From the Stage to the Page

Halifu Osumare always had a calling: to bring attention to the impact African culture has had on U.S. popular culture and around the world. From showcasing the evolution of dance as a young Bay Area artist to studying hip-hop later in life as an academic, Osumare has helped tell the story of Black culture to her students and beyond.

Now, in her second memoir, Dancing the Afrofuture: Hula, Hip-Hop and the Dunham Legacy, she continues to tell that story alongside her own.

“I'm very interested in Black culture and my mission, as I call it, has always been to illuminate the contributions of Black culture to not only American society but the world,” said Osumare, a UC Davis professor emerita of African American and African studies. “Giving credit where credit is due.”

In Dancing the Afrofuture, published February 2024, Osumare tells the story of her life since the early 1990s when she, seeing how impactful it would be on our society, began studying hip-hop.

“The introduction to the book is titled ‘From Dancing on the Stage to Dancing on the Page.’ That metaphor gives people a sense of what I'm covering in the book,” Osumare said. “In the process, I’m using a lens of Afrofuturism to look at where people of African descent are going culturally and technologically.”

The National Museum of African American History and Culture defines “Afrofuturism” as a term that “expresses notions of Black identity, agency and freedom through art, creative works and activism that envision liberated futures for Black life.” The Washington, D.C., museum currently has an exhibit titled “Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures.”

Osumare argues that Afrofuturism has been present in society for decades, giving Black Americans a sense of self-empowerment by embracing a mindset of “liberated imagination.” Given the history of slavery, discrimination and disenfranchisement, she said, it’s always been important for African Americans to know “we have a future and that we can define that future ourselves.”

Her first memoir, Dancing in Blackness, won the Selma Jeanne Cohen Prize in Dance Aesthetics from the American Society of Aesthetics in 2019.

Osumare will hold readings in Sacramento, Davis and San Francisco. She will return to campus on Wednesday, March 13, from 4 to 6 p.m. for a book celebration in 3201 Hart Hall. The event is hosted by the Department of African American and African Studies. She plans to read from chapters covering her time — more than a decade — at the university.

Upcoming Readings

• March 8: Underground Books, 2814 35th St., Sacramento, 6-7:30 p.m.
• March 13: 3201 Hart Hall, UC Davis, 4-6 p.m.
• March 19: SOMArts Cultural Center, 934 Brannan St., San Francisco, 7-9 p.m.