In The Dreamer and the Dream: Afrofuturism and Black Religious Thought, Roger A. Sneed illuminates the interplay of Black religious thought with science fiction narratives to present a bold case for Afrofuturism as an important channel for Black spirituality. In the process, he challenges the assumed primacy of the Black church as the arbiter of Black religious life. Incorporating analyses of Octavia Butler’s Parable books, Janelle Monáe’s Afrofuturistic saga, Star Trek’s Captain Benjamin Sisko, Marvel’s Black Panther, and Sun Ra and the Nation of Islam, Sneed demonstrates how Afrofuturism has contributed to Black visions of the future. He also investigates how Afrofuturism has influenced religious scholarship that looks to Black cultural production as a means of reimagining Blackness in the light of the sacred. The result is an expansive new look at the power of science fiction and Afrofuturism to center the diversity of Black spirituality.
Roger A. Sneed is Professor and Chair of Religion at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina.
“This book makes connections where they have not previously existed. As Sneed notes, there is little investigation of the intersection of Black religion (theology, in particular) and Afrofuturism—from either Black religious scholars or scholars of Afrofuturism. The Dreamer and the Dream admirably steps in to remedy that.”
—Monica A. Coleman, author of
Making a Way Out of No Way: A Womanist Theology“There has been a lack of attention to Afrofuturism paid by Black religious thought or Black liberation theologies. Sneed’s work is innovative and certainly paves the way for other works to continue in this subgenre.”
—Monique Moultrie, author of
Passionate and Pious: Religious Media and Black Women’s Sexuality
