 We summon something. We summon hope with every sunrise. Seeing a future that has us in it. Not to replace you because our space is not yours and your space is not ours. Our space is infinite and has no boundaries. It is space that God created for us and all are bound to respect. We summon hope with every sunrise. Hoping our sons rise, hoping our daughters raise the bar. Because it ain't magic, you dig. It ain't, isn't your way or no way. We belong in the light. We belong to the light. That's why we rise with the sun, in the sun. We summon, we something, we are Afro future. You dig, you dig, you dig. That was awesome, amazing. Thank you, Christina. And good afternoon everyone, I'm Terrence Hamilton. I serve on the city's diversity and inclusion employee committee and on behalf of the committee. I want to welcome you to today's Black History Month program. I've had the great privilege of working with the employee work group that planned today's program, which will feature a presentation on Afro futurism, imagining the future while honoring the past. As well as an original performance of music and monologue spanning more than 300 years of history, infused with the ideology of Afro futurism before the term was even coined. So before we begin, and I know some of you are eating your food there, and those of you who are joining us virtually, hey, hey, it's my office staff. Before we begin the program, we have a message from our city leadership that will be delivered by assistant city manager, Jessica McAcaron. Gotta get it right? Good afternoon, everybody, and thank you so much for coming today. It is an honor for me to join you all to welcome you here to this program. I know I've been attending these for about 18 months now since I joined the city, and I have learned so much each time we have one of these programs. We know in the city manager's office that it is critical that we celebrate diversity, equity, and inclusion, not only here in our workforce, but also in our community. We know that it's important to have multiple voices at the table and different points of view. It helps us to ensure that we make better decisions that we learn from the past, and we take our city thriving into the future. I am so proud to be a city of Fort Worth employee where I know that diversity is a core value here in the city, and I think that's just so important. We're gathered here today to hear what I know is going to be a phenomenal program. I was talking to Dr. Mac, right, and telling her just how excited I was. The title alone is exciting, and I can't wait to hear what she presents with us today. Black History Month is a time to recognize the significant contributions and enduring legacy of African-Americans throughout US history, as well as here in the state of Texas and right here in Fort Worth. We all know the story of Opal Lee, who's right here in Fort Worth, and just her incredible efforts at the national level to have Juneteenth recognized as a federal holiday. I also learned the other day, and I'll preface this with saying basketball is truly my most favorite sport. So when I learned the other day about retired coach Robert Hughes, who is still the most winning basketball coach, boys' basketball coach in high school history, right here in Fort Worth, that was exciting fact that I just did not know. I also watched one of my favorite movies, Hidden Figures, Monday Night, and Hidden Figures, if you haven't seen it, is about the real life story of African-American mathematicians and their contributions to NASA in the very early days of the space program. Those are trailblazers that led the way for significant accomplishments, and they've paved the way for so many more people to come. I really look forward to hearing the stories about the past here in Fort Worth, as well as the nation, but I'm also really looking forward to learning about what are people doing today? Who are gonna be the trailblazers of our generation? In the future, what are people gonna be talking about today? And I wanna be a part of that. I wanna recognize the Diversity and Inclusion Employee Committee that works tirelessly to put this program together, all of their planning efforts, and I'm gonna put a plug. I think they have a few openings. So if you know of somebody in one of the departments that has an opening, connect with them. Be a part of this program. So it's a great honor. So please join me in congratulating them and thanking them for their work. And I wanna close with just thanking each and every one of you again for taking the time out of your day to come and attend this program. It is so important and we're glad to see you here. Thank you, Terence. Thank you, thank you so much, Jessica. And it's so great that we have a leadership that actually recognizes the importance of programing as such. So, and Jessica, again, thanks for those remarks. Now, let's welcome our esteemed speaker, Dr. Angela Mack, who is a scholar. She's an author and a professor at our own TCU, right here in Fort Worth, who will present an Afrofuturist roll call. So please join me in welcoming Dr. Angela Mack. One greetings, greetings, hello. There we go, there we go. I am Dr. Angela Mack and I am genuinely happy to be here to celebrate Black History Month with you. First, I just wanna say thank you to the city of Fort Worth for having me today. I am grateful that my colleague and my mentor, Dr. Stacy McCormick, she made this connection possible with the help of Veronica Villegas. And so Veronica, wherever you are, thank