Ytasha L. Womack – författare

The spaces revealed through the practice of time manipulation in Black cultures lend themselves to storytelling, a time-hopping process that integrates memory and community. Drawing on disparate philosophies and science behind electronic beat-making, lyricism, dance, memory, myth, and cosmology in the African and African Disaporic traditions, this book seeks to demonstrate relationships between rhythm, space, and ways of being as an articulation of futures and alternate realities made present. Infused with author and Afrofuturist educator Ytasha Womack''s own practice and contemplations, this book, rich in anecdotes, will interrogate Afrofuturism as an experience that unfolds through combinations of being a maker and theorist. Readers will take a creative journey that allows them to bring Afrofuturist practices into their own lives. The goal is to expand imagination, rootedness, and possibility. From Senegalese poet, political theorist, and politician Leopold Sedar Senghor''s ideas on the plastic arts and Negritude to writer Malidoma Patrese Some''s articulation of water symbolism in Burkina Faso; from tap dance exercises to composer, DJ, and recording artist King Britt''s Blacktronica, The Afrofuturist Evolution aims to demonstrate Afrofuturism as embodied theory in practice.This book—in simple, straightforward, but powerful ways—invites readers to bring these practices into their own lives.

The spaces revealed through the practice of time manipulation in Black cultures lend themselves to storytelling, a time-hopping process that integrates memory and community. Drawing on disparate philosophies and science behind electronic beat-making, lyricism, dance, memory, myth, and cosmology in the African and African Disaporic traditions, this book seeks to demonstrate relationships between rhythm, space, and ways of being as an articulation of futures and alternate realities made present. Infused with author and Afrofuturist educator Ytasha Womack''s own practice and contemplations, this book, rich in anecdotes, will interrogate Afrofuturism as an experience that unfolds through combinations of being a maker and theorist. Readers will take a creative journey that allows them to bring Afrofuturist practices into their own lives. The goal is to expand imagination, rootedness, and possibility. From Senegalese poet, political theorist, and politician Leopold Sedar Senghor''s ideas on the plastic arts and Negritude to writer Malidoma Patrese Some''s articulation of water symbolism in Burkina Faso; from tap dance exercises to composer, DJ, and recording artist King Britt''s Blacktronica, The Afrofuturist Evolution aims to demonstrate Afrofuturism as embodied theory in practice.This book—in simple, straightforward, but powerful ways—invites readers to bring these practices into their own lives.

As a young journalist covering black life at large, author Ytasha L. Womack was caught unaware when she found herself straddling black culture''s rarely acknowledged generation gaps and cultural divides. Traditional images show blacks unified culturally, politically, and socially, united by race at venues such as churches and community meetings. But in the “post black” era, even though individuals define themselves first as black, they do not necessarily define themselves by tradition as much as by personal interests, points of view, and lifestyle.  In Post Black: How a New Generation Is Redefining African American Identity, Womack takes a fresh look at dynamics shaping the lives of contemporary African Americans. Although grateful to generations that have paved the way, many cannot relate to the rhetoric of pundits who speak as ambassadors of black life any more than they see themselves in exaggerated hip-hop images. Combining interviews, opinions of experts, and extensive research, Post Black will open the eyes of some, validate the lives of others, and provide a realistic picture of the expanding community.

2014 Locus Awards Finalist, Nonfiction Category In this hip, accessible primer to the music, literature, and art of Afrofuturism, author Ytasha Womack introduces readers to the burgeoning community of artists creating Afrofuturist works, the innovators from the past, and the wide range of subjects they explore. From the sci-fi literature of Samuel Delany, Octavia Butler, and N. K. Jemisin to the musical cosmos of Sun Ra, George Clinton, and the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am, to the visual and multimedia artists inspired by African Dogon myths and Egyptian deities, the book's topics range from the "e;alien"e; experience of blacks in America to the "e;wake up"e; cry that peppers sci-fi literature, sermons, and activism. With a twofold aim to entertain and enlighten, Afrofuturists strive to break down racial, ethnic, and social limitations to empower and free individuals to be themselves.

2014 Locus Awards Finalist, Nonfiction Category

In this hip, accessible primer to the music, literature, and art of Afrofuturism, author Ytasha Womack introduces readers to the burgeoning community of artists creating Afrofuturist works, the innovators from the past, and the wide range of subjects they explore. From the sci-fi literature of Samuel Delany, Octavia Butler, and N. K. Jemisin to the musical cosmos of Sun Ra, George Clinton, and the Black Eyed Peas'' will.i.am, to the visual and multimedia artists inspired by African Dogon myths and Egyptian deities, the book''s topics range from the "alien" experience of blacks in America to the "wake up" cry that peppers sci-fi literature, sermons, and activism. With a twofold aim to entertain and enlighten, Afrofuturists strive to break down racial, ethnic, and social limitations to empower and free individuals to be themselves.