METROPOLARITY

ROCKERS + SLASH EM UP PRESENTS race+ punk + identity in the new age DAY ONE
2014-04-18 20:00 (America/New_York) | LAVA zone, 4134 Lancaster Ave, Philadelphia, 19104, United States
ROCKERS+ SLASH EM UP PRESENTS
race+ punk + identity in the new age
2 DAYS OF SHOWS/READINGS/ZINES DISTRO
ROCKERS! DAY ONE
FRIDAY APRIL 18th
Featuring::::::::::
THE BREATHING LIGHT (CHI)
AYE NAKO (NYC)
METROPOLARITY
2 MORE SPECIAL GUEST TBA
DJ MMGZ

$5
Hosted by Adrian Adonis
First Rockers of 2014
Don’t miss this.

Xthetix: Pre-Sissy Hop DIY PREP SALON
2014-04-17 18:00 - 22:00 | HOUSE OF SPIRIT & TIME, 4823 Hazel Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, 19143, United States
WATS YR XTHETIK? NEED HELP ACCESSING YOUR COMPARTMENTALIZED SELVES?
VISIT XTHETIX, a recurring FUNDRAISING BENEFIT FOR THE SCI-FI TRACK OF THE ALLIED MEDIA CONFERENCE** ((this June 19~22 in Detroit!)
[info here: https://www.facebook.com/libtechamc
and here: http://liberationtechnologiesamc.tumblr.com/]
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NAIL ART | STICK N POKES | SELF-CARE | MAKEUP CONSULTATIONS | SELFIES | SHAPEUPS | BRAIDING | TWISTS | SCALP MASSAGE/HAIR BRUSHING | TAROT
STICK N POKES by GENESIS
TAROT READINGS by CYREE
JUST IN!! POTIONS by Stitch Prism x Honey & Blackbone Tarot
EXCLUSIVE WEST PHILLY NAIL FLASH/STICK N POKE FLASH
SANGRIA CONCOCTIONS OH MY
[Stitch Prism jewelry for sale with 25% going to LibTech]
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Clean dry hair, please. Feel free to bring own makeup and nails. Braiding includes cornrows. Message us for special requests or needs. BRING INSPIRATION.
HEY HOW MUCH?
Sliding scale for each station: $7-30
INQUIRE FOR ALL ACCESS PASS ::gasp ooooh::
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♡ JUST IN TIME TO GET CUTE FOR THAT SISSY HOP ♡
≠ WEIRDOS FREMEN GLITCHES OANKALI CYBORGS FREAKS SPACERS ALIENS SHIP-OF-THE-IMAGINATION CREW MEMBERS LEY LINE WALKERS ALL ARE WELCOME ≠
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Want to help volunteer a service? Holler at one of the coordinators 〜☆
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**What are we fundraising for exactly? As organizers for the sci-fi track of the AMC, it’s our responsibility to do as much fundraising as possible in order to provide financial assistance for presenters’ travel costs, room and board, and other expenses that they are unable to cover themselves. Providing financial assistance is key to bringing many of the amazing workshop & panel presenters that will make up the 9 sessions of our sci-fi oriented media empowerment track of programming at the AMC. This chumpie is trying to get transformative!
The Allied Media Conference is “a collaborative laboratory of media-based organizing strategies for transforming our world, held every summer in Detroit.” It’s organized entirely by a decentralized network of volunteers.
Want more info?? https://amc.alliedmedia.org/about/amc-mission

FLY LIFE: HOUSE MUSIC JAMMY JAM!
2014-04-12 22:00 | Bear’s Lair, 5008 BEAUMONT AVE, Philadelphia, PA, 19143, United States
“Can we all come together? Can we ALL come together? Please…come. I’m calling on you to come and feel the power. Let it move you to come. COME. I want to feel the energy, the love, the passion, the energy, the soul. COME.”– Kevin Aviance
BAA!!
BAA!
baa
b a a . . .
Tonight, inside we have, providing a journey of eclectic sight and sound, the din da da, your own FLY LIFE DJs:
DJ ALEX
**calling up shango**
DUIJI 13
**the tribal elder, the soothsayer**
JOHN MORRISON
**the sprite, the mischief maker**
DJ AURA
**our earth, our mother**
hosted by ICON EBONY-FIERCE **two-spirit world walker**
HOUSE MUSIC ALL NIGHT LONG! ATTENTION: THIS IS NOT A KIKI!! FIERCE! ALL NIGHT LONG, SOUL, TRIBE, AND BLESSING! LET IT MOVE YOU TO COME, FEEL THE ENERGY, FEEL THE SOUL! HOUSE MUSIC!!
BEAR’S LAIR
5008 BEAUMONT AVE
$5