you so much for just making this moment possible to those who are here in this chamber, to those who are currently watching online and to those who will watch later, whichever format that you will watch on. I just wanna say thank you for sharing in this space, in this gathering, in this moment of time that is this program. All right, so today what we're gonna do, we're gonna be on a journey together, okay? Is that all right, y'all? Can we journey together today? All right, now, I come from a background where I am used to audience participation so I invite you to respond back to me when I give you a specific call. So this is what I want y'all to do, okay? I'm gonna have, throughout the program, I'm gonna keep saying roll call. When I say roll call, I want you to say roll call back to me, okay? Let's try it. Roll call. Roll call. All right, one more time. Roll call. Roll call. Okay, good, good. This is what we're gonna do and this lets me know that you're with me as we're on this journey in Black History Month and specifically looking at Black History through an Afrofuturism lens, okay? With that being said, allow me to share with, let me share with you what our program is gonna be about today through my presentation. Our journey today begins by looking at what Afrofuturism is, then how it is understood in a modern context, where they're gonna take a look at Black History as Afrofuturism and then we're gonna see how they connect to each other, okay? From there, we're gonna actually take a look at some Black History figures, both nationally and locally, that I put forth the argument that they are indeed Afrofuturists through their works in abolition, through them being revolutionary and visionaries for Black people and Black culture, for being musical geniuses as Sonic superstars, and then we're gonna take a look at Fort Worth's own Black History Afrofuturists. Now please keep in mind, our chronicle of these 13 Afrofuturists are by no means a complete list, okay? This list hardly scratches the surface when it comes to including everyone that's an Afrofuturist because there's so much to choose from, there's so many to use from. But I wanted to highlight some specific people today to help us to actually see that Black history and Afrofuturism are indeed connected. So with the 13 that are highlighted, do know that there are many, many, many more that can make the list. So we're about to get ready to go on this Afrofuturistic time traveling Odyssey and the ways in which we see our past, our present, and our future. Y'all ready? All right, okay, let's go. Before I dive into my actual presentation, I wanna take the opportunity to ground this moment in our time with a moment of remembrance and in a personal dedication. I am here in the strength and the spirit of those who I mention now. I give honor to the native people of the Wichita and affiliated tribes whose ancestral lands Fort Worth is built upon. Their ancient love and care for the hollow grounds of our city make our living possible. I honor the 150 unnamed enslaved ancestors whose labor cultivated the lands that started off Fort Worth in its army outpost origin. I also honor the late Atatiana Jefferson whose life in legacy continues to compel me to do the work in the mattering of her life in the whole of who she was as a dreamer and as an Afrofuturist. I also speak her sister's name, Amber Carr, as a forever warrior and the keeper of her sister's flame. Say her name, Atatiana Jefferson. Say her name. Say her name. Thank you. And lastly, I dedicate this presentation to my father, David Hemphill Sr. He passed away in December from a courageous battle with cancer and it's through his strength and his love that I carry forward as part of his legacy. So, all right, y'all take a look. Here's a little bit about me. I am born and raised Fort Worth, Texas. I am a Southside, Funky Town homegirl through and through. Okay, okay. I am from Morningside. Thank you, yes. All right, thank you, thank you. I'm from the Morningside neighborhood of the proud 76104 zip code and I know our city goes by millionaire. Some people wanna call it Cowtown, others vibe to Panther City, but for me, I am Funky Town, okay? And I vibes with that tried and true. Funky Town got the swag, it got the flavor, it got the drip, it got the flex. Be it from the Southside, Como, Stop 6, Polly, Eastwood and on and on and on. When you talk about Funky Town, we are talking about some flavor, okay? I went to Pasco High School, I earned my bachelor's at Texas Westland and I earned my doctorate at TCU. Now, please do not fault me for the fact that I got my master's at the other TWU, but please know in Denton that is a fantastic school, okay? Now, I went to college during the day, back in the day when TCC was TCJC, okay? So I think I just dated myself by that reference, but it's okay. I also worked at TCC South Campus years, years ago, okay? I teach currently, I teach in the Ethnic Studies Department in TCU and my actual homegrown research focuses on Black community uplift here in the city. Now, my own Black history is rooted in the Zawati writers, which was an amazing performance group and artists collected from back in the day. It is rooted in the Black Book Worm that used to be one of the major Black Book stores here in the city and it's rooted in my home church, the illustrious Mount Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, located off of Stella, New York in Turtle Heights, okay? My uncle, Billy Adams, he actually owns the Boot and Heelshoe Repair