Blog Post 3

 

African American Studies 112B

    In this blog post, I will discuss some themes from class that we have talked about so far, more specifically, survival and community building. 

First, one major and central theme we have talked about is survival. The work that comes to mind first is the short film Pumzi by Wanuri Kahiu. We see Asha’s survival throughout this short film by how she constantly defies the authoritative council that controls all of her thoughts and actions. They want her to believe that there is no outside life beyond these parameters but she does not listen to them once she discovers her soil sample. They told her to take her dream suppressant medication and locked her up when she asked to go outside. Asha ended up sneaking outside to plant her seed in the soil with water, and she ended up dying, but her survival was symbolic. Asha was trying to survive through his crazy controlling council and start the spark of new environmental revitalization, which is exactly what she did. Another work from class that comes to mind when thinking about the theme of survival is Parable of the Sower - Lauren created Earthseed to survive through all the chaos and violence that took over her neighborhood. Earthseed kept Lauren safe and sound and able to survive through all the hardship she encountered and she ended up physically surviving because of it. 

Secondly, another relevant theme from class is the use of aliens in Afrofuturism. In both The Space Traders and in The Brother from Another Planet, we see the use of aliens as an important element of each story. In The Space traders, we see how aliens come and approach the US and ask for all Black Americans in exchange for wealth and prosperity; in the end, the US ends up voting in agreement for this trade and ships off every single Black American, showing how racism still runs deep institutionally, while also showing the commodification of Black Americans. It is super interesting with the choice of using aliens to bargain with the US. I think that since these non-humans notice that the US views Black citizens as expendable and a resource/thing to be taken advantage of, this just highlights the dehumanization that they face. Since aliens are able to detect this and use it for their advantage, it really pushes this message to light. Also, the use of Brother the alien in The Brother From Another Planet makes me think of a similar idea being translated; I think the fact that Brother is an alien and also does not speak highlights how Black Americans are treated as others in our society. The use of aliens in both of these movies really emphasizes how Black Americans are not only viewed but also treated in our society. Even though both of these films were created over two decades ago but their messages and themes are still prevalent speaks volumes about our present day society. It is honestly crazy to think about, because you would think by now our society would have resolved these same recurring problems but it is clear that we have not. 

All of these works have been extremely eye opening and interesting when compared to our modern day society and the many struggles that Black Americans continue to face and go through. I am excited to watch and read more works in Afrofuturism throughout the rest of the course and expand on the knowledge that I have gained since everything so far has been fascinating.