CLASS DESCRIPTION
 
This lecture takes roots/routes from Black Futurism via the lens of Black Gendered Space Time to explore the artistic and cultural works of Janelle Monae and Missy Elliot. We will orbit around the writings of the Jamaican cultural theorists Sylvia Wynter and the Philadelphian collective ‘Black Quantum Futurism’ by understanding how Monae and Elliot’s (and others) works critiques the patriarchal and racist conception of ‘the human’ and western ‘mechanical-clock-time.’ We will travel through the works of Monae, Elliot and an array of other artists (like Juliana Huxtable) who all reconfigure Black gendered bodies by embodying non-human identities such as androids, cyborgs, aliens and ethereal beings that explores speculative fiction, space and time travel to re-imagine more equitable societies.
 
This lecture is perfect for the dreamers, time travellers, thinkers and those from other realities and realms.
 
Image Credits Used Throughout

Juliana Huxtable (1) : Untitled (Psychosocial Stuntin’)
Juliana Huxtable (2) : Untitled in the Rage (Nibiru Cataclysm) (right), 2015.
 
Black Quantum Futurism, 2021, photo: Chris Stitch
 
Rebekah Ubuntu courtesy of Angela Dennis Photography
 
Missy Elliot (1)- still from music video 'She's a Bitch'
Missy Elliot (2) - still from music video 'Supa Dupa Fly'
Missy Elliot (3) - still from music video 'Sock it to Me'

Janelle Monae (1) 'Metropolis' album sleeve
Janelle Monae (2) 'Arch Android' e-motion
Janelle Monae (3) 'The Electric Lady' album sleeve
Janelle Monae (4) 'Dirty Computer' e-motion imagery
 
Pumzi (2009) dir. Wanuri Kahiu (stills from film)

Lieutenant Uhura, Star Trek

Sylvia Wynter, Image courtesy of Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library.
 
ABOUT OUR LECTURER
 
Janine Francois is Black Feminist-Killjoy, Writer, Academic in Exile, Time Traveller, Cultural Producer and a Consultant. Janine was formerly the Course Leader for the undergraduate course, BA Culture, Criticism and Curation at Central Saint Martins and has set up the University of the Arts London first-ever Hip-Hop Cultures module, as well as establishing the Royal College of Art’s first-ever Hip-Hop Studies reading group as a Visiting Lecturer. They completed their Ph.D at University of Bedfordshire/ Tate, exploring if Tate can be a safer space to discuss issues of race and cultural differences within a teaching and learning context.
 
Janine’s practices explores racial equity, intersectionality, decolonisation, climate and social justice within cultural and academic institutions by way of writing, producing, research, teaching and consultancy.
 
Instagram: @itsjaninebtw
Website: itsjaninebtw.com
--
This is a recording of a live session hosted by The Feminist Lecture Program in October 2024. The reading list for the class can be found alongside this rental.

--

Check out The Feminist Lecture Program's term of live classes on our Outsavvy Page: https://www.outsavvy.com/organiser/the-feminist-lecture-program

Be sure to follow us on Instagram at @thefeministlectureprogram to stay up to date with our archive, live classes and more. If you have any questions, you can DM us on Instagram, or drop us an email at [email protected].

Happy watching!
FLP x