Shop off of Lancaster. So Fort Worth for me is heart and home and I am blessed to have my family and I am blessed to raise my own family here. Now I wanna turn us to our program's theme. Our theme for today is Afrofuturism, imagining the future while honoring the past. So what exactly is Afrofuturism? The term itself came about in 1993 by author Mark Dairy in his collective conversation that was called Black to the Future. In it, Dairy was asking the question as to why there weren't many that were writing in the science fiction genre. This is how he was thinking about the question from this perspective. How can a people whose histories have been violently erased imagine futures, especially when those futures have often been ridden and seemingly owned by white men who write themselves permanently within and exclude Black people from the future? This is where we actually get the term Afrofuturism from and this is the energy that came from that. Now let's think about the word in its part. Afro, future, and ism. The Afro part is the part that refers to the African and the people of African descent, Black folks from all across the world when it comes to cultures, experiences, expressions, traditions, and languages that are attached. We can think of Afro in this sense as Afrocentric, which relies heavily upon the African culture in the ways Black folks show up in the world. The future part is the part that refers to what will happen, what can happen, or what can be imagined to happen because of what has already happened or is happening. A lot of happenings, okay? The future only exists because there is a past and present that even makes the future possible. The ism is the part that serves as the connective tissue that makes the word it describes into a concept, a philosophy, an idea, or what I like to think of as an understanding. So when you're putting the words together, you can think of it in this way. Afrofuturism is an Afrocentric understanding of what can, of what will, or what can be imagined to happen based off of what has happened and what is happening. So keep that in mind, y'all. Now let's take a look at a couple of definitions that were actually about Afrofuturism that's not necessarily from Mark Derry, but I think are pretty good. Now the first one I actually stole from Christina Brooks. So this is her definition that she gave last year at the Black History Month program. This is when she was referencing Black Panther and Afrofuturism. It is the powerful visioning of a world where the origin story of an amazing people of Africa and of African descent are normalized and centered in spaces of human advancement based on real human beginnings. It expands to include an Afrofuturistic visioning of advancements in medicine, technology, education, transportation, commerce, trade, environmental equity, and the arts. All are built on and from the actual inventions and contributions of invisible people who actually lived in our world. Now note the use of the word visioning because visioning is the seeing forward, the seeing, the visualizing, and the manifesting of the future. Now here's another way to take a look and put it. Afrofuturism is the mindset, the moment, the mood, the movement of African and Black global people, including Black Americans who, when faced with the oppressive conditions of slavery, systemic racism, white supremacy, racialized violence and apartheid, Black folks crafted culturally expressive and innovative ideas and avenues of abolition, of liberation, of freedom, creativity, technology, imagination, and possibility for multiple, multiple and expansive pasts, presence, and futures for the ongoingness of Black folk in Black life. So Afrofuturism is a whole framework of understanding how Black people keep on keeping on, all right, through what we do, what we create, what we innovate, and what we imagine for our futures. And when I say futures, I mean with an ease because there's always more than one future to imagine. So now that we've just kind of taken a look and just thinking about what Afrofuturism is, let's think about how it's understood, okay? Right now I believe our most recent reference are the Marvel movies Black Panther because we see this beautiful Black excellence in flying ships and in advanced technologies and vibranium, y'all, all glossed up in this kind of space age type of vibe. But note that Black Panther is only one of the many references to Afrofuturism and this notion of Black people, technology, outer space, science fiction, and a future for Black people to be safe and to have seats at the table and being able to be in positions of global power and authority. That's been around for a while. That ain't new. That's not even news, even, okay? We can go all the way back to ancient civilizations of Africa. We can go to the empires of Ghana. We can go to the empires of Mali and Shunkai. We can even go back to ancient Egypt, fast forward, and then we can think about Yehru from Star Trek or the music of Sun Ra and Earth, Wind and Fire. We can think about the Tuskegee Airman and, as mentioned before me, we can think about our hidden figures. We can think about it in art, in music, in STEM, in gaming, in fashion, in food, in film and even in sports. For instance, the Harlem Renaissance was last centuries and it's hard to forever. Because think about all of the excellence and think about all the creativity and the imagination that came from that food or changed the tide of all American culture and worldwide culture as a