"The Future is Now: A New Look at African Diaspora Studies is a collection of essays born of presentations offered at the conference Let Spirit Speak! Cultural Journeys through the African Diaspora that took place April 22-24, 2010 at the City College of New York."--Introduction
Includes bibliographical references
"The Future is Now: A New Look at African Diaspora Studies is an exciting collection of essays representative of new voices in this ever-expanding field. Writing in English, Spanish, French, and Haitian Creole, the volume's contributors look at the fields of art, literature, film, and music. From the Hispanophone, Francophone, and Anglophone Caribbean to the United States and Europe, the scholars here interrogate themes of memory, power, gender, identity, race, and religion. In so doing, they uncover forgotten episodes of history previously lost to hegemonic tellings of the past. Here, readers will find studies on Haitian documentary, Puerto Rican art, Trinidadian calypso, Colombian poetry, the African-American novel, and African photography and collage. The Future Is Now serves as a celebration of the contributions made by peoples of African descent, providing a glimpse at the breadth of cultural offerings to be found throughout the African Diaspora in the Americas and Europe."
Because When God is too Busy: Haiti, Me and the World / (excerpts from a performance by) Gina Athena Ulysse -- "Mistè a Gatem": Deploying Ezili and Queering the Haitian Religious Experience in Anne Lescot's and Laurence Magloire's Film Des hommes et des dieux / Sophie Saint-Just -- Meticulous Production and the Embodiment of History: María Magdalena Campos-Pons's My Mother Told Me I Am Chinese Series / Heather Shirey -- El arte como resistencia: Lo afropuertorriqueño / María Elba Torres-Muñoz -- Afirmación étnica y estética en la ensayística y poética de Jorge Artel Luisa García-Conde -- The Holy Temple of Soca: Rev. Rudder in Attendance / Alison McLetchie -- Afro-Brazilian Literature, from the Periphery to the Center / Vanessa K. Valdés -- Decolonizing the Banjo: Cultural Memory and a (Re)representation of Slave Performance 1700s--1863 / Katya Isayev -- The Challenge of Toni Cade Bambara's The Salt Eaters: (Re)Claiming Wholeness / Ashley David -- Performing the Archive: Photography and the Africana World / Brendan Wattenberg -- Where Do We Go from Here? The Future of African Diaspora Studies / Vanessa K. Valdés
