Popular Black consciousness now is focused for the moment about the possibilities of the future of Africa and the rest of the Diaspora. Some of the discussions around the movie Black Panther have facilitated this conversation, and a few have chosen to build on that. Black Lives Matter has an initiative titled Black Futures Month where it uses this month to focus on a re-imagining of Black life. This began in 2015, and this year, the focus is the future of Black Feminism. To delve into this a bit more, Polite On Society reached out to Noni Limar, a poet and one of the participants of Black Futures Month 2018.
Polite On Society: How is your work reflective of the difficulties of pro Black activism?
Noni Limar: I would not describe the work we are doing with Black Lives Matter Art + Culture as difficult. Movement work is demanding for so many. We are seeking to create spaces of joy, celebration and healing. The work we are doing with BLM Art + Culture should be a respite, a place for us to imagine collectively our lives with freedom, dignity and power.
POS: Why the name Black Futures as opposed to Black History?
NL: Four years ago BLM reimagined Black History Month as Black Futures Month. There is a tendency for all of us to get caught in the intellectual rigor of recounting our history. We wanted to move beyond the intellectual. With Black Futures Month we are actively declaring what our future will be as free Black people. This year we took it a step further and asked poets to imagine with us. Given the troubled state of our world, we wanted a heart-centered visioning. One that imagines not only our political power but our emotional well being.
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I’d like to thank Noni for taking the time to inform us about the Black Futures Month series. To learn more about it, visit this link over at Blavity.