result. And today we're still living out the fruits of what the Harlem Renaissance produced. So Afrofuturism is technological, is sciencey, but it's also artsy. It's imaginative and innovative and flavorful. It's creative and it is futuristic and possibilities not yet realized. Afrofuturism is bigger and covers greater swaths of time as black people in our conditions change along with the ways in which we do technology and even gain our literacies. So here's my argument, y'all. How does black history and Afrofuturism actually connect to each other? So the question is, if Afrofuturism is about the future, then how can we apply it to the past? Specifically, how is Afrofuturism relevant to black history? Answer, long before the term was coined, black people have always been invested in the continuation in the ongoingness. That's a word that I talk about, ongoingness of black life above any struggle, any oppression, any violence, any circumstance. Black people have always imagined, we have always dreamed, we have always innovated and we've always planned towards a possibility of black life being sustained globally, universally, and even cosmically. Black history is evidence that black people in the past were always thinking about the multiple futures with multiple versions of what black life could look like even in an unknown world. Even our faith traditions carry us from this life to the next and we hope for the things we haven't seen yet. So in our black DNA, it is a future forwardness that we're always thinking about what's coming based over what we've had and what we've done. So that is what we're thinking about when it comes to just the concept of Afrofuturism. Does that sound all right, y'all? Y'all following me? Okay, good, good, good. All right, let me be abreast of my time. All right, so now that we have a good understanding of our black history and Afrofuturism's connection, let's take a look at our black history, Afrofuturists. Whoa, call. Whoa, call. All right, good, y'all are with me. First up, let's take a look at three of the Afrofuturism's abolitionist ancestors. These three black history Afrofuturists, they made room by carving out futures for and beyond emancipation and it's through them that we're able to even be gathered together in a space like this today. First up, we have Phyllis Wheatley-Peters. She was the first African-American woman to publish a book of poetry. She was born in West Africa, she was kidnapped and she was enslaved as a young girl and during her time in slavery, she learned to read and write. Her poetry book, Poems of various subjects, Religious and Moral, was published in 1773 in London, even though research shows that she published a previous poem in 1767. At the time of publication of her poetry collection, she had to endure like a rigorous inquiry and questioning because not only was it not believed that she could write, it was not believed that she could be so sophisticated in the English language. Peters obtained her freedom in her lifetime and can be considered an Afro-futurist because it is through her poetry that made room for other black people to write of their own experiences in slavery and for the cause of abolition. Her writing made room for future black freedom and started a tradition of black poetry excellence. Next up, sojourner Truth. Born Isabella Bonfre, Truth was a surefire abolitionist and suffragist, meaning she was a champion for women's rights and the right to vote. And she was born into slavery but eventually attained her freedom through escape. She was enslaved by Dutch slave masters, so a fact that did not talk about a lot, her first language was Dutch. So she was actually a Dutch speaking, enslaved person, okay? She was also the first woman to sue and to win custody of her young son who was illegally sold into slavery in Alabama. In 1843, she renamed herself Sojourner Truth. After receiving her call to preach, amen? Amen. In 1851, she gave one of the most famous speeches on women's rights in the overturning of slavery title, Ain't I a Woman. Her speech as a plea for justice, humanity and equality is still part of the fire that continues to burn for equal rights today. She was an evangelist, an activist, a lecturer and a charismatic freedom fighter. Truth can be considered an Afro-futurist because she actively fought for and advocated for a liberated black future for all of those who were enslaved. She spoke truth to power and it's through her that black people and women today have found and used their voices for freedom. Rounding out our ancestors here is none other than Frederick Douglass. He was a preacher, memoirist, orator, abolitionist, statesman and suffragist who is perhaps one of the most well-known people from the 1800s. Douglass was born into slavery but eventually gained his freedom and wrote about his experiences and his call for justice for black Americans that are found in his writings, including his three autobiographies titled, Narrative of Life of Frederick Douglass and American Slave, My Bondage in My Freedom and Life in Times of Frederick Douglass. Through his writings, speeches and appeals, Douglass provided an unflinching account of what slavery, of the horrors of slavery and the hypocrisies of American chattel slavery, my advocating for the freedom of black people and for the rights of women to be seen as equal. Douglass can definitely be seen as Afro-Futurist because his innovative way of gaining his literacy, his flatbacks to white supremacy and his active engagement into