LASER LIFE queer SF reading series
2014-04-11 19:00 - 21:00 | A-Space Anarchist Community Center, 47th and Baltimore Avenues, Philadelphia, PA, 19143, United States
LASER LIFE
they shredded their anti-manifestos and their futurist-hate manuals and their tracts and lit them on fire. the ash rained down for days and days; the edicts spewed against them were heavy and voluminous. but they soon celebrated on the salt-like dust of their detractors words, stomping a mad ritual with leaden, though tattered, boot, soon returning speckling confetti of the Grand Nayser back to the earth.
they hooked up wires to their souls and downloaded spirits, uploaded ancient lwa, and disc-burned orishas into their retinas. “scan this”, they told them in their jack-boot and hazmat suits. they watched the thing of it all become the dance, the word become the deed, and launched themselves, defiantly, into deepest, darkest void, into space itself, piloting a starship through time.
their life was lived in laser
Your queer sci-fi reading, where members of the LGBT community express their visions, projections, wars, romances, speculations, fears, battles, and dreams in glorious, mystifying tales inspired by the griots of old, informing the future. It is called LASER LIFE.
featuring Imogen Binnie , critically acclaimed writer of the powerful, darkly comedic novel of trans discovery, “NEVADA”.
Pauline Darkstar of nervy and kinetic prog-punk band SGNLS, providing his strange wordscape.
as well as readings from the Laser Life founders:
Maggie Eighteen
Ras Mashramani
Rasheedah Phillips
Shane Jenkins
Alex Smith

Time Travel Convention | Pt. 2 - Activation * Recurrence Plot Book Release
2014-04-05 18:00 - 21:00 | Yell Gallery, 2111 East Susquehanna Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, 19125, United States
The Time Travel Convention is an exhibition that explores time travel as a practical activity – something that does not necessarily require a machine, an advanced degree, or any other privileges. Using afrofuturism and the speculative as lenses, the exhibition will feature time travel devices and objects from creators who use tools such as memory, dreams, imagination, manipulation of language and perception, light, and music to craft their temporal devices.
Time Travel Convention | Pt. 2 – Activation is an opening reception for the exhibition and book release for AfroFuturist Affair Creator Rasheedah Phillips’ experimental fiction novel, Recurrence Plot (and Other Time Travel Tales).
Featuring Time Machines and Devices from:
MMGz — PsychoAcoustics & Memory
Black Shesus — The Pyramid of Shesus
R.Phillips — Recurrence Plot (RP)
Kameelah Janan Rasheed — No Instructions of Assembly, Activation II
Alisha Wormsley — black people in the future
Mourl Ferryman — The Shadow and the Substance 2014
Melissa Moore — An Infinitygram: Diasporan Object Design For A New Future
Readings from:
Metropolarity
Warren The poet longmire
Michael Michael Joseph O’Hara
Rasheedah Phillips
+ Special Guests
FREE
Time Travel Convention | Pt. 1 – Preparation will take place at Yell Gallery on Sunday March 23, 2014 from 3 to 6:30pm. Pt. 1 will prepare travelers for the time machine activation event with workshops, music and memory stations, and other workshops and interactive activities with contributing artists. See invite to Pt. 1 here: https://www.facebook.com/events/201554873388538/?notif_t=plan_user_joined
afrofuturistaffair@gmail.com for questions

Time Travel Convention | Pt. 1 - Preparation
2014-03-23 15:00 - 18:00 | Yell Gallery, 2111 East Susquehanna Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, 19125, United States
The Time Travel Convention is an exhibition that explores time travel as a practical activity – something that does not necessarily require a machine, an advanced degree, or any other privileges. Using afrofuturism and the speculative as lenses, the exhibition will feature time travel devices and objects from creators who use tools such as memory, dreams, imagination, manipulation of language and perception, light, and music to craft their temporal devices.
Pt. 1 will prepare travelers for the time machine activation event with
– Quantum Time Capsule Workshop
– Music & Memory Stations
– Time Machine Installation Building
– Dream Journal Project
– Other workshops and interactive activities with contributing artists
FREE w/ one small object or artifact to place into the time capsule
(Donations accepted for workshop materials)
Time Machines and Devices from:
MMGz — PsychoAcoustics & Memory
Black Shesus — The Pyramid of Shesus
R.Phillips — Recurrence Plot (RP)
Kameelah Janan Rasheed — No Instructions of Assembly, Activation II
Alisha Wormsley — black people in the future
Mourl Ferryman — The Shadow and the Substance 2014
Melissa Moore — An Infinitygram: Diasporan Object Design For A New Future
Time Travel Convention | Pt. 2 – Activation will take place at Yell Gallery on April 5, 2014 from 6 to 9pm. This opening reception for the exhibition will also be the book release for AfroFuturist Affair Creator Rasheedah Phillips’ experimental fiction novel, Recurrence Plot (and Other Time Travel Tales). See invite to Pt. 2 here https://www.facebook.com/events/1431545053750221/?previousaction=join&source=1
afrofuturistaffair@gmail.com for questions

