Does life imitate art, or does art imitate life? For these Black artists, their works were bold statements that painted a picture of the future.
#1: W.E.B. Du Bois - In his 1926 essay “Criteria of A Negro,” Du Bois called out mainstream media for demanding that white “art, literary and pictorial, and racial prejudgment” distort the history, truth, and justice of our people. His warning rings just as true today.
#2: Sun Ra - In the 1940s, this innovative artist was adamant that there’d come a time when “musicians would be involved with electricity,” and have electric instruments. He made that a reality, becoming the first musician to play an electric keyboard in the 1950s. Nearly 20 years later, electric instruments took the world by storm.
#3: Octavia Butler - Widely regarded as someone who may legit have the ability to see into the future, Butler published her futuristic novel Parable of the Sower in 1993. The novel describes California burning in 2024, climate change driving people out of their homes, and a dictatorial government in the United States.
Du Bois, Sun Ra, and Butler may have been visionaries, but we share an even greater power with them. We’re not just visionaries; we’re also builders, and when we’re united, we can make our visions for liberation a reality.