Understanding Past, Present and Future

What is Afrofuturism? What impact does it have on arts practitioners? These were the essential questions discussed at the second installment of the Teaching Artists Guild’s (TAG) program Youth Right Now = Truth Right Now, a series of BIPOC Youth Led Professional Development Workshops that give insight into what helps build creative, nurturing and thriving environments for young artists. 

As there are very few opportunities for teaching artists to learn from young people, showcasing BIPOC youth leaders demonstrates that centering the work means recognizing the injustices that have been built into our system.


This particular workshop facilitated by Brittney Boyd and Victor Sawyer with youth leads Allyson Smith and Kori Wallace focused on two items, context and application, where our youth leaders unpacked components of Afrofuturism while inviting participants/practitioners to reimagine an arts world that honors Black Excellence; An effort to adopt multicultural methods of engaging with youth. 

Uplifting Afrofuturism and Decentering the Eurocentric

Let us revisit the question above, what is Afrofuturism? By definition, Afrofuturism is a movement in literature, music, art, etc., featuring futuristic or science fiction themes which incorporate elements of black history and culture. Cultural icons such as Chloe & Halle, Janelle Monáe and Octavia Butler have incorporated futuristic elements into their work. However, a prime example that gained heightened traction was Ryan Coogler’s film, Black Panther which brilliantly executed the synthesis of the African diaspora’s past, present and future. This notion, also known as the 360 timeline, connects the past, present and future because everything happens simultaneously where the past is used by the present to create opportunities for the future. 

Due to a society that upholds white ideals as superior, many default to a Black experience filled with negatives. However, instead of catering to this limited perspective, often painted through trauma porn, artists are engaging in creative acts to accentuate the beauty and complexity of Blackness by celebrating the positive significance the Black community has provided within society. For example, returning to Black Panther, we had a film showing the beauty and intelligence of Africa where the media tends to showcase the disparities. This is crucial when we provide community knowledge because we must set people for success. To some, Afrofuturism reflects artists denouncing Jim Crow aesthetics, reclaiming dimensions of science and technology, and rejecting white supremacist narratives that paint the Black community as primitive. 


Components of Afrofuturism

Afrofuturism emphasizes cutting-edge but anything innovative comes from old items. The movement forces one to create new components on what is deemed obsolete. 

From the descriptions of Afrofuturism that Ally Smith and Kori Wallace provided, these are built into the fabric of the art form:

  • Centerism - a political outlook or position that involves acceptance and/or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy, while opposing political changes which would result in a significant shift of society strongly to either the left or the right; promoting heritage and legacy 

  • Modernism - a style or movement in the arts that aims to break with classical and traditional forms that provides a “special twist” on the older cannon

  • Naturalism/Realism - the attempt to represent subject matter accurately through the depiction of detail, without artificiality and avoiding speculative fiction and supernatural elements; sobering truth

In addition to the art forms that comprise Afrofuturism, we have to be mindful of the consciousness of an afrofuturist, which includes: 

  • Head - What is important for them to know?

  • Eyes - What should they see? As Kori mentioned in a breakout session, the afrofuturist should see the world as a canvas that is full of possibilities

  • Heart - What is the passion of an Afrofuturist? In what way can their emotions be portrayed in the art? Again, Kori mentions the afrofuturist has an introspective mindset where they have a good command over their emotions towards sparking authentic engagement in the creative process. By not accepting status-quo and connecting to who we are from inside and out, one has the creative power to make more out of art

  • Hand - What are they building?

  • Feet - How do they use their medium for communication? As vessels, we have a duty to both receive and give because our art has to mean something to somebody. However, we need the path to be free and clear where freedom allows authenticity

The Afrofuturistic Classroom

Now that we have digested the basic framework, next comes implementation. As one participant in the workshop phrased it, “How is this advanced concept broken down?” For starters, remember that our present was someone’s future. Thinking from this perspective provides a level of humbleness where the importance lays with the adage, “slow and steady...” However, more often than not, individuals dive head first without a sense of understanding. Like Afrofuturism, the classroom is not one dimensional, therefore, one needs to be observant of familiarity to accurately implement teaching strategies. Exposing the connections across arts disciplines allows for this concept to be digested. 

With the root of Afrofuturism deriving from the black experience, a challenge faces our white counterparts, meaningful intent. As this workshop was initially intended for Black teaching artists, the circulated message conveyed - as many topics regarding race do - that white people cannot be experts on these topics. Many white arts practitioners fear messing up before taking a chance. Yet, working with Afrofuturism means exposing the black experience, therefore - if done properly, everyone has the power to aid towards Black excellence because of the mutual understanding: Black individuals comprehending how white people perceive the art while white individuals comprehending the Black perspective. That way people are not robbed of the art form’s richness. 

To Julian Reid, leader of the Juju Exchange, the future is where no one is forcing learning but a pure willingness from white people to understand the black experience. 

Here is the list of resources provided to the attendees of the workshop.

This series was made possible by collaboration between the Teaching Artists Guild and Memphis Music Initiative and the funding of Panta Rhea Fund and the Fenwick Foundation.

