final blog

The dreamer and the dream.......

When considering the DS9 episode, "Far Beyond the Stars" it is impossible to not note the afrofuturistic elements and implications.

One afrofuturistic message I observed in the episode was the black Baseball player's commentary on how he may be wealthy and a sports hero, but outside of the game he is just another "negro" to whites. He lives in the lower class "black" neighborhood because of this social racial restriction, emphasizing that the class structure is ultimately based on race, and there is nothing that can be done to escape the "fact of blackness". Additionally, this same character is somewhat of a hero in the black community for his success, yet he recognizes that his career is [nearly] the only one which is open for blacks to "make it" in. This is emphasized by his comments to a young black fan, in which he encourages him to work hard and persevere in order to get ahead, but he is being sarcastic- revealing the reality of the condition and potential for social and individual [black] improvement; quickly adding on "hah! who am I kidding? You better learn how to play basketball."

Perhaps more afrofuturistically significant however, is the that the episode itself simultaneously explores imagined realities of both the future and the past with regards to race relations and the roles of Blacks within society.

The main character is transported back to a reality in which racial equality is nonexistent and he , as a writer is instructed to "spread the message" of an optimistic future for blacks in which they will be excelling in vocations presently closed off to them. By imagining both future and past realities, the audience is compelled to map out the time in between, and in doing so prompted into imagining/ mapping the path for such a future.