abolition made room for future freedoms of black folk evening. He made room for himself to learn how to read and to write. He escaped and kept this method of escape out of harm's way and he traveled everywhere to speak the truth and plead for freedom. Also, cool fact, he is the most photographed person of the 1800s. There is no other world leader or military person combined that has more photographs than Frederick Douglass, so I think that's pretty cool. He was not only doing, but he was also the vision of black Afro-Futurism. Roll call. Roll call. All right, we've gone from abolition and now we're gonna travel into the 20th century. We're gonna look at three Afro-Futurist all-stars who change black culture, change the nation, and even change the world. First up, we have Marcus Garvey and he is the reason why we even have the pan-African flag used in symbols we used to dream. It's the red and the black and the green. Garvey was a Jamaican-born political activist who championed black independence and self-sufficiency. He was the founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association, whose goal was to achieve black nationalism through the embracing of African history and culture. He advocated support for the back-to-Africa movement towards the ideas of black liberation. He did sell through a number of establishments, including the Black Star Line shipping and passenger company to connect black folks back and forth between the United States and Liberia. In Liberia is the first independent African Republic and it was established by African-Americans who wanted to make their way back home. Despite all of the controversies that are attached to Garvey, whether it's his nationalistic or even his separatist ideas, Garvey can be considered an Afro-Futurist because he revolutionized what an empowered black future can look like. For us, bias. Our second person is gonna be Zora Neale Hurston. She was a writer, a playwright, an anthropologist, not only through the contemporary fiction that we know as their eyes were watching God and mules and men, but she chronicled the folk ways in Southern black language as a champion of black culture. She was a prominent figure of the Harlem Renaissance and she disrupted all these literary traditions because she centered her writing on black women and their experiences. From studying the religious practices in Haiti and Jamaica to working as a drama teacher at North Carolina College for Negroes and dorms, Hurston is an Afro-Futurist because she made room to center black women's experiences in literature and she unapologetically celebrated black culture. Finally on this list, we do have Dr. Martin Luther King. Of course, we know that he was a Christian preacher, social justice activist, political strategist, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and considered one of the most well-known leaders of the civil rights movement. His accolades, just as others have been listed here, are too numerous to include, but it is worth noting that he was a prominent proponent of economic justice and even reparations, which is not nearly as known as the quoted three lines as so many officials love to use around the holidays, okay? Because besides his speeches and even his letters, including the one from Birmingham, I also want us to just note the fact that he actually has written several books, including Strength to Love, Strive Towards Freedom, The Montgomery Story and Why We Cannot Wait to Name Just a Few. He is an indeed Afrofuturist because he fought for the future of black folks and the soul of America, even to the expense of losing his name. Roll call. Roll call. All right, now we're moving into the contemporary era and we're gonna focus on two pioneers of Afrofuturistic style and sound. First up, Parliament Funkadelic, y'all. Pete Funk, hey, hey, hey, right? Pete Funk is actually part of Afrofuturism in terms of its soundtrack. It can be traced back into the 1960s and 1970s. On the heels of the era of rock and roll and Motown sound and soul, George Clinton connected rotating musicians of Parliament and Funkadelic, Bootsy Collins being one of the OGs into this out of this world musical odyssey of psychedelic sounds in bright and elaborate fashion where funk music was the music that black folks who imagined life outside of this world. It was through this music that also gave rise to disco and later influenced the many versions of 80s pop music and even 80s music, 80s movie soundtracks. The mothership takes us on a voyage and if you don't understand it, Tom and Doll, you don't understand Afrofuturism. All right, Missy Elliott, she being super duper fly, she brought us what we did not know would be Afrofuturism into our lovely, into our modern understanding in terms of hip hop. Missy Misdemeanor Elliott, when she was working it, she discovered that style and sound is very much so Afrofuturist. If you look at her videos, if you look at her fashions, she brings what we see back in P-Funk era all the way to here and all the way to now. So I give Missy Elliott props because she is an Afrofuturist hip hop icon. All right, roll call. Roll call. We are now in our city's black history, Afrofuturist. Already was mentioned was William Gooseneck-Madonna and I'm not gonna mention too much more in terms of him, but just know the reason why he was Afrofuturist because he created black community. He created black commerce. Being the first black millionaire, he made room. When we think about Tulsa in terms of Greenwood or Black Wall