“Mothership Connection” is a song written by Parliament Funkadelic, a band of fun founded in the early 1970s. With George Clinton as the band leader, this group of performers is also known as P-Funk which means pure, uncut funk. George Clinton was a futurist which meant that “when he closed his eyes, he saw outer space in celluloid”. He set down the basis of the idea, through music, to later be called afrofuturism which shares the concept of a future where black people have gained more power. George Clinton believes while things might be hard in the world, in space there are endless parties. He also thinks that somewhere in the reaches of the galaxy there is a black planet. His absurd costumes and silly mythology are the things that carry an urgent need for a world of that sort to exist. His never ending optimism is what made him a cultural icon.
“Mothership Connection”, written in 1975 envisions a space-age setting where the black characters are the protagonists and cultural arbiters of the future”. When George Clinton was asked what the Mothership Connection is about, he said “we had put black people in situations nobody ever thought they would be in. I figured another place you would not think black people would be was in outer space”. Black people are like afronauts capable of funkitizing galaxies. In the song, space “pimp style” is represented. The mothership is portrayed as scientific development, as a salvation, possibly transporting the band and its fans to another time and place. George Clinton’s vision of afrofuturism is even displayed in the Marvel movie Black Panther. The movie explores “a new wave of interest in Afrofuturism, a literary and musical movement that explores black identity, culture and struggles through the lens of science fiction”(Fitzpatrick). Wakanda, the science fiction country in the movie, was a “tool kit developed for and by Afrodiasporic intellectuals” with the imperative “to code, adopt, adapt, translate, misread, rework, and revise” visions of the black imagination and aspiration alongside a critical appraisal of the utopic, technologically sophisticated city state and space…and contained African traditions combined with magic, technology, vibranium, fashion and fashionable wearables, multidimensional Feminist black women with careers, love interests and ambition, sensitive and vulnerable leaders, complex villains and flawed allies”(Brooks). For example, Princess Shuri was not just the smartest person in the movie, but she was responsible for making and maintaining advanced gadgets for her brother, the Black Panther.
The song “Mothership Connection” represents a future where blacks are superior to white people and are now powerful enough to get back their lost properties. This is the endless party Clinton envisioned. Not only was “Mothership Connection” display the concept of afrofuturism, but it also shown in the movie Black Panther, which displayed a future where black people used technology to become leaders of their worlds.