Storying Against Nonhuman/Superhuman Narratives: Black Storywork Cyphers as Afro-Futurist Counterstories

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session Five
  In Roundtable Session: The Hip-Hop Cypher: Collective Voices for Systemic Change (Table 5)

Abstract

Antiblackness, and the dominant stories it produces about Black humanity, creates distorted images of Black humanness that are used to justify violence against Black youth in schools and society. Using the theoretical framing of BlackCrit and theories of Afrofutrisum, I share two composite Afro-futurist counterstories developed by Black high school students in a summer writing course, which confront antiblackness and disrupt the ways the regime makes educators complicit in seeing Black youth as non-human/superhuman. The Afro-futurist counterstories were captured through student led and created critical cultural cyphers (Williams, 2007). The research provides insights into Black youth futurity in relation to schooling in an anti-Black world, while also highlighting the intersections between Afrofuturism and Hip-Hop-based methods.

Author

• Justin A. Coles, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
  Presenting Author