[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\Nare 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 [inaudible]\Nwho reckons he's very clever.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Then there was a writer called\NDavid William Cohen who says,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"The struggle of man against power
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is the struggle of man\Nagainst forgetting."
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This makes a lot of sense\Nbecause it's been suggested
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that Afrofuturism, as a genre, is growing
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because as Africans\Nor as descendants of Africa,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we've never had a space or a voice\Nwithin our own history.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We've never had a chance\Nto talk about our own history.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's always been written by other people.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, because we don't have\Na link to our own history
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or because we didn't have\Na grasp on our own history,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we're using Afrofuturism\Nto stake a place in the future
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so we can strongly identify\Nourselves in the future.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Mark Dery argues\Nthat the younger generation
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have used technology\Nas a way to insert themselves
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,into both a real\Nand imagined landscape
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to physically assert\Ntheir presence in the present
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and to make it clear they intend\Nto stake their claim in the future.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So because we can't reclaim our history,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we are now trying\Nto project our own future.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Of course, in projecting our own future,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we have to ask where are we doing it?\NIn what spaces are we doing that?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In Kenya, we're doing that in music
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we have some of my favorite\Nmusicians here as well
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but just a band have, to me,\Ndemonstrated Afrofuturism
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in their own music,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,especially in one\Nof their latest songs [inaudible].
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They say, "Give me five,\Nit's good to be alive.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The sky seems so far away.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hope you know we've been\Nto the moon and back.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Be sure that nothing's\Ngoing to hold us back."
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So we know that we are larger than life.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We know that we are larger than earth.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We know we are larger than the cosmos
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that is reflected\Nin our work, and in our music.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Around the continent, obviously,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there's people like Nnedi Okorafor
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who wrote a book called "Who Fears Death"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and this is a matte painting\Ndone by Ivonne Wende, a Kenyan
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about the book "Who Fears Death"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and in "Who Fears Death" what Nnedi does
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that she uses the idea\Nof manipulating technology as we know it
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to understand where we are
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or to be able to grasp our environment
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and as Afrikans, we do that all the time.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We use technology that has been used\Noutside of our space
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or that was invented\Noutside of our own spaces
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and use it in our own ways.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What Nnedi Okarafor does\Nin "Who Fears Death"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that she creates\Nthese particular machines
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,called water catcher stations,\Nand they absorb
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all the atmosphere\Nfrom around them
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that people can take baths,\Ncan have clean drinking water,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[inaudible] and so forth.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's the fictional side of it.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In practice, how are Kenyans\Nusing Afrofuturism?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I have to say I would refer\Nto Afrigadgets, the website
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that has a plethora of different people\Ndoing very inventive and for me,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,very futuristic things including\Na young 13 year old called Richard Turere
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and what he did is that he created\Na way to run a flashlight invention,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,run off a car battery, to keep predators\Naway from his family's property.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That to me is a very Afrofuturist sense\Nof using technology,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but in a very rustic way,\Nin a way that makes sense to us.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In my film "Pumzi" I used\Nthe idea of technology
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and this is a picture\Nof what we call self-power generator
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and there would be these people\Nrunning on treadmills
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they would generate electricity\Nin order to have power where they lived.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I thought I was being\Ncreative, imaginative,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,until I googled it.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(muted laughter)
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I wasn't so much.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Self power generators do exist.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They do, they're our ways of using\Nkinetic energy to power stations.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's not completely\Nin practice at the moment
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it's an idea of the ways\Nthat we can use technology
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in a very Afrofuturist setting
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to be able to run our everyday things.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's obviously nowhere\Nwe can talk about the future
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,without talking about technology.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In "Pumzi", I also talk about\Nthe idea of communication,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I know from my own experience
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I would be sitting\Nacross the table from a friend
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we would tweet each other.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now we have learned to communicate\Nin 140 characters or less.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Even when I'm talking about the things\Nthat are happening in my life,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'll use hashtag, as if it were\Npart of the sentence.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In "Pumzi", what I did\Nis I created this idea,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we'll see it in a second,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about how we use different layers\Nof technology in order to communicate
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the thought process of that
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that we're looking\Nfor more efficient ways of communicating
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,rather than finding emotive ways\Nof communicating.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For me, what is most important\Nand what I've found from making "Pumzi"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that the idea of Afrofuturism\Nworked the best for me
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because I'm able to extrapolate\Non ideas and thoughts
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and feelings I have about\Nthe way the world is running
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,without offending people\Nor without being too heavy handed
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and for me, what "Pumzi" was\Nwas a reflection of society
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it's set 75 years after the Water War
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and where everybody lives inside because\Nthey've been told the outside is dead.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,until one character, Asher,\Nwakes up from a dream
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is not allowed, because everybody\Nis supposed to be taking dream suppresants
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and she finds a seed that she then plants,\Nand it starts to grow.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But in a world where the outside is dead,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and her being the curator\Nof a virtual natural museum,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that's the only place\Nyou have access to nature,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,she had to find a way outside of herself
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to be able to prove that life exists.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's "Pumzi".
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But my metaphor for "Pumzi"\Nis about life and sacrifice
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the fact that we ourselves\Nhave to mother Mother Nature.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We have to make sacrifices\Nin order to live in this one
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we have to know that our own behaviors\Nwill affect generations to come.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As a storyteller in the tradition\Nof the [inaudible]
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my job is to be a seer,\Nnot just a historian
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and to be able like [Mogo]\Nwho predicted the coming of white people
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as if they were colorful butterflies\Nor the train in the sense of the way
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that he saw a snake with smoke\Ncoming out of its head
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to be able to say,\Nthere is more to life than we see
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and listen to the storytellers.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They also have a voice,\Nand their voice is important.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, I leave you with a clip from "Pumzi"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and this is just an indication\Nof the possibilities of the human mind,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the possibilities of Afrofuturism
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and how Afrofuturism\Nrelates to us as Africans.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(applause)