Black Quantum Futurism

Hidden City Philadelphia by Dana J. Rice

In a “design as protest” workshop hosted by Spruce Street Commons last October, architect and Philadelphia native Bryan Lee Jr. asked participants to consider who holds power when looking at inequities within different systems. In the context of real estate development, asking this simple question has led many to question the roles of various actors from developers to architects regarding the neighborhoods they are building in. For many communities in the city, these actors are seen as a threatening presence as the fear of erasure and displacement is often associated with their work.

The roots of the group’s latest record, Who Sent You?, can be seen in an essay called “Time Pockets” that Ayewa wrote for Space-Time Collapse Vol II: Community Futurisms. The ideas in the journal, dedicated to Black Quantum Futurism and featuring insights from various artists and activists, directly correlate to many of the ideas explored on the album: community preservation in the face of disenfranchisement, gentrification, and systemic injustice.

​

PHL Assembled collaborators on empowering marginalized communities through art

Reporter Ariel Taylor covers the eviction crisis in Philadelphia and how local advocates and city council are addressing the issue.

https://youtu.be/XK7WnK-tlyk

Get to know the minds behind Black Quantum Futurism—Rasheedah Phillips and Camae Ayewa—and the important work they do.

Mike Newall writes about the Community Futures Lab, an organization collecting oral histories in the quickly changing neighborhood of Sharswood

Temple News by Jazmyn Burton

A Temple alumna is creating a movement around the past, present and future of North Philadelphia.

Using time travel and afrofuturism, Rasheedah Phillips and Camae Ayewa are creating a community space for women to be empowered using art and music.

On this episode of 'Daily VICE,' we meet up with Philly-based avant-garde rapper and activist Moor Mother who uses her music to address social inequality and racial strife. We sit down with the artist before an electrifying hometown show to talk art, politics, and protest.

“Art helps people imagine other futures, alternative futures different from the ones they already have,” said Phillips. “That’s a big thing for people who are routinely told that they don’t have possibilities for the future.” She noted that people in unstable situations often deal with worries that prevent them from thinking beyond immediate needs, but art has the ability to take them outside of that.

Afrofuturism at its finest: Rasheedah Phillips

The Redevelopment Authority wants to atone

Art in America by Michael McCanne

​

In Philadelphia, a community that is rapidly gentrifying, one artist collective is taking steps to empower its residents by re-imagining black futures within the city landscape.

Temple University News by Kelly Brennan

Many of the resources for domestic violence survivors go unused.

Rasheedah Phillips, a Community Legal Services managing attorney and the founder of The AfroFuturist Affair, explains why it should matter to the social impact community in her Around the Corner interview.

Galleries at Moore Radio Show

Rasheedah Phillips one of the organizers of the Community Futures Lab project in North Philadelphia speaks with Matt Kalasky

Philly Inquirer by Aubrey Whelan

​

Temple University News by Ian Walker

An alumna uses Afrofuturist principles to preserve memories of area residents.

Center for the Future of Museums, by Nicole Ivy

​

Apollo Magazine, by Hyunjee Nicole Kim

​

A Blade of Grass New York

​

Hyperallergic Magazine, by Hyunjee Nicole Kim

​

Philly Voice, by Melissa Simpson

​

The Philadelphia Tribune, by Ryanne Persinger

​