Interested in learning more about the world and history? Suffolk Discovers covers new themes that explore the cultures and backgrounds of people in our communities. For adults.

No registration required to attend in person. Registration required to attend virtually via Zoom. Registered participants will receive a link to the Zoom meeting at least 15 minutes before the event begins.

About the Talk
Afrofuturism expresses notions of Black identity, agency and freedom through art, creative works and activism that envision liberated futures for Black life. With musicians such as Sun Ra, Parliament, and Janell Monáe, visual artists like Wangechi Mutu, and authors such as Octavia Butler, Afrofuturism imagines the potential of African diasporic futures without the effects of colonialism, capitalism, and racism among other things. In recent work like the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Black Panther movies though, there is a strain of doubt introduced into the hopefully utopian vision of Afrofuturist societies such as Wakanda.

Panelists will discuss the legacies of different visions of Afrofuturism and ask: Who is it for? Who is left out of the future? What will Blackness look like in the future? We encourage you to bring your own questions to the discussion!

About the Presenters
Grace D. Gipson is Assistant Professor of African American Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Gipson is Black future feminist/pop culture scholar whose research explores Black popular culture, digital humanities, representations of race and gender within comic books, Afrofuturism, and race and new media. Her current book project seeks to explore Black female identities as personified in comics and fandom culture. A second project examines how online Black female academic and popular networks produce cultural and technical capital, which act as safe spaces that showcase, interrogate, and celebrate the blending of popular culture and the academy. Outside the classroom, you can find Gipson collecting comic books, ticket stubs to the latest movie, stamps on her international travel discoveries, participating as part of the #BlackComicsChat podcast crew, and giving back to the community through a myriad of projects and organizations.

Derrick Lanois, PhD is an Assistant Professor of African American History and Studies at Norfolk State University. Dr. Lanois received his Ph.D. at Georgia State University in History focused on African Americans since enslavement and their institutions. In addition, he received a Graduate Certificate in Gender Studies examining African American Masculinities, Black Feminisms, Womanism, and Black Sexualities. He is completing his thesis for a M.F.A. in Documentary Expressions specializing in Documentary Filmmaking and Audio Documentaries from the University of Mississippi with an expected graduation in August 2020. The MFA thesis examines Hoodoo in the South. Currently, he is transforming his dissertation entitled, “Fatherhood of God; Brotherhood of Man: Prince Hall Affiliated Freemasonry, Manhood, and Community Building in the Jim Crow South” into a manuscript and a companion documentary film.

Schedule of Events:

Naval Football and the 90-Day Wonders

January 18 at North Suffolk and via Zoom

African Americans and the Great Dismal Swamp before the Civil War

February 8 at Morgan Memorial and via Zoom

50 Years and More of Women's History in Suffolk

March 21 at Morgan Memorial and via Zoom

Afrofuturism Panel

April 18 at North Suffolk and via Zoom