The Afrofuturist Affair Gala at Samek Art Museum
2014-03-20 20:00 | Samek Gallery, 3rd Floor, Elaine Langone Center, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA, 17837, United States
This unique celebration of black Scifi with live music from composer and producer King Britt, as well as a host of other luminaries from the worlds of performance, music, fashion, and art is not to be missed! Join us for dancing and fun in the galleries.
The event is co-produced by Rasheedah Phillips and is part of the special exhibition, Afrotechtopia at the Samek Art Museum.
More on the artists and performers:
King Britt
Alex Smith
Jos Duncan
Moor Mother Goddess
The DaQuan
NorvisJr.
St. Skribbly LaCroix
75 Studios
Intuitive Expressions

NYC Feminist Zine Fest 2014
2014-03-01 13:00 - 18:00 | Barnard College, James Room, 4th Floor, Barnard Hall, 3009 Broadway, New York City, NY, 10027, United States
Do you like zines? How about feminism? Because the second annual NYC Feminist Zine Fest is coming up! Mark your calenders for March 1st, 2014 from 1-6pm. This time we will be at Barnard College in uptown Manhattan, 3009 Broadway in the James Room on the 4th floor of Barnard Hall. The space is handicap accessible, and the event is FREE and open to the public!
2014 Tablers: http://feministzinefestnyc.wordpress.com/who/
Schedule for zine readings and workshops: http://feministzinefestnyc.wordpress.com/schedule/
Please check out http://feministzinefestnyc.wordpress.com/ for zinester interviews published several times a week!

SASS & SMASH: Benefit for Sass and Laser Life Sci-Fi Anthology
2014-02-22 20:00 | LAVA zone, 4134 Lancaster Ave, Philadelphia, 19104, United States
“The earth owes me nothing. I owe the earth.”– Vinne Paz
To enhance your experience reading these blurbs, please read from the bottom and up to the top. Din da da.
SWARM
To fellow queer super-heroes, wanderers, listeners: when they danced, i held up my fist to attract lightning i was an antennae for god, just there, present. i couldn’t hear drums and voices, i made no notes in my moleskine, i didn’t strain for lyrics or “meaning”. I just was. There was just soul opening, movement, rage, honor, and meditation; my heart was a queer spire and every “-ism” and “-phobia” fell away, I was.
THE DAQUAN
Alien alert! Sci-Fi seamstress, weaving wild tales channeled from the divine ether, this wordsmith speaks to cosmic minutiae populating the other’d dimensions with pure verbal acrobatics over futurist beats ringing clear like breakbeats pounded out on Cybotronian lunch tables.
MOOR MOTHER GODDESS
What is EDM to the mother of Moors? What is a punk rocker to one who casts spells? A mere beat-maker to a shaman? Then an emcee to a Goddess? The good in all these things, the fire and the noise
GOODNIGHT STARS GOODNIGHT AIR
Like fireflies rising through cracks in cement, a tree birthed in ruins of a long forgotten warehouse, GSGA gives us blissed out drone pop, from pennsylvania’s industrial north.
EX BY V
Roiling chaotic drums, lascivious bass, strange experiments and, above all, complete frenzy, collude to bring us this meddlesome twosome. Wild, focused and free
MARLO REYNOLDS
Blue flame. When you see the blue flame, meditate on the blue flame. A fool in your life acting up? Blue flame: fool is gone.
SEE THROUGH GIRLS
Some how, after days of bashing and wailing, through a maze of broken string and apoplectic tantrum, this amalgam of pre-calculus homework, dizzy punk and robot rebellion is finally punk and ready to tear off heads.
TRIANGULLUM
sound, digital collage/video, textile, object design for a new future, diasporan design, and speculative fashion to create a container for mind-transformation, subversive de-colonization, and ancestry communication.
SHANE JENKINS
The anthropomorphic sprite of a 100,000 words of light, unveiling a sonic journey through the afterfuture.
DJ AURA
Kinetic Kemetic sound blender, the rare dj who’s mixes are as meticulous as they are boundary pushing, as tight as they are genre bending, and as freaking nasty/fun as they are curated!
hosts/readers: METROPOLARITY
http://metropolarity.net/
$10///no one turned away for lack of $//benefit for Sassquat, a community queer DIY house/movement responsible for many of the west philly undergrounds greatest moments, and for Laser Life (queer sci-fi reading series) upcoming anthology
**This is a safer space, bros fall back!**

LASER LIFE: Queer Sci-Fi Reading Series
2014-01-31 19:00 - 21:00 | A-Space Anarchist Community Center, 47th and Baltimore Avenues, Philadelphia, PA, 19143, United States
Queer Sci-Fi Reading Series
From the files Baron Harkonen Solo-Margiela, District 98234.
CLASSIFIED>
For 100 years, LASER LIFE has provided the denizens of the hollowed out, Siberian dystopic husk formerly known as West Philly, with the one and secret voice. Fashioning antennaes from bones of dead CEOs and the rotting the planks of the Comcast building onto abandoned warehouses and hipster enclaves, it’s ever revolving cast of miscreants and saboteurs have been broadcasting the last zombie drenched signal of hope out into the universe. They are all just the strange fags and three-eyed queers caught stealing fruit and guns at the intergalactic bazaar, stowing away on the Millennium Falcon, and photo-bombing the white washed sardonic landscapes of even the most triumphant Capt. Kirks in victory pose. We’ve found them. This is their Santeria, this is their church.
LASER LIFE
known, dangerous throughout the galaxy:

