar Ba’s paintings present a colorful, fantastic, at times chaotic world where the order of things as we perceive them in the visible world is turned on its head. Giant plants tower over a miniature human world gripped by globalization; huge mother and father figures become hybrid godlike creatures at once terrifying and seductive because of the sheer beauty of Omar Ba’s craftsmanship and decorative use of saturated color.

x

(further reading: 1, 2)

Posted December 10, 2012 at 12:38 am 554 notes