Afrofuturism as an expression first surfaced in the work of Afrofuturist
forefather, Jazz musician Sun Ra, from the depths of 1950s American
institutional racism and marginalization. Ra mixed various African
symbols, poetry, and philosophy, through extra-terrestrial transfiguration
and phantasmic amalgamation of ancient and alien technologies, in a
manner that recaptures, reimagines, and revises Afrodiasporic history and
present – often with a tint of sarcasm. philosophy, through extra-
terrestrial transfiguration and phantasmic amalgamation of ancient and
alien technologies, in a manner that recaptures, reimagines, and revises
Afrodiasporic history and present – often with a tint of sarcasm. In his
film, Space is the Place (1974), “Ra attempts to save Earth’s
inhabitants by offering them off-world employment with Outer Spaceways
Incorporated, but seeing that the position provides no pay and requires
giving up Earthly pleasures and vices, only a handful take him up on the
offer” (Anderson and Jones, 2016:65).
Sun Ra, excerpt from the introduction of Space is the Place (1974)