January 7, 2014

Smithsonian, Broward library seek African-American artifacts in S. Florida

The African-American Research Library and Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale is looking for potential treasures in our area.

A “Save Our African American Treasures” event next weekend will help residents identify and preserve any books, photos, or artwork of historical significance.

The library, at 2650 Sistrunk Blvd., is working in conjunction with The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

You can bring up to three items for a 15-minute consultation with experts. The items will not be appraised.

Free. Hours: 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Jan. 11, noon-5:30 p.m. Jan. 12.

Info: nmaahc.si.edu, 877-733-9599

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2014-01-03/news/sfl-got-treasures-20140103_1_broward-library-the-smithsonian-african-american-artifacts

January 7, 2014

Afrofuturism: where space, pyramids and politics collide

In times of economic and political crisis popular culture tends to turn to the fantastical, providing an escape from the harsh realities of life. However, what is usually represented as Utopian in mainstream science fiction is often culturally European with a story that frequently revolves around a white male character. Even when depicting "multiracial" future societies, culturally the tropes of that imagined culture are regularly not representative of the races seen. If we accept that all humanity will be present in the future, why is it that non-European cultures seem to disappear once we get through the Earth’s atmosphere?

In 1993, Mark Dery created the term Afrofuturism to describe science fiction by African-American writers such as Samuael R Delaney and Octavia Butler, whose work "treats African-American themes and addresses African-American concerns in the context of 20th century technoculture and, more generally, African-American signification that appropriate images of technology and a prosthetically enhanced future". The term is now used to describe works that explore black experience in the science-fiction genre. However the ideas and aesthetics that form Afrofuturism go back further than the work of these authors, with Afrofuturist elements being found in music, art and film. Afrofuturism also goes beyond spaceships, androids and aliens, and encompasses African mythology and cosmology with an aim to connect those from across the Black Diaspora to their forgotten African ancestry.

If there was ever a figure who was the embodiment of Afrofuturism it would be Jazz musician, Sun Ra, although to place him within the borders of a musical genre does not do him justice as an artist. With no legal birth certificate, it is believed he was born in the Jim Crow state of Alabama. Sun Ra created a mythical, ethereal persona that merged science fiction with Egyptian mysticism, producing an otherworldliness that matched the music he made from the 50s to his death in 1993. Adding to his legend, he also claimed to not be of this Earth, explaining:


I never wanted to be a part of planet Earth, but I am compelled to be here, so anything I do for this planet is because the Master-Creator of the Universe is making me do it. I am of another dimension. I am on this planet because people need me.

When one considers the social position of African-Americans during this period and their violent exclusion from society, leading to an overwhelming sense of otherness, believing oneself to be from Saturn doesn’t seem that far-fetched. In fact, it expertly communicates the confusion and alienation of the black male experience in 20th century America.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/political-science/2014/jan/07/afrofuturism-where-space-pyramids-and-politics-collide

January 7, 2014

Behind the fences of the Smithsonian's African American museum (Video)

It is fair to say that Charlie Yetter works in construction. It would be more precise to say he’s a senior project manager at McKissack & McKissack. But ask Yetter what he does for a living, and his answer might surprise you.

“When people ask me what I do, I tell them that I’m working on probably the most significant project, and the most recognizable project, in Washington, D.C. And it is,” Yetter said. “Not only does it have historic value, but it has all kinds of design construction challenges that have just been tremendous to be involved in.”

Yetter is working on the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, a $500 million project whose scale can hardly be discerned by passers-by watching the construction cranes operate from behind fences on the National Mall.

The project made national news a few weeks ago, when construction crews arranged to shut down part of Constitution Avenue to cart in two permanent exhibits that will be part of the museum. The exhibits, a 77-ton segregation-era railway car and a guard tower from The Angola prison in Louisiana, were so big that they had to be installed before the museum’s walls or roof goes up.

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/breaking_ground/2013/12/behind-the-fences-of-the-smithsonians.html?page=all