From Algorithms of Oppression to Afro-Rithms of Liberation

Day01. Wednesday, July 07, 10:00-10:40 EDT

Afro-Rithms from the Future is both an approach to speculative futures design and a story-telling game built on the principle of shifting from a center of Western cultural views to alternative future worlds where Black and BIPOC cultural perspectives are at the forefront. An explicit goal is to democratize the future [and to] intentionally anticipate democratic anti-racist futures where Black and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) futures matter.

The game’s title is a deliberate effort to shift our focus from the dominant future of ubiquitous AI algorithms, which tend to propagate racial biases and reinforce inequities, to Afro-rithms that enable us to expand our range of possible and more equitable, liberating multiverses. The magic is in the Afro! We will explore "What Now?" by imagining worlds that transform Joseph Campbell's "Hero with a thousand faces" with an Afro-Rithm that imagines "the faces of a thousand heros."

Lonny J Avi Brooks is a Professor in the Department of Communication at California State University, East Bay, where he piloted the integration of futures thinking into the communication curriculum for the last fifteen years. A leading voice of Afrofuturism 2.0, Brooks contributes to journals, conferences and anthologies, and is co-executive producer, with Ahmed Best, of The Afrofuturist Podcast; co-editor for the special issue: “When is Wakanda? Afrofuturism & Dark Speculative Futurity” (Journal of Futures Studies); lead co-organizer in Oakland, for the Black Speculative Arts Movement; Co-Creative Director for the Afro-Rithm Futures Group, using gaming and other media for imaginative, action-oriented thinking to democratize the future. Brooks creates games envisioning social justice futures for Black, Indigenous & Queer liberation and co-designed the game Afro-Rithms From The Future.

Ahmed Best is an Adjunct Lecturer at the USC School Of Dramatic Arts, Senior Fellow at USC Annenberg school for Communication and Journalism, Host of STAR WARS Jedi Temple Challenge, Host of the Afrofuturist podcast. CEO of BISN Media. Ahmed is a writer, director, producer, actor, musician, host and futurist. He starred in the Broadway musical Stomp, then went on to be the first CGI lead character in a motion picture starring as Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. A graduate of the the American Film Institute, Ahmed is an Ovation Award, LACC Award, Stage Raw Award, and an ANNIE award winner. He’s the Executive Producer of dinner at LOLA (Stop That Bangin Productions/BISN Media) The DL Chronicles(GLAAD award winner for Best Anthology series) Creator writer and director for the web series This Can't Be My Life, and the Sci-fi comedy The Nebula.