This Black History Month, an arts museum in Brooklyn is going back to the future.
The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA), located in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, is combining the old with the new. Instead of celebrating black history in the traditional sense, the museum is highlighting the artists and thinkers who are paving the way for black identity in the future.
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The idea was inspired by a series of the same name by artist Chinaka Hodge, who paired iconic figures from the past with someone currently doing something similar. Nick James, MoCADA's marketing director, got involved with the project, he tells Mashable, creating a T-shirt of Marcus Garvey holding an astronaut helmet with the quote, "If Marcus Garvey were alive, he'd build spaceships."
MoCADA's interpretation of Black Future Month plays on a similar theme. The famous William Faulkner quote sums up its approach: "The past is never dead. It’s not even past."
Using social media, hosting a film series and organizing a poetry reading are some of the many ways the museum is pushing its message.
Since MoCADA generally focuses on black art year-round, conversations around black history are constant, James says. That's why they're happy to celebrate the present and future, and don't feel the need to dig back into history and only discuss famous names like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
"In black spaces, we're always talking about these iconic figures," James says. "We’re always in conversation with them, their work, their legacy and lives and blood that they shed for our freedom."
Instead, like Hodge's project, the museum focuses on tying history to the present. The deaths of Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and Michael Brown, along with the "Black Lives Matter" movement are just a few current events that "have a direct connection to our past," James says. "You can’t sever that connection.”
Black Future Month: Ajak Deng (@ajak_deng) #BlackFuture #BlackFutureMonth #style A photo posted by MoCADA (@mocada_museum) on Feb 5, 2015 at 11:57am PST
Conceptually, the idea of a "Black Future Month" isn't new -- it's long been a popular way to turn the month of February into one not just of reflection, but of future achievements and current events. Anyone interested in Afrofuturism -- a term coined in 1993 to describe science fiction from African-American writers, and now refers to many other art forms -- has likely used the phrase each February.
Just search the hashtag #blackfuturemonth on Twitter -- people use it to tout current accomplishments by black people and promote forward-thinking artists, such as sci-fi author Octavia Butler and musician Sun Ra.
The People Could Fly. Addis Ababa edition. Photo by @gboxcreative #EthiopiaSkate #blackfuturemonth #addisababa @ethiopiaskate A photo posted by MoCADA (@mocada_museum) on Feb 2, 2015 at 12:08pm PST
Still, MoCADA is putting its own contemporary twist on the concept. Social media is the museum's strongest tool -- every day, the staff posts images across Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook, promoting another angle or piece of art that celebrates the future. From images of singer Janelle Monáe to stunning collages, paintings and portraits of black women, the accounts highlight all types of art.
Black Future Month: @janellemonae #blackfuture #blackfuturemonth #janellemonae A photo posted by MoCADA (@mocada_museum) on Feb 4, 2015 at 2:26pm PST
The museum is also hosting various film screenings throughout the month. The first pick was the documentary Evolution of a Criminal about Darius Monroe (who also directed the film), a man who served 10 years in jail after robbing a bank. It explores the identity of black males in America and how Monroe's actions affected his friends and family.
The second selection was Mother of George, a drama about a Nigerian couple living in Brooklyn. The third selection, showing on Feb. 25, is another documentary, American Promise, which follows two African-American boys for 12 years, examining how they develop while going to the elite Dalton School, a mostly white preparatory school.
MoCADA will also host a poetry reading on Feb. 24 with poets such as Patricia Smith, Aracelis Girmay and Camille Rankine.
By the end of the month, the museum will have tapped a plethora of art forms. Thanks to the impact of Black History Month, the museum has found its niche by celebrating the future.