So…did anyone have “Global Pandemic” on their 2020 bingo card? No? Us either. Long before COVID-19 (aka #datrona) decided to make itself at home, we’d been on a pretty long hiatus — a year and three months, to be exact. Don’t get us wrong; we didn’t disappear from the internet completely. Our Facebook page is going strong and we’re still kekeing over on Twitter (we even have an Instagram account!). We just dropped the ball with the blog is all. But we’re back for a while. Continue reading “It’s Been a Minute…”
Interview with Filmmaker Akosua Akoben
Filmmaker Akosua Akoben found a new love in film production, and plans to produce several webseries and multimedia productions. Part of her webseries, The Pride, will screen at our “What Does the Future Look Like?” program on Feb. 23! We recently talked to her about her interest in science fiction and Afrofuturism and her webseries, The Pride. Continue reading “Interview with Filmmaker Akosua Akoben”
Projects I’m Supporting, Part Nine
It’s Black History Month…excuse us, Black FUTURES Month…and what better time to run down the list of projects I’ve supported over the last couple of months.
Destination: Planet Negro Screening on Feb. 23
On Feb. 23, Midwest BSFA will screen Destination: Planet Negro in conjunction with our “What Does the Future Look Like?” programming initiative.
Movie synopsis: “In 1939, African American leaders respond to Jim Crow segregation by building a rocket to colonize Mars. The three person crew blasts off, but time travel instead, arriving in present-day America revealing much about race today.”
Continue reading “Destination: Planet Negro Screening on Feb. 23”
Open Gaming at Chase Public – Steamfunkateers’ The Haunting of the House of Crum
In honor of the closing of Ral Buldhar: A Dungeons & Dragons Art Show exhibit, Chase Public is hosting an afternoon of open gaming on Feb. 16. We’ll be bringing The Haunting of the House of Crum, the first one-shot campaign for writer Balogun Ojetade’s Steamfunkateers steamfunk role playing game. Continue reading “Open Gaming at Chase Public – Steamfunkateers’ The Haunting of the House of Crum”
Interview with Jennie Wright of The Sankofa Experience
The Sankofa Experience kicks off at People’s Liberty in Over-the-Rhine next month. The first half of the programming – Feb. 2-24 – explores the Harlem Renaissance while the second half – March 7-24 – explores the dawn of the age of hip hop. We recently talked to Jennie Wright, Chief Imagination Officer of The Sankofa Experience, about how she and her crew tie speculative fiction, African-American history and the Afrofantastic together for this imaginative programming. Continue reading “Interview with Jennie Wright of The Sankofa Experience”
Midwest BSFA Members to Participate in Steamfunk Panel
Midwest BSFA members will participate in a panel on steamfunk at the International Steampunk Symposium on Saturday, March 30, and Sunday, March 31! The panel will focus on how black American cosplayers/steampunks see themselves in and operate inside of the steampunk genre, and discuss how re-imagining the country’s antebellum past can be represented and reworked in a steampunk future. Continue reading “Midwest BSFA Members to Participate in Steamfunk Panel”
Blessed Be the Nerdy Grandmothers: A Requiem
My long bout of vegging out in the week between Christmas and New Year’s included a re-watch of the Star Trek reboot. When the movie first came out back in 2009, a friend and I saw it in the theater five or six times, and I even dragged my mother and brother to see it once when I was home for a visit. It really wasn’t that great, not for me to devote as much time and money as I did to it that spring, but something about it seemed to compel me to keep going back. I now think it was my grandmother.
Continue reading “Blessed Be the Nerdy Grandmothers: A Requiem”
“What Does the Future Look Like?” Short Film Program
Each year during Black History Month, we collectively discuss past experiences and contributions of African-Americans, but Midwest Black Speculative Fiction Alliance’s “What Does the Future Look Like?” programming focuses on our futures through a distinctly speculative fiction lens. We are encouraging black filmmakers in the Midwest to show us their interpretations of what the future looks like for black people.
Continue reading ““What Does the Future Look Like?” Short Film Program”
Midwest BSFA Co-Founder Appears on Mr. Ben’s K-Pop Power Hour on 12/30
🚨🚨 Aiesha will close out the year choppin’ it up with Ben of “Mr. Ben’s K-Pop Power Hour” at 10 p.m. on Dec. 30 on WAIF (88.3 FM)! They’ll be discussing a number of topics, including cosplay, anime, and steampunk. Tune in! 🚨🚨
