Today’s episode is with award-winning writer, scholar and activist Frank B. Wilderson III. Frank is known as the Godfather of Afropessimism: a critical theory that anti-blackness is “necessary for world-making at every level of abstraction.” Did that sound heady? Well, get ready. Frank’s curiosity, appetite for knowledge and nuance, along with his fearlessness to explore what is, in the absence of what isn’t, reminds us of the importance of inquiry and the power of examining the world around us. 
In part one of today’s episode, Frank reminds us to be fearless in the pursuit of knowledge, even if that knowledge reveals unhealthy truths. Strap in, as Frank takes us on a ride exploring Afropessimism and themes of reconciliation, activism, and what it means to be a young Black man living in a state of social consciousness and racial reckoning. Please share some of your thoughts on today's episode with us over on twitter and instagram at @blackimagination. To watch this episode go, visit, and subscribe to our youtube channel The Institute of Black Imagination. You can find this and more content over on IBI Digital at, blackimagination.com. And without further ado, the profound Frank B. Wilderson III.
People and ideas mentioned
More information on what is https://thebrooklyninstitute.com/items/courses/new-york/what-is-afropessimism-politics-society-and-anti-blackness/ (Afropessimism)
https://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile.cfm?faculty_id=5113 (Jared Sexton) - Professor, African American Studies
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Marxism (Marxism) thought of Karl Marx
Professor https://criticaltheory.berkeley.edu/?event=poetic-knowledge-a-conversation-on-whither-fanon (David Marriott) History of Consciousness
Historical and cultural sociologist https://scholar.harvard.edu/patterson/home (Orlando Patterson)
What to Read
https://bookshop.org/books/afropessimism-9781324090519/9781631496141 (Afropessimism) by Frank B. Wilderson
https://bookshop.org/books/incognegro-a-memoir-of-exile-and-apartheid/9780822359937 (Incognegro: A Memoir of Exile and Apartheid) by Frank B. Wilderson III
https://www.routledge.com/The-Future-is-Black-Afropessimism-Fugitivity-and-Radical-Hope-in-Education/Grant-Woodson-Dumas/p/book/9780815358206 (The Future Is Black: Afropessimism, Fugitivity, and Radical Hope in Education) by Michael J. Dumas, Carl A. Grant, Ashley N. Woodson
https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=27225 (Whither Fanon?: Studies in the Blackness of Being) by David Marriott 
https://bookshop.org/books/slavery-and-social-death-a-comparative-study-with-a-new-preface/9780674986909 (Slavery and Social Death: A Comparative Study, with a New Preface) by Orlando Patterson
https://bookshop.org/books/the-autobiography-of-medgar-evers-a-hero-s-life-and-legacy-revealed-through-his-writings-letters-and-speeches/9780465021789 (The Autobiography of Medgar Evers: A Hero's Life and Legacy Revealed Through His Writings, Letters, and Speeches) by Manning Marable, Myrlie Evers-Williams 


What to listen to
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-4AtiOjBmg (Fight the Power – Public Enemy)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8kFSTzXyew (Hell You Talmbout – Janelle Monae and Wondaland Records)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY (This is America – Childish Gambino)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57Ykv1D0qEE (Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) – Marvin Gaye)


Who to follow
Follow Frank B. Wilderson III on IG https://www.instagram.com/frank_wilderson/?hl=en (@frank_wilderson)
Visit his website https://www.frankbwildersoniii.com/ (here.)


This conversation was recorded on August 11th, 2022.
 
Host https://www.instagram.com/dario.studio/ (Dario Calmese) 
Producer: https://www.instagram.com/holly_woodco/ (Coniqua Johnson) 
Visual Art Direction and Designs: 
http://riverwildmen.com (River Wildmen), https://www.instagram.com/almost_adam/ (Adam Saleh), https://www.instagram.com/willdomingue/ (Will...