Marissa Johnson-Valenzuela— the weaver
the curator for the still untitled literary salon, Johnson-Valenzuela has created stark, unflinching habitats where we all clatter and bang, brushing our empty tin cans against the rusting steel bars of life.
*powers and abilities: Dream weaving, mind control
Suzy Subways— the spark
west philly’s own urban cosmic enchantress, Subways weaves the cityscape– all burnt out husk and Orwellian encroachment– into shifting beautiful literary orbs
*powers and abilities: tactical firearms, laser cannon, silent weapons
and the Metropolarity crew…

Shane Jenkins— the anthropomorph
powers and abilities: Shape Shifting, Startocasting, astral projection
R.Phillips— the time traveler
powers and abilities: teleportation, quantum digitization, spell casting
Ras Mashramani — alien goddess
powers and abilities: flight, anti-gravition manipulation, light speed
Maggie Eighteen— the cyborg
powers and abilities: empathy, cybernetic link, machine/A.I. manipulation
Alex Smith— the vigilante
powers and abilities: ghosting, shadowtalking, boyfriend stealing

ArtHaus at The Black Box @ Underground Arts
2014-01-17 20:00 | Underground Arts, 1200 Callowhill Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
This month’s art exhibition:
John Fitzpatrick [Cellar Door | http://theJOHNF.com/]
Steve Shorts [CoSM]
Brandon Spangler [Clouds For Sale | http://bibble.deviantart.com/]
Marc Tous [New JAAG | https://marctous.see.me/]
Live painting by Hekkate [http://hekkate.tumblr.com/]
Live body painting by Yenna Hill
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Live music at midnight from Philly’s own one-woman analogue synth-pop artist Void Vision [http://voidvision.bandcamp.com/]
Music of all kinds all night by DJ’s:
Lazerfeet [Psy.Fi]
Samwas [Psy.Fi | FML | https://soundcloud.com/allthatis]
John Morrison [https://soundcloud.com/john-the-liberator]
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Vendors:
Rockers Closet [http://www.rockerscloset.com/]
—————————————————————
$10 | 21+ w/ ID | 8:00 PM – 2 AM | 1200 Callowhill Street
Presented by Psy.Fi [http://psyfi-dimension.com/]
Check out footage of the previous ArtHaus: http://vimeo.com/79946895
[Videoraphy by Mangig Productions]

Annie Mok debuts SCREENTESTS w/the crew
2014-01-17 19:00 - 23:00 | Vox Populi, 319 N. 11th St, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States
West Philly-based cartoonist Annie Mok reads from Screentests, her most fully-realized work to date. Annie’s comics are by turns quiet, raucous, funny, and sad, and always clear-eyed and nuanced.
“These stories, which could be incredibly heartbreaking with no relief, instead give the reader hope.” – Mey Rude, Autostraddle
She’s joined by the incredible creators Ras Mashramani (metropolarity.net), R.Phillips (AfroFuturistAffair.com), and Alex*Laser Life (theafterv3rse.tumblr.com), of the Philly-based queer sci-fi crew Metropolarity; O. Horvath (Spurt of Blood), “hysterical cartoonist / pvd”; and Khristina Acosta of the Philly/NJ-based PoC-only zine distro No Shame Distro (facebook.com/noshamedistro), reading from her zine The Birthday Party.
A Q&A and signing will follow the readings.
Annie’s work can be found at www.cargocollective.com/heyanniemok, http://heyanniemok.tumblr.com, and @HeyAnnieMok on twitter.
Please note that some stories read at the event may be triggering.

THE SPECULATIVE ABYSS: A spec-fic reading with Elwin Cotman & Alex Smith
2014-01-08 18:00 - 20:00 | A-Space Anarchist Community Center, 47th and Baltimore Avenues, Philadelphia, PA, 19143, United States
ELWIN COTMAN‘s work evokes the strangeness simmering underneath the floorboards of New Orleans speakeasys; the sort of melancholy soaked into the floorboards of a Carolina porch in misty May. Weaving through the murkier, funnier parts of American dreams, stopping right at the horizon of nightmare and flat-out hilarious, Cotman delivers a well needed shock to both the orthodoxy of African-American letters and to staid genre fiction at large. To say that A-Space and Laser Life are stoked beyond all hell for the opportunity to read with the brother is quite an understatement. We are prepared for the psycho-subconscious journey of this budding master mythmaker; gear up and join us.
http://www.lookmanoagent.blogspot.com/
ALEX SMITH is shedding his Laser Life sci-fi cocoon for an evening of lucidity. Or is he? Sure, bring your wine and cheese for this auspicious gala, served on your finest crystal; they won’t be broken and discarded, rent to shards and used as weapons against the establishment. Trust us, it’s not that kind of party. Reading from his long-awaited poetry chapbook (snicker) “Gang Stalk Oprah”, Smith promises a serene, intellectually tantalizing experience. Riiiighht.
http://theafterv3rse.tumblr.com/

