[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(frenetic music)
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(applause)
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My talk,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about Afrofuturism and the African.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Afrofuturism is considered\Nwhat speculative fiction,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,myths, legends, science fiction,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the stories of that genre\Nare to African Americans,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Africa, Africa of the Diaspora,\Nand black people in general.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What (inaudible) refers it to is\Nwhat blackness looks like in the future,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,real or imagined.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, the history of Afrofuturism\Ncomes from America
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and was first coined\Nby a man called Mark Dery
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and when he started talking\Nabout Afrofuturism
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he talks about the idea of literature,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so the books\Nthat Octavia Butler would write
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and things like that,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but then it also moved\Ninto a new region of music
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so we would have people\Nlike Sun Ra and George Clinton
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but for me, especially Sun Ra because\Nhe has a special place in my heart,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He believed that he came\Nfrom the planet Saturn
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and came to earth to spread\Nthe message of love and peace.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like in his movie, "Space is the Place"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he introduces the idea of "alien"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to black people in America.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But that was very specifically\Nabout African Americans
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I wanted to find a place\Nfor Afrofuturism {\i1}in{\i0} Africa.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The first place that that led me\Nto is Mount Kenya, obviously,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where the god of Mount Kenya lives\Naccording to the Kikuyu tradition
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so Mwene Nyaga is seated\Non top of this mountain
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he introduced ourAdam and Eve,\NGikuyu and Mumbi,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and from that were descendants\Nof the nine children.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But even before the idea\Nof the myth of Gikuyu and Mumbi,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the idea of Afrofuturism\Nor legends and myths
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and stories that were told\Nto me by my mother
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and she is a great storyteller\Nas well as a pediatrician
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so I'd have to say that her stories\Nwere truly science fiction, truly.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(laughter)
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I remember her telling me stories\Nabout the way if I ate the pumpkin,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my hair would grow.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or if --which is strange--\Nif I attach leeches to my nipples,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my breasts would grow.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And also... I did it.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(laughter)
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And also, she would talk about the way
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that in the Kikuru tradition,\Nif you circle the Mugumo tree seven times,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you would change sex.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Growing up, obviously,\Npast my mother's stories,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I began to read stories of my own\Nand they were inevitably filled
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with the ogre and the young girl\Nwho wandered off into the forest
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and what would happen\Nif she wandered off into the forest
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and how she would meet this terrible ogre
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because she departed\Nfrom the ways of the society.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's also when I met Ben Okri\Nand the idea of the spirit child
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the idea of using spiritualism\Nor mythical realism within storytelling.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That, for me, is also\Na link to Afrofuturism.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But what really inspired me about Ben Okri
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was his ability to merge seamlessly\Nthe idea of the spirit world and fiction.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the idea that we live in a continent
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that is so closely linked\Nto the spirit world
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that we use it in a very\Neveryday sort of way
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that is true\Nwhen we come to witch doctors,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sangoma, or people who deal\Nwith the spiritual realms.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's also true of genies of the coast
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I don't even know how many of you\Nhave gone to Mombasa or Zanzibar,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I know from personal experience
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there was a cat that followed me\Nfor five kilometers,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or every time I turned around it was there
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I could have sworn it was a genie.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm positive about it.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, I have friends\Nwho attest to the fact as well.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So Afrofuturism has always been\Npart of our culture, part of us.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But more interestingly, it has been part\Nof the history of West Africa.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, West Africa is believed,\Nespecially in money,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there is a nation\Nof people called the Dogan
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the Dogan people believe\Nthat they were told
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about a planet called Ceres B
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,before it was discovered\Nby Western scientists.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They were told of this planet\Nby a race of amphibian-like aliens
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who came in from the ocean
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and told them, not only about a planet,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but also about the rotation of the planet
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and how it worked in space.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Some of the cave drawings, like these,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,showed the amphibian creatures\Nat the bottom of the people,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or the people who came\Nto speak to them about this planet.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Then, later on, it was discovered,\Nso they had the knowledge in 1930
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it wasn't until the '70s\Nthat the actual planet was seen.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If that isn't curious science fiction,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,history, I don't know what is.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But also from South Africa\Nwe have people like Credo Mutwa
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who believes there is\Na reptilian race of people
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whose bloodline extends\Ninto modern day royalty
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and modern day business people
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and is what, I guess, theorists\Nwould call the {\i1}Illuminati{\i0}.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So we've established that fact--\Nfact {\i1}or{\i0} fiction.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Myths have always existed\Nvery, very closely to us,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but there's been a growing need\Nfor the idea of Afrofuturism
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I'd have to ask why?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And when talking about it,\NI talked about it to a friend of mine,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he said, "Africans are inherently futuristic,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,given the sheer capriciousness\Nof our present situation."
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That was my friend Michael