Afro-Futurism and Nike

The sports world has often been a critical marker of future trends in celebrity, style, marketing, and youth culture. The museum’s current exhibition, Just Frame It: How Nike Turned Sports Stars into Superheroes, demonstrates how posters of notable athletes set the tone for the future of sports branding, fostering the idea of the “Sports Star.” Poster House is thrilled to host a panel discussion about the ways in which Nike allows us to consider Afro-Futurism within the messaging and styling of a brand that has had special appeal for Black people.This panel will examine Afro-Futurism in the context of fashion history, literature, and visual language to investigate a future that never was. Join us in thinking about Nike branding from a new  perspective.

Dominique Norman (she/they) is a writer and educator whose work critically examines the complex intersections of fashion, media, race, gender, the body, sexuality, and culture. Aside from her digitally published work for numerous media outlets including Refinery29, Bustle, Teen Vogue, Essence, and Fashionista, she has also written for several books and journals. She is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Fashion Marketing at Marymount Manhattan College, and an adjunct professor at LIM College and FIT. Her research focuses on the Afropunk subculture and how fashion and streetwear culture is used as a tool of resistance.

Victoria Dadet (she/they) is a Harlem-based scholar and museum professional with a background in youth-focused grassroots political organizing. They have a Bachelor’s in Ethnic Studies from the University of Colorado Boulder and a Master’s in American Studies from the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race at Columbia University. Their work investigates the connections between the Black Radical Tradition, grassroots organizing, ideas about modernity and futurity, and the development of political consciousness among young people. Her research examines the social and political values held by New York City teenagers in the mid-1960s and how such values were influenced by Black community organizers in Harlem. 

Es-pranza Humphrey is the Assistant Curator of Collections at Poster House. She received her BA in History from the University of New Haven and her MA in American Studies from Columbia University, where she examined American history, literature, and culture in relation to those of countries across the globe. Her research has incorporated interdisciplinary approaches to the Black feminine identity expressed through various forms of performance art and fashion. She has been featured in the New Yorker, ABC Here and Now, National Public Radio (NPR), the Fashion and Race Database, and a number of international publications for her curatorial work on the visual media of the Black Panther Party. Her latest research focuses on Black women’s fashion and Black theater in the early to mid-20th century.

Accessibility Note: Masks and clear masks are available free of charge at the museum. Assistive listening devices and stools are available. ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or a CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) is available upon request. Please contact access@posterhouse.org or (914) 295-2387 to request interpretation services and to address any other accessibility needs. For other event-related questions, please contact info@posterhouse.org.