Youth Leads

Allyson Smith (She/ Her/ Hers) is a youth activist, poet, and all-around creative from Memphis, TN. Currently attending Howard University with a major in Political Science, she is carrying that legacy of changemakers and visionaries over to the Memphis community in various ways of serving. Allyson is heavily involved with politics, with a strong emphasis on acknowledging Southern Black Women in the artistic and political sphere. She says no to the status quo and is using her voice as a stepping stone to an equal society. Allyson does this by uplifting and working for Black women who understand and see her. She has been an avid supporter and intern for Shelby County Commissioner, Tami Sawyer and has also completed her internship at Impact Strategies, a political strategist firm headed by CNN analyst, Angela Rye. Through her work, which has been featured in Teen Vogue , Buzzfeed News, The Commercial Appeal, WMC Action News 5 , and The Guardian, she is authentically herself and does not shy away from topics that spark hard conversations. Allyson believes that her future is one that is free of limitations and societal normalities, and she will do everything in her power to make it so.

Kori Wallace is a multi-instrumentalist, composer/arranger, and writer currently based in Atlanta, Georgia. In his professional career, he has been featured on National Public Radio,

performed in the FedEx Forum, The Orpheum Theater, The Stevens Center, American Airlines Arena, and The Adrianne Arsht Center for Performing Arts, to name a few. He has also worked with Justin Timberlake, Timbaland, Boo Mitchell, and Danga; and has arranged music for the Whalum family and produced for local and international recording artists at Young Avenue Sound. Kori began his musical journey on the saxophone through the middle school band program in his hometown of Miami. He soon began to teach himself the piano, and a few percussion instruments, and was arranging and writing music very soon after. At the ripe age of 16, he had already become the youngest member of the Miami Heat Street Band, was a finalist with the internationally-touring Florida Singing Sons Boys Choir, and was a two-time gold medalist at the Miami-Dade NAACP ACT-SO competition. Kori’s family then moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he closed his high school tenure as a member of the All-State Tennessee Jazz Ensemble, Louis Armstrong Jazz Award winner, and a recipient of the Lanita Smith Music Foundation Scholarship for Music Production. Kori studied jazz and studio performance at the University of Memphis’ Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music. At UofM, he went on to write music for the jazz department, while also being a lead composer for Mayor Jim Strickland’s MLK50 Hip-Hop symphony, hosted at the Cannon Center. Through his work at UofM and throughout Memphis’ creative scene, Kori began his career as a teaching artist in multiple disciplines. He has taught forms of music and writing for major organizations such as the Stax Music Academy, Crosstown Arts, the Memphis Jazz Workshop, Juvenile Intervention and Faith-Based Follow-Up (JIFF), and many schools at all levels. His philosophy employing unorthodox methods to develop expression through creativity has resulted in his students earning better grades, college scholarships, and performance experiences as competitors and professionals. The mission is to teach life through the art, to create art that changes lives. This ideal is most reflected in his work as a bandleader. Through concerts, residencies, and partnerships, Kori’s group has established a presence across the south as impactful performers and engaging servants of their community through the “CREWsade” initiative.

Adult Facilitators

Brittney Boyd Bullock (Memphis, Tennessee) has worked as Project Manager for the Urban Art Commission, managing Memphis' largest public art archive, and as the Partnerships and Community Engagement Manager for Crosstown Concourse & Crosstown Arts overseeing a variety of collaborative creative programs and exhibitions. She now holds the position of Director of Youth Programs for the Memphis Music Initiative, helping to build sustainable relationships with Memphis' youth while implementing youth-led and youth-driven programs. Her journey of cultivating trust and lasting relationships has contributed to naturally create opportunities for collaboration with various communities, organizations, and artists that invite participation from a broad range of backgrounds and expertise. As a mentor and former Fellow of the award-winning ArtUp Fellowship, her interests in community engagement and social change has led her to an art practice that invites redefining why to create, how to create, and for what purposes. As a visual artist, the intersections of ritual, psychology (the study of the human experience, particularly in the Black and African Diaspora), and (re)memory are explored in her work. The virtues of joy and rest and how we overlook and manifest them in our daily experiences are the most prominent themes. She uses memorabilia, color, and rituals - which are elevated routines, set with intention and repetition — as a process to create emotional and psychological safe-havens.

Victor Sawyer (Memphis, TN) is Co Chair of the Teaching Artists Guild National Advisory Committee. He also serves as a Fellowship Coach for the Memphis Music Initiative, working with a team of teaching artists to create engaging and impactful arts programming for youth in underserved communities throughout the Greater Memphis Area and as an instrumental Teaching Artist at the world famous Stax Music Academy. It is at Stax that Sawyer has worked within the ever more popular music education field. Utilizing contemporary music from the Soul, Rock, Blues, and Pop genres, students at Stax Music Academy learn the fundamentals of music performance while also developing socio-emotional via the group rehearsal process. Sawyer performs primarily in Memphis, TN as a freelance trombonist frequently recording at legendary studio such as Sun, Royal, and Ardent and has performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival, South by Southwest, and Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola in New York City’s Lincoln Center. Most recently Sawyer received the honor of performing with legendary Memphis recording artists 8Ball and MJG, Steve Cropper, Eddie Floyd, and Valerie June.


Teaching Artists Guild (TAG), is a member-driven organization committed to the professionalization and visibility of artists who teach. We are the voice of the teaching artist, communicating the depth and breadth of work that teaching artists provide our educational systems and communities.