Street, well, we had that version here and for a worth thanks to William Gooseneck-Madonna. William Horace, which I didn't know until I actually started doing research, she was the first woman to actually publish African-American woman to publish novels here in the state of Texas. Her novels, Five Generations Hints, Crown for Glory and Honor and Angie Brown are the earliest novels or record black Texans woman. What is so cool is that she was born and raised in Fort Worth. She was a librarian and she made room for black women literature writers and black women novelists in the state of Texas to be recognized and put on the map. World call. Now some may find it strange that I've included these two individuals listed here, but I want us to think about the fact that even though they may have met and tragic in, they themselves were not tragic. It is through Fred Rouse and it's through Tatiana that we are now moving and expanding in our notions in terms of justice. I want to say Fred Rouse, he was a husband and father, a world one veteran and a butcher. There aren't known photographs of him, but little is known about his life. But because he lived, black life matters and now we are actually formulating restorative and healing justice here in the city through projects that are established through the Fred Rouse Foundation. Tatiana Jefferson was a daughter, a sister, aunt and cousin and she was a pet mom. She was a cloud HBCU graduate and she was prepping for medical school when she was killed in 2019. She is indeed an Afrofuturist from Fort Worth because she was going into medicine and she was gonna find the cure for diabetes. She was dreaming of her future, dreams that included for quality healthcare for black patients, gaming as an avenue for college access and increasing more black girls and women in STEM. Tatiana Jefferson is an Afrofuturist because now we are continuing to reproduce her spirit and her legacy. Finally, y'all will run me out of here if I didn't say anything about Ms. Opalee, okay? So, what can you say about this living Fort Worth Afrofuturistic legend? There's so much to share. There's so much to say. The grandmother of Juneteenth, she is in her 90s and got more energy than me on an any given day, okay? But what I love about Ms. Opalee is the fact that she took what was meant for evil and she turned it for good. She took what was meant for hate and she turned it into mobilization towards activism and to never stop. So, I salute Ms. Opalee as our living Afrofuturistic legend. All right, I wanna say thank y'all for allowing me to be here today. I wanted to let you know that if you do this on the playback, you will be able to see that there is a link or even the QR code. In that code, there is an actual flipbook that you can access, that you can download and if you want more information, it's connected to the presentation today. So, that way if you wanna learn a little bit more about the Afrofuturist roll call, you have somewhere to look, it's free for you. You can download it and you can share it. So, thank you, I appreciate it. Thank you very much, Dr. Angela Mack. Wasn't she phenomenal y'all? Give it up one more time. Congratulations, thank you so much. All right, so with all of that knowledge that she just dropped on us and that insight, while some of us may have been familiar with the Afrofuturism movement, I bet we all learned something that we didn't know before, right? I know I did, but I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge Council Member Nettles who is in the house. So, I just wanted to just take that moment. Thank you, thank you Council Member for taking time out of your schedule to be a part of this program, we appreciate it. So, now I'm very excited to introduce the next portion of our program. For those of you who are not able to view our Juneteenth program and enjoy the original performance piece written and produced and directed by Sharon Goodspeed. Ooh, I forgot the last name, Lord. Keaton, thank y'all, thank you, see, okay. The honor and slave people associated with our own law cabin village. Prepare to be wild and awed once again. So, we about to have a moment, y'all. So, just get a hold onto your seat. So, without any further ado, please allow me the opportunity to welcome again Sharon Goodspeed Keaton who will introduce Afrofuturism inspired art and another original work created just for the city of Fort Worth. Thank you all so much. We are very excited to be here again this year. Thank you, you did really well. We chatted back there about whether or not my name would be pronounced correctly or not because people often mispronounce it. So, I appreciate the effort, Terrence. Thank you. When I was contacted to create something for this, it was challenging and you'll know that challenge. It was challenging because it's a concept that most people are unfamiliar with and also very difficult to display without using a lot of text, but being able to show you, but that's the joy of doing what we do as artists. So, hopefully you will enjoy seeing 300 years of Afrofuturism coming into play. My actors behind me are Mae Allen, Sheridan Monroe, Nikki Washington and Rick Spivey. Again, my name is Sheridan Goodspeed Keaton and we're so happy to be here. Thank you. Welcome to the history of Imagination 101. I am your Professor Keaton and I will be your tour guide on this journey. This semester focuses on Afrofuturism. By the looks on your faces, many of you did not review your syllabus prior to coming to this today. My apologies for