What If ...?: Afrofuturism and the Quest for a Just, Inclusive, and Sustainable Society

FAIN: GG-285435-22

Maine Humanities Council (Portland, ME 04102-1012)
Samaa Abdurraqib (Project Director: August 2021 to present)

Implementation of a twenty-four-month initiative that would introduce Afrofuturism to residents of Maine through reading and discussion programs, speakers’ bureau events, and statewide community engagement events.

This 24-month initiative will provide text-based humanities experiences and other unique opportunities for Mainers to read, reflect, and connect with one another and envision a future that is more just, inclusive, and sustainable. The initiative focuses on Afrofuturism and will use a variety of Afrofuturist texts to ground and propel conversation. Program activities are designed to create connections, foster a deepened sense of individual and community agency, and inspire increased civic engagement. Themes within the initiative will include: (1) Racial justice, (2) Climate justice, (3) Food justice, (4) Religion and Spirituality, and (5) Democracy and its possibilities. Our collective pursuit of the enduring shared goals of life, liberty, happiness requires ongoing imaginative community work to build a more perfect union rooted in the ideal of human equality. Community discussion of Afrofuturist texts will provide the framework and a set of conceptual and narrative tools for this work.