Rasheedah Phillips

Rasheedah Phillips is an artist, author, community activist and lawyer based in Philadelphia. She is the creator of The Afrofuturist Affair and, together with Camae Ayewa, the Black Quantum Futurism multidisciplinary artist collective.

Rasheedah Phillips
OccupationArtist, author, community activist, lawyer
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAmerican
Alma materTemple University, Beasley School of Law
GenreAfrofuturism
Website
blackquantumfuturism.com

Art and writing

Rasheedah Phillips founded The Afrofuturist Affair in 2011 to provide a web-based platform and a community for writers of color working in speculative fiction and similar genres.[1][2] The project contributed to the founding in 2014 of the multidisciplinary Black Quantum Futurism collective, with artist and musician Camae Ayewa.[3] An exhibition of their work was held at Vancouver's Western Front gallery in 2019.[4] Phillips is also an Afrofuturist science fiction author who has written several self-published books, including Black Quantum Futurism Theory & Practice, Volume I.[5]

To Phillips, creative work and community activism are interrelated dimensions of her fight against racial inequality.[6] Phillips graduated from Beasley School of Law at Temple University in 2008, notably while working and caring for her small child.[7] The same year, she began working for Community Legal Services in Philadelphia, where she later became Managing Attorney of the Housing Unit.[8]

In 2016, Phillips established the Community Futures Lab in the Sharswood-Blumberg neighborhood of North Philadelphia to serve as a community hub and workshop space for residents of the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood.[5][9] The Lab hosts readings, workshops, a library and facilities for community oral history documentation.[10]

Awards
  • 2017 Housing Justice Award, National Housing Law Project[11]
  • 2017 City & State Pennsylvania 40 Under 40 Rising Stars[12]
  • 2017 Pew Fellowship (together with Camae Ayewa)[13]

References
  1. Broadnax, Jamie (17 April 2014). "The AfroFuturist Affair - Black Girl Nerds". Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  2. "Octavia Butler's Legacy and the Next Generation of Afrofuturists". NBC News. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  3. Fintoni, Laurent. "Meet Camae Defstar, The Philly Activist Channelling Her City's Pain Through Music". The FADER. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  4. Chhay, Bopha. "Black Quantum Futurism". Canadian Art. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  5. Simpson, Melissa (16 June 2016). "Race Against Time: A North Philly artist aims to document her disappearing community". www.phillyvoice.com. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  6. Abraham, Tony (10 May 2016). "This time-traveling sci-fi writer is not your average public interest attorney". Generocity Philly. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  7. Abraham, Tony (14 September 2016). "Why Rasheedah Phillips wants Temple University to collaborate on Community Futures Lab". Generocity Philly. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  8. "Rasheedah Phillips, Esq". Leeway Foundation. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  9. Kim, Hyunjee Nicole (23 June 2016). "An Afrofuturist Community Center Targets Gentrification". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  10. "Making space for the future". Temple Now | news.temple.edu. 27 February 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  11. "Housing Justice Network Awards". NHLP. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  12. "Meet the 2017 City & State PA 40 Under 40 Rising Stars". City & State Pennsylvania. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  13. "Camae Ayewa & Rasheedah Phillips". The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
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