those who actually did the work. But today, we shall start from the basics. Raise your hand today if your first, if this is your first time hearing the term Afrofuturism. Okay, it's okay. So no judgment zone. Okay, good. Afrofuturism is defined as a movement in literature, music, art and more, featuring futuristic or science fiction themes which incorporate elements of black history and culture. When hearing the definition, one might say easily identified with a few obvious examples throughout history, but we are here to discover and discuss some of the not so obvious 300 years worth. Now, during your big family camping trips or one of those you've seen in the movies, if you're like me, have you ever seen someone rub two sticks together to make fire? This process is called spontaneous combustion. Spontaneous combustion starts occurs when a combustible material is heated to a ignition temperature by the chemical reaction involving the oxygen in the air. Stable material creates heat. The heat cannot be dissipated. It will build up in the combustible material until the ignition occurs. That, ladies and gentlemen, is chemistry. I encourage you to travel back in time in your mind back to the year 1781 where we see Ms. Sarah, an enslaved worker benefiting from the heat that she created using science, chemical science to be exact. Ms. Sarah and many others before her cooked food and light, positively impacting their overalls, the creation and usage of light without speaking of the vast iterations of modern day light bulb. In every school in America, students are taught that the light bulb was created by a young inventor named Thomas Edison. Thomas Edison spent over a year trying to develop the incandescent light bulb using electricity to heat with a thin filament. A lot like what we're used to, a filament in a glass bulb according to Franklin's Institute. But after years of experiments and thousands of tests, various filament materials, as long as lasting light bulb, could only last for about 15 hours before the filament burned out. Around the same time, Edison was experimenting with this bulb using carbonized filaments of bay wood, cedar, bamboo and other fibers. So was a young black inventor. Louis Howard, Latimer. Born just a year after Edison, Latimer was an inventor known for working closely with Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone. Though some claim that the invention was actually Latimer's. According to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Latimer improved upon Edison's original design. The year, 1881. Take this chair of what far from what keeps us apart and I swear that somewhere durable filament made of carbon. He sold the patent to the U.S. electric company in 1881. And a year later, patented the process for efficiently manufacturing carbon filament. He even wrote a book about it in 1890 on electric lighting. First of its kind. Because of Latimer's contribution, incandescent light bulbs became more affordable and practical and MIT says, thus transforming American culture. Speaking of culture, the number one descriptor of identifying various cultures outside of the food, of course, is the music. The next part of this lesson is going to be a bit of a long and bumpy ride. So, strap on your seat belt. You got a deal right there? Yeah, bro. Same material, same material. Thank you. The year was 1988, 1981. Hip hop music has bolted onto the scene and resides primarily in the streets of New York. African and Caribbean beats provided the structure and spoken word was rhythmically intertwined. Roland had just made the TR-808 drum machine. It changed the sound of hip hop drastically and allowed for more electronic and synthesized sound. A greater knowledge of technology was needed to program the machine. And over the years, several hip hop artists became downright masterful with their musical compositions. Leading the industry in electronic sound and futuristic performance was Missy Elliott. Me, I'm fly, super duper fly. Me, I'm fly, super duper fly. Super duper fly, super duper fly. Music makes you lose control. Music makes you lose control. Cause Miss Amina says so. Cause Miss Amina says so, Amina says so. Who I, socket to me like you won't. To who, like you won't. To know y'all up. Let me work. Science fiction, technology, black in the making. Super duper fly, super duper fly. Science fiction. I don't know about you all, but that took me on a journey. Give up another hand clap for them, y'all. They did an amazing job. Thank you, thank you. What an amazing and inspiring performance. So this brings us to the end of the program. But however, but before we sign off, I want to thank all of the employees who worked so hard to make it possible. And I want to thank our audience for taking the time today to help us celebrate Black History Month. And on behalf of the Diversity and Inclusion Employee Committee, I want to thank our city leadership and for your support and not only of this program, but also for all the efforts by the Diversity and Inclusion Employee Committee to promote a greater understanding and appreciation for diversity and inclusiveness throughout the city and the workforce. So, and again, thank you all for attending. And please remember to complete our program survey, the data from this survey will be used to access our programming efforts and to determine allocation of resources for those programs. So cards with the QR code to take this survey are available at the exit. Thank you all, and this concludes the program.