In 2009, Kid Cudi released Man on the Moon: The End of the Day, an autobiographical concept album that explores Cudi’s depression, anxiety, and isolation. Within the narrative, Cudi uses recreational drugs “escape” from depression; the transcendental drug trip as mental stimulation simulating space travel. Cudi’s concept album works in conversation with Black national identity and racist drug wars. Cudi adopts escapist imagery from Pan African nationalism and Afrofuturism, reimagining escape as a psychedelic drug trip. This paper examines contemporary practices of escapism through hip-hop music that satirizes the racism in nationalism, the space race, and the war on drugs.
#PassTheMicYouth is a multimedia Extension program that amplifies youth voices, highlighting their civic and community engagement while providing practitioners with tools to teach social impact storytelling. Aligned with Afro-diasporic ideas of community knowledge, storytelling, and intergenerational engagement, the program transforms everyday experiences into agents of change. From TEDxYouth@ChavisWay to Pass the Mic Camp, our initiatives showcase youth-led research and storytelling. This session features an interactive community poem activity and shares research on the program's impact, inspiring attendees to uplift the familiar stories that shape our collective understanding.
This presentation unpacks the creative process of three Black scholars using dissertation data from Black leaders and families to develop a stage play with three vignettes and community dialogue. After conducting a qualitative study on the relationship between the University of Georgia and its surrounding Black communities, we engaged in a reflective process rooted in Endarkened Feminist Epistemology. We prayed over participants’ words, revisited narratives, and identified three key themes. To honor the rich data, we condensed the stories and developed a written stage play that centered participant voices, aiming to make the findings accessible and impactful for the community.
Rhetorical Healing: Using Black English to Tell and Document Stories presentation will incorporate the history of Black English, the reasons why Black English should be considered a language, and how revolutionizing Black English as an inclusive language within storytelling art, literature, and articles will engage rhetorical healing needed for afrofuturism. Ultimately, Black English is a part of afrofuturism.
Everyone can be a rhetorician! In this 20 minute community conversation, participants will learn about Black Autistic Rhetoric and engage with materials from a developing community-led virtual archive.
