I find music to be one of the most effective modes of social discourse, particularly around protest and resistance. Beyonce’s “Formation” and Childish Gambino’s “This is America” are great examples of the power of music to be catchy, socially conscious and historically grounded. “This is America” and Ladan Osman’s interpretation of the music video as “slaying the heart of black optimism” are particularly interesting to examine under the theory of Afropessimism (Osman 40). Meanwhile, Beyonce’s “Formation” seems to invoke a version of Afrofuturism (not in the science fiction sense, but in the idea of a future that celebrates Blackness). 

At its core, Afrofuturism imagines a Black future. According to John Jennings, quoted in the article by Hope Reese, “Afrofuturism, to me, is looking to the past, trying to examine it, and try to deal with an unresolved task around race and identity in this country, in the diaspora. It’s also looking to the future” (Reese). 

Afro-pessimism suggests that our current world is fundamentally anti-black, and slavery and black oppression are too closely entwined with our history and that no version of the future can exist where Black people thrive and are free of this past. 

Both Afrofuturism and Afro-pessimism are theories that run counter to our current expression of reality where the idea that Black Lives Matter is radical. Beyonce and Childish Gambino use historical references to build their commentary about our current moment.