Blog Post 6

Blog Post 6

To wrap up the course and final blog post, I wanted to talk about the movie The Brother From Another Planet and how eye opening it was when thinking about it from a contemporary point of view. I chose to use this movie and analyze it with the movie The Space Traders for my final essay, but honestly watching The Brother From Another Planet revealed so many realities about Black lives in America that I was able to pick up on because of this class. I also wanted to talk about why this Afrofuturism class is such an important class to take and how I can use it to view the world and be an ally to Black lives in America. 

The most prominent message was shown through Brother's silence. When watching the movie, I thought this intentional pick by John Sayles to make Brother an alien, Black and mute was very purposeful. It shows how Black voices and even lives in general are always silenced and marginalized. Brother’s voicelessness shows that although he contributes to society, his life and literal voice is never regarded and just put to the side. It's honestly so sad that even though this movie was made many years ago, it still applies to our modern society today. 

Something else that really stood out to me was how Sayles used science fiction and Afrofuturistic themes of alienation to show the real world alienation in American society. Brother was an alien which made him an outsider in many different ways. It was very interesting to see how Sayles communicated his otherness through his alienness. He was viewed as an object for curiosity and also as a course for exploitation. 

Overall, taking a class on Afrofuturism is important for understanding the realities and struggles of Black lives in America. As a middle eastern woman, this class has helped me find new ways of being an ally. It introduced me to many new films, stories and articles that I would have probably never discovered in my life. I can now better understand the importance of these works and now I can see how these works of art are also used to heal Black communities. Being an ally is about respecting and supporting people who have been historically and systemically marginalized. This class has given me the chance to learn new ways to stand in solidarity with the Black community  by educating me with different language and art to do so. I am so happy I took this class and now I can carry this wisdom and knowledge with me for the rest of my life!