Emergent Strategies: Spec Fic & Radical Organizing with Adrienne Maree Brown
2013-12-08 13:30 - 15:30 | PA
Join Leeway Foundation on December 8 to welcome writer and cultural organizer Adrienne Maree Brown for a lively conversation inspired by the work of visionary, post-apocalyptic, science-fiction author Octavia Butler. This discussion will explore the visionary qualities of science/speculative fiction with radical community organizing practice using Butler’s work.
Butler’s writing in The Parable series and other works instigates and provokes new thinking about how we can bring into being the kind of society that we want and expands what we might imagine. Through her protagonists, Butler illustrated adaptive, intuitive, shared leadership in practice. This recurrent theme, dubbed “Emergent Strategy,” will be a key focus of the afternoon’s discussion.
The event is free, but you must RSVP at http://leewayemergent.eventbrite.com/
About Adrienne
Adrienne is a 2013 Kresge Literary Arts Fellow writing science fiction in Detroit. She is co-editor, with poet/activist Walidah Imarisha, of the forthcoming anthology Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements She has helped to launch the Octavia Butler and Emergent Strategy Reading Network for people interested in reading Octavia’s work from a political and strategic framework, and is building with the Octavia Butler Legacy Network on other ways of extending Butler’s work.
This workshop is presented in partnership with the following organizations: The AfroFuturist Affair, Apiary Magazine, ART SANCTUARY, Blackprint, Bread & Roses Community Fund, GriotWorks, Media Mobilizing Project, Metropolarity, Myth Media Studios, Thread Makes Blanket, and Training for Change.

Philly Feminist Zine Fest
2013-11-23 12:00 - 17:00 | William Way LGBTQ Community Center, 1315 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States
Philly Feminist Zine Fest is:
– a fundraiser for Project Safe!
– an event about amplifying the voices of female-identified people!
– a really good opportunity to learn things at skillshares and workshops!
– a fun fest about reading zines, celebrating community and making new friends!

POC Zine Project Benefit
2013-11-16 19:00 - 23:00 | PA

The AfroFuturist Affair 3rd Annual Costume & Charity Ball
2013-11-09 20:00 | MythMedia Studios, Philadelphia, United States
The AfroFuturist Affair is throwing our 3rd Annual Charity & Costume Ball: Dark Phase Space on November 9, 2013 at MythMedia Studios in Philadelphia! At the annual Ball we celebrate and bring awareness to AfroFuturistic culture with feature artists, authors, and performers who will present works and creations that use Afrofuturism and Sci-Fi as vehicles for expression, education, agency, and liberation. All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Futurist Fund, a community grant dedicated to serving the needs of an underserved or marginalized member of the community.
We need your support to throw the Ball and fund our community grant!

The AfroFuturist Affair is a community formed in Philadelphia in 2011 to celebrate, strengthen, and promote Afrofuturistic and Black sci-fi culture through creative events, community workshops, blogging, and creative writing. All proceeds from our events are used to fund the Futurist Fund Community Grant. The AfroFuturist Affair is also a founding member of Metropolarity.net, a 215 Speculative Fiction Collective.

The Futurist Fund is a community, need-based grant established to provide a small amount of financial assistance to those in the community with an immediate and demonstrated need, and without other available funds or resources to meet that need. The Futurist Fund grant is awarded by The AfroFuturist Affair each year, with grant funds raised from non-tax deductible donations made through creative Afrofuturistic events held year round by the organization and other collaborative partners.
Since we started giving out the grant in November 2012, we have assisted a mother with past due bills after tragic deaths in the family, a young mother with severe health issues, and an individual in need of assistance with moving costs. We have also used the funds to provide sponsorship and community partnerships to a number of community events, including Psychic Windows Gallery with artist Joshua Mays at Sanctuary Wholistic Arts, the Philly Premiere of The Triptych with AfroPunk and MythMedia Studios, and Rockers! 3rd Annual BBQ Weekend.
The Annual Ball provides a platform for artists, authors, musicians, visionaries, and performers of color who purposely create with science fiction and afrofuturistic themes and mediums. Artists who feature at the AfroFuturist Affair Carity & Costume Ball are diverse in their theories, topics, and modes of expression, but all of their work embody common afrofuturistic elements – paying homage to our histories, commenting on our present state, and envisioning our futures as people of color. Some of our past guests and sponsors have included:

Dja Dja N. Medjay, author of the science fiction novel, Renpet
Bill Campbell , author of Sunshine Patriots and Koontown Killing Kaper
Nicole D. Sconiers, author of a collection of speculative fiction short stories, Escape from Beckyville: Tales of Race, Hair, and Rage
Napoleon Dolemite and the Signifying Monks

