The 1AC’s introduction of Afrofuturism cements it in debate canon --- commodifying Afrofuturism to win a debate is cannibalization, the aff is functionally arguing that the only way to advance Afrofuturism is in white space which is antithesis to itself.

About two months ago, when I was in Cambridge, UK speaking about my work on Afrofuturism, a professor asked me: Do you think Afrofuturism is apart of the [Western Art Historical] canon?

I often get asked this question a lot by others — artists, professors, lovers of art, and so on. Or at least some variance of it — do you want it to be apart of the canon, what ways do you see it in the canon, etc. And my answer will always be the same: No.

Well more than simply no, I do not want Afrofuturism apart of the Western Art Historical canon because Afrofuturism is a tool for Black liberation. Once it becomes a part of the institution, it can no longer be utilized as it will adhere to and always align itself with white supremacy.

Additionally, I think what people fail to realize that there are canon’s outside of whiteness. That there are African Art Historical canons and yet you don’t ask me about that.

If Afrofuturism were to be apart of the Western canon, it would be gentrified and no longer have the connections to ancestral work or it’s original origins like most things that are culturally appropriated. It would be misused, misunderstood, and bastardized beyond recognition. Afrofuturism cannot be separated from the work and spirit of Africans — continental or diaspora — therefore in the hands of others it would not operate in the same ways.

Afrofuturism operates outside of whiteness and does not function under the constructions of white hegemonic power including but not limited to time and space. Under the Western art historical canon, it’s components would not make sense, as we know that Afrofuturism leans heavily on disrupting linear notions of time and space, honoring and acknowledging our ancestors in the past, ourselves in the present, and our children in the future at the same time.

I find that most white people who are interested in Afrofuturism, are interested in ways to appeal to white sensibilities from a consumerist perspective. Why are you so focused on consuming Blackness, Africaness? Very eating the other, a la bell hooks, eh?

Whiteness does not know what to do with itself it if is not at the center of everything, and in Afrofuturism, whiteness is not at the center nor the margins. So these questions, while they may seem innocent or concerned with diversity, are actually sinister. They function as a part of white supremacy because at the root, they are preoccupied with whiteness, and ways in which whiteness can remain at the center. Because whiteness is so pervasive, folx cannot fathom a world without it being the center, thus anxieties about it’s demise lead to questions that attempt to re-center whiteness in artist talks and panels focused on Afrofuturism and Black artistry. These questions recognize the power of Afrofuturism not only as a tool and space for visualizing Black and Africaness in a world that wants to erase us out, but also a world in which white supremacy no longer exists.