onwardandupwardNov 17, 2022
Olamina Free
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) will debut a major, thought-provoking new exhibition, “Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures,” March 24, 2023. Investigating Afrofuturist expression through art, music, activism and more, this exhibition explores and reveals Afrofuturism’s historic and poignant engagement with African American history and popular culture.
https://nmaahc.si.edu/about/news/national-museum-african-american-history-and-culture-announces-new-exhibition-exploring
National Museum of African American History and Culture Announces New Exhibition Exploring Stories and Futures of Black Liberation

The thought-provoking exhibition, “Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures,” debuts on March 24, 2023 and investigates Afrofuturist expression through art, music, activism and more.

National Museum of African American History and Culture
Nov 13, 2022 at 1:17amWeb
Show threadollie!Nov 13, 2022
@olamina so cool!
Show threadPiper CarterNov 22, 2022
@olamina part of me is super excited about this and another part of me is thinking about co-option and capitalism and elitism in art
Show threadOlamina FreeNov 24, 2022
@pipercarter
Yeah. I was part of the Afrofuturism list serve in the 90s...when I reached out to my old friends from there about this, the mood was mostly cynical.
I don't love the curation in that museum. The building itself is cool tho!
Show threadPiper CarterNov 24, 2022
@olamina are you a part of this project? I’m genuinely interested in it. I’m a 50 year old GenX-er: a 70’s & 80’s ex-latch-key kid who indulged in collecting vinyl & studying album art & liner notes. I grew up in the African-centered community & my parents & some of my family were artists in the Black Arts & Black Liberation Movements. I was a part of the culture in the 90’s in NYC. Experiencing AfroFuturism’s & AfroPunk’s co-option & commercialization was heartbreaking.
Show threadOlamina FreeNov 25, 2022
@pipercarter
I have nothing to do with it. Not sure if anyone from our AF community in the 90s early aughts is involved at all. Probably not
Show threadPiper CarterNov 25, 2022
@olamina i wrote a post a couple years ago about how disgruntled I felt about the co-option and shift in culture & focus & I received so much vitriol from Black women who are associated with the production and marketing. And they defended the new direction & disrespectfully demeaned Spooner as being ignorant of how to “take it to the next level” as they had done. I tried to explain the philosophy but that fell flat on disinterested “Boss” “Black Excellence” chics.
Show threadOlamina FreeNov 25, 2022

@pipercarter
Yeah *eyeroll* Matthew and the circle around him were all about that whole "taking it to the next level" talking point. F*ck those people.

We mighta met. I was working for Tamar-Kali.

Show threadPiper CarterNov 26, 2022
@olamina I used to live in her boyfriend’s apartment I was one of his roommates in BK, that’s where I met her. When I moved to Detroit & started a Women in hip hop no misogyny no capitalism open mic I invited her to headline. She rocked it. I’m so happy to see her flourishing in her career under her terms. I may have met you but I may have not. I was a fan & part of the scene as an appreciator at that time. I was a fashion photographer. I produced exhibitions & booked women musicians.
Show threadOlamina FreeNov 25, 2022
@pipercarter
I remember when James Spooner started Afropunk and I was hanging around that circle here in NYC. It's a shame what happened there.
Show threadPiper CarterNov 25, 2022
@olamina yeah. I caught up with Spooner when he came to Detroit a couple of years ago. He respectfully wouldn’t speak on anything AfroPunk but he did say how hurt he was about the snatch & switch of the purpose, the turn towards complete capitalism, the exclusion of the punk elements & culture & co-option. I wonder if you & I have ever crossed paths back then? My cousin’s AfroLatina band was called Sweetie. I photographed their promo pics & video.
Show threadPiper CarterNov 24, 2022
@olamina I have to say I’m here for it honestly. I do pray, wish, hope, & fight for Black-owned institutions to initiate, fund, support Afrofuturist projects, artists, artisans, makers, curators, thinkers, scholars, scientists, technologists with Abolitionist, Feminist, anti-ableist, anti-capitalist, Environmentally Just values & I’m excited we’re seeing these ideas grow in society (even in the mainstream). & I’m here for white institutions funding & holding space for these projects.
Show threadPiper CarterNov 24, 2022
@olamina our history is full of folks who went undervalued, dismissed, taken advantage of, co-opted, erased, even worse I won’t used the words for here, and we have a legacy of pain & heartbreak. We’ve been disconnected & distanced from our wealth, stories, cultures, etc. i think the power in an event like this is also helping us reconnect. I think folks are tired & exhausted of all the things. I hear that, while also here with the nextgen soaking it up, still fighting with & for us.
Show threadPiper CarterNov 24, 2022
@olamina at the same exact time tho, the accidental flower from the concrete is that so many more people are now exposed to, know, want to learn or care about, inspired by, invested in AfroFuturism. I think that’s powerful & exciting. Art, Music, Dance, Culture, Sciences have always been our languages and our ability to BE, in complex form, has transform society over & over. Contemporary iterations are Black Twitter & so many Afrotech anarchist huddles inspiring mainstream.