Visual Artist Lorna Williams
Intuitive Expressions
PSL Presidential Candidate of the US Peta Lindsay
Artists Rell Stylez of S.W.A.G
Designer Nit Ra Sit
DJ John Morrison The Alien Architect

Philadelphia Printworks feyasterling inc. The Black Tribbles
Black Sci-Fi.com
Blu Dahlia

Funds also help to support other activities and endeavors of the organization, including our tumblr blog which promotes and supports Afrofuturistic culture, practice, and events around the diaspora, our free community workshops, and critical, creative writing on Black scifi and Afrofuturistic phenomenon.
You can see photos from our past Balls from 2011 and 2012.
Here is an interview with the Creative Director of The AfroFuturist Affair at a promotional event from the very first Ball in 2011:

Other Ways You Can Help

All donations are greatly
appreciated, but we understand that not everyone has the means to monetarily support. Your support by sharing this campaign on your social networking
sites is truly invaluable! We will also try to set up some sort of digital gift
for most shares, such as a .pdf of The AfroFuturist Affair mini-zine.
If you are interested in sponsoring, vending, or volunteering at the 2013 Charity & Costume Ball, please submit an email to afrofuturistaffair@gmail.com. To share your ideas, talents, and proposed performances for inclusion in this year’s Charity & Costume Ball, please email afrofuturistaffair@gmail.com by September 30, 2013.

More About The AfroFuturist Affair

The AfroFuturist Affair engages the community by cultivating a vehicle through which people can push beyond the confines of the mainstream narratives and stereotypes that have marginalized their interests, experiences, and their very existences and allows them to continue developing their identities in a comfortable and safe space with people of like minds. The project also provides a space for individuals of color with similar experiences and interests in Afrofuturism, fantasy, science-fiction, and speculative fiction to collaborate on a project that promotes and encourages their art and philosophies as connected with these themes. In the sense that Afrofuturism and speculative fiction is a medium for social commentary and a lens through which communities can shape evaluate or shape their futures, the project provides the space not only for further dialogue around these ideas, but for actual, practical implementation of these ideas as they serve social progress.

PhilCon 2013
2013-11-08 08:00 - 2013-11-10 17:00 | Crown Plaza Hotel, Cherry Hill, NJ, United States
we may be tabling . . .
The 77th anniversary of the world’s first and longest-running conference on science fiction, fantasy, and horror!
Started in 1936, Philcon features cutting-edge programming about literature, art, television, film, anime, comics, science, gaming, costuming and cosplay, music, and other topics of interest to fans of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. We will also have many other attractions, such as our awesome Art Show and Auction; a Vendors’ Room full of unique merchandise; a full slate of Children’s/Family programming; our Writer’s Workshop (featuring professional authors and editors); Concerts; the Time Traveler’s Masquerade Ball, our Masquerade/Costume Competition, and more!

Return to Octavia City
2013-11-07 20:00 - 23:00 | GTOWNRADIO, 24 Maplewood Mall, Philadelphia, PA, 19144, United States
Black Tribbles and The AfroFuturist Affair present
OCTAVIA CITY 2
Thursday November 7th 8-11pm
LIVE BROADCAST on G-town Radio
www.GTOWNRADIO.com
Co-hosted by The Black Tribbles and Rasheedah Phillips of The AfroFuturist Affair. Special Guest Host Gabriel Bryant of Stepping Into Tomorrow.
Musical soundscape provided by Shawanda Aura Spivey aka the one and only DJ AURA.
CALLING ALL AUTHORS….
Inspired by Hugo and Nebula Award winning author, the late Octavia Butler, OCTAVIA CITY presents original tales of Afrofuturism, science fiction fused with perspectives born from the African diaspora.
You are invited to submit your original story to be read aloud during this special broadcast by yourself (if available) or a local professional storyteller. Stories should time out no longer than 10 minutes. One submission per author. No pornographic or offensive material will be accepted.
Submissions should be emailed to OCTAVIACITY@gmail.com
SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE BY FRIDAY OCTOBER 25.
Authors selected for our April event are WELCOME to submit. HEY, RORIE!!!
We look forward to seeing you on the radio – GTOWN RADIO The Sound from Germantown!
Promo flyer illustration – ‘JAGUAR WRIGHT’ by Len ‘Cruze’ Webb aka BatTribble of Black Tribbles

Philly Printworks House Party w/ The AfroFuturist Affair
2013-10-18 22:00 | House of Future Sciences, 3213 TURNER ST, Philadelphia, PA, 19121, United States
COME CELEBRATE THE LAUNCH OF PHILADELPHIA PRINTWORKS’ FALL COLLECTION!
FRI OCT 18TH | 10P-2A | FREE
DJ OLUWAFEMI + LIVE SCREEN PRINTING FROM RECLAIM PRINT
HOUSE OF FUTURE SCIENCES
3213 TURNER ST
PHILADELPHIA PA 19121
SPONSORED IN PART BY THE AFROFUTURIST AFFAIR
____________________________________________
PPW: Philadelphia Printworks
THE AFROFUTURIST AFFAIR: The AfroFuturist Affair
RECLAIM: Reclaim Printshop
DJ FEMSTAR: http://mrfemstar.podomatic.com/

