Research Guides: Black Histories and Futures in STEM: Afrofuturism: Celebrating Black Histories & Futures

Afrofuturism stands at the vibrant intersection of African and African American culture, science fiction, history, and technology. Our curated display celebrates works that boldly reimagine Black futures while honoring and reclaiming Black history.

Born from cultural critic Mark Dery's 1993 essay "Black to the Future: Interviews with Samuel R. Delany, Greg Tate, and Tricia Rose," Afrofuturism has evolved far beyond its literary origins to encompass film, music, and visual arts. What began as an exploration into the scarcity of Black voices in science fiction has blossomed into a powerful cultural movement that continues to shape contemporary art and media.

Featured author Nnedi Okorafor offers fascinating insights into this genre in her TedTalk, "Sci-fi Stories that Imagine a Future Africa," illuminating how Afrofuturist writing challenges and transforms our vision of tomorrow.

Visit our display throughout February in the SciFi & Fantasy Lounge, located on the 5th level/1st floor of Douglas Library. All books are available for loan.

Join us in exploring these visionary works that bridge past and future, tradition and technology, memory and imagination.

Afrofuturism from the Science Fiction & Fantasy Collection

Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond by Bill Campbell (Editor); Edward Austin Hall (Editor); John Jennings (Illustrator)
ISBN: 9780989141161
Publication Date: 2013-10-01
Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond is a groundbreaking speculative fiction anthology that showcases the work from some of the most talented writers inside and outside speculative fiction across the globe--including Junot Diaz, Victor LaValle, Lauren Beukes, N. K. Jemisin, Rabih Alameddine, S. P. Somtow, and more. These authors have earned such literary honors as the Pulitzer Prize, the American Book Award, the World Fantasy Award, and the Bram Stoker, among others.
Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
Publication Date: 2019
In the stunning first novel in Marlon James's Dark Star trilogy, myth, fantasy, and history come together to explore what happens when a mercenary is hired to find a missing child.
The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin
Publication Date: 2015
At the end of the world, a woman must hide her secret power and find her kidnapped daughter in this "intricate and extraordinary" Hugo Award winning novel of power, oppression, and revolution. (The New York Times)
The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin
Publication Date: 2020
Every great city has a soul. Some are ancient as myths, and others are as new and destructive as children. New York? She's got six.
How Long 'til Black Future Month? by N. K. Jemisin
ISBN: 9780316491341
Publication Date: 2018-11-27
Three-time Hugo Award winner and NYT bestselling author N. K. Jemisin challenges and delights readers with thought-provoking narratives of destruction, rebirth, and redemption that sharply examine modern society in her first collection of short fiction, which includes never-before-seen stories. "Marvelous and wide-ranging." -- Los Angeles Times"Gorgeous" -- NPR Books"Breathtakingly imaginative and narratively bold." -- Entertainment Weekly Spirits haunt the flooded streets of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In a parallel universe, a utopian society watches our world, trying to learn from our mistakes. A black mother in the Jim Crow South must save her daughter from a fey offering impossible promises. And in the Hugo award-nominated short story "The City Born Great," a young street kid fights to give birth to an old metropolis's soul.
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
Publication Date: 2018
Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs.
Noor by Nnedi Okorafor
Publication Date: 2021
From Africanfuturist luminary Okorafor comes a new science fiction novel of intense action and thoughtful rumination on biotechnology, destiny, and humanity in a near-future Nigeria.
An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
Publication Date: 2017
For generations, the Matilda has ferried the last of humanity to a mythical Promised Land. On its way, the ship's leaders have imposed harsh moral restrictions and deep indignities on dark-skinned sharecroppers like Aster, who they consider to be less than human. Embroiled in a grudge with a brutal overseer and sowing the seeds of civil war, Aster learns there may be a way off the ship if she's willing to fight for it.
The Deep by Rivers Solomon; Daveed Diggs; William Hutson; Jonathan Snipes
Publication Date: 2020
Octavia E. Butler meets Marvel's Black Panther in The Deep, a story rich with Afrofuturism, folklore, and the power of memory, inspired by the Hugo Award-nominated song "The Deep" from Daveed Diggs's rap group Clipping. Yetu holds the memories for her people--water-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slave women thrown overboard by slave owners--who live idyllic lives in the deep.
Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi
Publication Date: 2020
"Riot Baby, Onyebuchi's first novel for adults, is as much the story of Ella and her brother, Kevin, as it is the story of black pain in America, of the extent and lineage of police brutality, racism and injustice in this country, written in prose as searing and precise as hot diamonds."--The New York Times
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Publication Date: 2018
Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie's Reaper mother summoned forth souls. But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope. Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy.
Afrofuturism by Ytasha L. Womack
Publication Date: 2013
This 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.
Dawn by Octavia E. Butler
ISBN: 9781538753712
Publication Date: 2021-04-27
One woman is called upon to rebuild the future of humankind after a nuclear war, in this revelatory post-apocalyptic tale from the award-winning author of Parable of the Sower. When Lilith lyapo wakes from a centuries-long sleep, she finds herself aboard the vast spaceship of the Oankali. She discovers that the Oankali--a seemingly benevolent alien race--intervened in the fate of the humanity hundreds of years ago, saving everyone who survived a nuclear war from a dying, ruined Earth and then putting them into a deep sleep. After learning all they could about Earth and its beings, the Oankali healed the planet, cured cancer, increased human strength, and they now want Lilith to lead her people back to Earth--but salvation comes at a price. Hopeful and thought-provoking, this post-apocalyptic narrative deftly explores gender and race through the eyes of characters struggling to adapt during a pivotal time of crisis and change.