"An expert critic of the ideological construction of transmedia worlds, Dan Hassler-Forest offers a tour de force analysis of virtuoso music and media artist Janelle Monae as a vernacular theorist and intersectional figure. The resulting book makes a compelling case that her interventions into popular culture may help to shape how we collectively imagine our futures and the world according to Janelle Monae is a better one by far." -- Henry Jenkins, co-editor of Popular Culture and the Civic Imagination: Case Studies of Creative Social Change "Building on a close reading of the transformative potential central to Afrofuturism, Janelle Monáe 's Queer Afrofuturism highlights how Monáe's mix of speculation and liberation shines a light on acceptance, care, and community central to Afrofuturism's appeal. Carefully framing intersectional concerns around bodies and power expressed in Monáe's artistic work allows Hassler-Forest to provide an intriguing examination of an artist who has quickly come to embody the transformative potential of black speculative practice." -- Julian C. Chambliss, co-editor of Cities Imagined: The African Diaspora in Media and History "Hassler-Forest clarifies why artist-activists like Monae are so central not only to how we can imagine a future that is free from the strictures of white supremacy but also to how we can harness the power of utopian thinking in the here and the now." -- TreaAndrea Russworm, author of From Madea to Media Mogul: Theorizing Tyler Perry Pg. 99: Dan Hassler-Forest's "Janelle Monáe's Queer Afrofuturism" -- The Page 99 Test/Campaign for the American Reader "Hassler-Forest clarifies why artist-activists like Monae are so central not only to how we can imagine a future that is free from the strictures of white supremacy but also to how we can harness the power of utopian thinking in the here and the now.
" -- TreaAndrea Russworm, author of From Madea to Media Mogul: Theorizing Tyler Perry Pg. 99: Dan Hassler-Forest's "Janelle Monáe's Queer Afrofuturism" -- The Page 99 Test/Campaign for the American Reader "Building on a close reading of the transformative potential central to Afrofuturism, Janelle Monáe 's Queer Afrofuturism highlights how Monáe's mix of speculation and liberation shines a light on acceptance, care, and community central to Afrofuturism's appeal. Carefully framing intersectional concerns around bodies and power expressed in Monáe's artistic work allows Hassler-Forest to provide an intriguing examination of an artist who has quickly come to embody the transformative potential of black speculative practice." -- Julian C. Chambliss, co-editor of Cities Imagined: The African Diaspora in Media and History "An expert critic of the ideological construction of transmedia worlds, Dan Hassler-Forest offers a tour de force analysis of virtuoso music and media artist Janelle Monae as a vernacular theorist and intersectional figure. The resulting book makes a compelling case that her interventions into popular culture may help to shape how we collectively imagine our futures and the world according to Janelle Monae is a better one by far." -- Henry Jenkins, co-editor of Popular Culture and the Civic Imagination: Case Studies of Creative Social Change.