Philly Zine Fest 2013
2013-10-12 12:00 - 23:00 | The Rotunda, 4014 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States
“The Fest showcases local artists and zinesters, as well as zine distros, bringing DIY, radical, whimsical, and artistic small press publications to the public. Ranging from bike repair to poetry to crafts, the Zine Fest is a great place to go to learn new things, connect with local writers, and get involved with creating new forms of accessible media.”
This is the 11th annual Philly Zine Fest. This year it will be extending its hours and include evening performances.
Metropolarity will be tabling and performing. Aw shucks.

SCREAMING QUEENS + EX. BY V. + ALEX SMITH + VOYAGER + HEATHER HOLEPUNCHER
2013-10-04 20:00 | LAVA zone, 4134 Lancaster Ave, Philadelphia, 19104, United States
Screaming Queens (Vancouver)
S/T – Psychedelia by Screaming Queens
ex. by v.
shifted red by EX. By V.
Alex Smith
Smith is a queer black activist, poet, dj, actor, musician, afro punk/afro-futurist chronicler of the naughty universe. Smith’s work speaks to the edge, to the post-fringe dystopia slowly creeping upon us. Too cantankerous and flamboyant for the Saul Williams wanna-be/def poetry set, too tribal for academia, Smith paints viral inscriptions for an audience of armed pixie insurrectionists. He is the founder and curator of the queer-empowered Laser Life sci-fi reading series. Alex’s short story collection, “Gang Stalk Oprah“, with its lines hashed like an SAT-word injected SEPTA bus graffiti, will kidnap you, convert you, shoot you in the leg and then set you free.
Voyager
http://sssybtch.wordpress.com/
Heather Holepuncher
flyer design: negatecity.tumblr.com
all ages
5$ (no one turned away for lack of funds)
see you soon!!

The Laser Life Queer Sci-Fi Reading Series
2013-09-27 19:00 - 21:00 | A-Space Anarchist Community Center, 47th and Baltimore Avenues, Philadelphia, PA, 19143, United States
Triumphant return for fall!! The lifeblood!
with the crew
Alex Smith
Shane Jenkins
R. Phillips of the AfroFuturist Affair
Ras Mashramani
Maggie Eighteen
and featured readers
Katie Zall
+ 1 more TBA

100 Days Instead of Prisons Video Premier & Launch Party
2013-09-24 18:00 - 20:30 | PhillyCAM, 699 Ranstead Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19106, United States
THE ART FACTORY & DECARCERATE PA PRESENT:
Come one, come all to PhillyCAM and join us for the Premier of our 3 Stop Motion Animation Videos that we collaborated with Decarcerate PA as well as the kick off for the 100 Days Instead of Prisons Launch Party.
Our Videos Are:
~EVOLUTION OF PRISON: THE BACKGROUND FOR DECARCERATE PA
~WHAT WE WANT: THE PLATFORM OF DECARCERATE PA
~PLASTIC UPRISING: THE WORK OF DECARCERATE PA
ALSO THERE WILL BE……
Performances
Food
Speakers from Decarcerate
Art-making for the 100 days campaign
This summer, we collaborated with Decarcerate PA and PhillyCAM for six weeks to make three short stop-motion videos to help people realize the grand actuality of the Prison Industrial Complex. PhillyCAM was gracious enough to let us use their equipment and their space while we planned, filmed, recorded and edited the 3 videos. Decarcerate PA helped us clear up the clouds by telling us more about what they do as well as the political and community results and consequences of mass incarceration. We hope that these pieces will shed light on the current situation, and inspire people to join the movement to stop the prison industry and reinvest in the community.

NORTHERN LIBERTIES // ASTICKANDASTONE // FOREST KINGDOM // LONG VERA // EIGHTEEN // SEAN GLASS // VOYAGER
2013-09-21 19:00 - 22:00 | LAVA zone, 4134 Lancaster Ave, Philadelphia, 19104, United States
–> BANDS:
NORTHERN LIBERTIES
“Dissonant riff-heavy freakouts…sullen gloom…melodic marches…spacey, psychedelic angular avant-punk…cosmic effects tripouts…bizarre feverdream lyrics…zoned-out vocals.” -Crucial Blast
A STICK AND A STONE
“… a haunting, dark long night…back and forth mixed emotions…powerful sex…pancakes…” -Spice Rack
* Night Vision Vinyl Release and Art Show + One year anniversary with drummer Dan + LAST SHOW before 8 month hiatus!
FOREST KINGDOM
“electro-punk-techno-metal”
* LAST SHOW for awhile with Joshua and Corey + Kickoff show before 2 month tour!
LONG VERA
“An unclassifiable melange of minimalism and metal-folk, unfolding as a deeply internal confession.”
*Short solo set with Widow all the way from NOLA! Don’t come late and miss it!
–> BETWEEN BANDS:
EIGHTEEN OF METROPOLARITY
Reading tales of dystopian heartbreak & cyborg tenderness
SEAN GLASS
Performance artist Mega-Fuck extraordinaire!
…all of this will be woven together by our fabulous host: + VOYAGER + (not to be confused with Ruby L.L.!)
*SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 21ST, 7PM, 4134 LANCASTER AVE*
*$5 suggested donations will be accepted to pay for a PA and to support LAVA SPACE and the hard work of all these independent artists!*

