Afrofuturism

American  

[af-roh-fyoo-chuh-riz-uhm] / ˌæf roʊˈfyu tʃəˌrɪz əm /

noun

1. a cultural movement that uses the frame of science fiction and fantasy to reimagine the history of the African diaspora and to invoke a vision of a technically advanced and generally hopeful future in which Black people thrive: this movement is expressed through art, cinema, literature, music, fashion, etc.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Afrofuturist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of Afrofuturism

Afro- ( def. ) + futurism ( def. ); coined by U.S. author and critic Mark Dery (born 1959) in his essay “Black to the Future” (1993) published in Flame Wars: The Discourse of Cyberculture (1994)

Example Sentences

It was among the first bands to hire Bill Whitten to create costumes mixing the iconography of ancient Egypt with Afrofuturism.

From Salon • Jun. 7, 2026

He’d sought answers to his country’s racial problems through scholarship, sociology, pan-Africanism, Afrofuturism, sci-fi, Socialism, Communism and finally expatriation, to Ghana, a new nation with a new president, Du Bois ally Kwame Nkrumah.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026

Across the record, she branches out into electronica, jazz, Chicago house and Afrofuturism, as she explores “all the different ways of existing in the world as a black person”.

From BBC • Jul. 25, 2024

It is a minimal, meditative listening experience — in some ways, ancient and, in others, an extension of the Afrofuturism that André 3000 has always worked to bring to the forefront.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 4, 2023

The moon is a disco ball and it orbits around Beyoncé on this commanding dance-floor banger, a studied but lived-in ode to ball culture and Afrofuturism.

From New York Times • Dec. 7, 2022