Introduction

Osumare opens her memoir with her decision to move to Hawaii, albeit with some self-doubt, to begin her self-reinvention and to further explore the soul connection that exists in Black dancers. Her story focuses on dance in relation to activism illuminating Black culture. With her deep influence from Katherine Dunham, she gives a detailed synopsis of Dunham’s life, works, experiences with racial discrimination, and her combination of dance and scholarship inspiring Osumare’s own approach to combine these fields in her activism. In discussing the concept of Afrofuture, she reflects on the current shifting political dynamics that began with the the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement. Osumare explains how Afrofuturism equates to this current manifestation of culture where the past, present and future collide, allowing the production of a vision defying the past to become an integral part of the future. Her personal intercultural and inclusive approach to activism also led to move to Hawaii to study hula. She examines the soul power of black dancers and of her own career- through her dance improvisations and describes its meaning of dancing and performing with human depth. She concludes this introduction with a breakdown of the subsequent chapter of the memoir.