A Different World Dance Party Fashion Show
2013-09-20 22:00 | The Peacehouse, 1320 N. Taney Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19125, United States
The Peace House Creative Space & Rockers Closet present
A Different World,
A Dance Party/Fashion Show
in Celebration of Philly Fashion Week 2013,
“Fashion Redefined”
FRIDAY Sept 20 2013
10p-3a
@ The Peace House Creative Space
1320 N Taney St (near 27th & Thompson)
FREE for Ladies before Midnight
$5 for Gentlemen All Night
Dance Party
DJ Aura & DJ Heat Her
Afro-Futurist Inspired Fashion Show staring
Rockers Closet (styled by AfroFuturist Affair)
feyasterling inc.
& More Designers to be Announced…
Hookah
Drink Specials
Body Painting
Rockers Closet Pop Up Shop
& Dance Grooves
Fashion Redefined.
Supported by
Peace House Creative Space
Rockers Closet
AfroFuturist Affair
feyasterling inc.

Come as Your Madness! A Smut Reading
2013-09-20 20:00 | Little Berlin, 2430 Coral Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19125, United States
A smut reading catering to your hidden desires and derangement!
Performances by authors from Metropolarity, The Apiary Corp., and The Dream Oven
Open erotica reading: bring your fantasies & realities
Flagrant gender performance greatly encouraged & appreciated.
Weird & tantalizing dance party to follow

North Philly Community Radio Fundraising Party
2013-09-14 22:00 | Peace Spot, 1652 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
On the evening of Saturday, September 14th, The Hip Hop Party for the People will be throwing a fundraiser in order to build a Community Radio Station in North Philly!
The fundraiser will be hosted by S.Frosty and will feature guest performances by some of the city’s brightest talent as well as music by DJ John Morrison.
The cover is only $5 per guest, and proceeds will go directly toward building a truly independent, community controlled broadcasting voice that serves the people!
There is also a crowd-funding website where you can contribute to the project: http://tinyurl.com/pcdqqms

Fargo-Moorehead Zine Fest
2013-09-07 10:00 - 17:00 | UU Church, 121 9th St S, Fargo, ND, 58103, United States
Enjoy zine sales, a zine tutorial, music by Spring Ma and QUESE IMC. QUESE will also speak about Idle No More and solidarity. Ras. Mashramani and Maggie Eighteen of the science fiction collective METROPOLARITY will be speaking and facilitating a workshop.
FMZF is honored to present a screening of the movie Rez with a Q & A with member/s of the cast and crew after.
FMZF will continue to offer community building events in the meantime.
Fargo-Moorhead Zine Fest was created with the goal of educating people of all ages about zines. In addition to being just plain awesome to read and make, zines have enormous potential for self-empowerment, raising self-esteem, healthy self-expression, and promoting literacy.
Zines are an inexpensive and easily distributable way to express ideas, showcase art or photography, or invite discussion on a topic. Zines have been around in various forms since the invention of the printing press. FMZF was founded by Joyce Hatton, Midwest Coordinator of the POC Zine Project.

FLY LIFE: HOUSE MUSIC HOUSE PARTY
2013-08-31 22:00 | A R K, 5008 Beaumont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, 19143, United States
Studio 45 and Element 33 collaborate to bring you the body music, the soul movement, the electrolysis of the universe. IT’S HOUSE MUSIC YA’LL! ALL NIGHT funk, disco, house, electro and funky tech beats from deep to disco to tribal to garage to stepz… Can you feel it? It’s the return of FLY LIFE.
with our DJs
John Morrison :: The cosmic spacecowboy
DuiJi Mshinda :: 13 Deep house connoisseur
Alex Smith :: the imperial beat jacker
and our host
Icon Ebony-Fierce
…bringing together all the sounds that make up HOUSE…
THIS IS A PARTY! Let’s leave pretension and attitude at the door, get your back up off the wall and DANCE!
This is a queer empowered DISCO JAMMY JAM! Bros fall back! Respect the lgbtq space and let’s just dance, cool?
cover
$3-$9823423,54354332∆ sliding scale
In collaboration with METROPOLARITY
[FACEBOOK RSVP]
