A History of Black Futures Exhibit Opens at African American History Museum NBC4 Washington [Video]

What do you get when Black identity meets science fiction, history, art and pop culture in one Smithsonian exhibit?

If the Smithsonian in question is the National Museum of African American History and Culture, then the result is “Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures.”

The exhibit, which opened Friday, uses hundreds of pop-culture objects “from music, film, television, comic books, fashion, theater, literature and more” to demonstrate the concept of Afrofuturism, and share the cultural movement with visitors.

“Afrofuturism is the way that African Americans have engaged the past and the present to think about the future,” NMAAHC Director Kevin Young says in a video about the exhibit.

It was originally a term used “in scholarly circles to explore how Black writers and artists have utilized themes of technology, science fiction, fantasy and heroism to envision stories and futures of Black liberation,” and show the Black experience in an empowered, …