Morgan Gregory, FCLC 2024

MAJOR: Double major in Dance and African & African American Studies

BIO: Morgan Gregory (she/they) is a senior in the Ailey/Fordham BFA program, double majoring in both African and African American Studies and Dance under the guidance of Melanie Person and Laurie Lambert, set to graduate in May 2024. In her junior year (2022), Morgan was honored as the Denise Jefferson Memorial Scholar for her graduating BFA class. Nearing graduation, Morgan is interested in how her ever-changing identity can work with and nurture her current movement practices.

PROJECT TITLE: Afrofuturism: The Black Body as an Immortal Canvas of Storytelling, Resistance, and Mysticism

MENTOR: Mark Naison, Department of African & African American Studies

ABSTRACT: In addition to the required written component of my AFAM 4890 Senior Seminar course advised by Dr. Mark Naison, I aim to create a movement-focused short film, 3-5 minutes, that will feature the bodies and work of not only Fordham University students but other young Black/BI-Poc New York City artists as well. The film will attempt to start meaningful conversations and offer commentary to my written thesis, which is focused on Afrofuturism (def: a movement that expresses notions of Black identity, agency, and freedom through art, creative works, and activism that envision liberated futures for Black life (National Museum of African American History and Culture).  The current working title is Afro-futurism: The Black Body as an Immortal Canvas of Storytelling, Resistance, and Mysticism.  Specifically, the film will explore the ways in which varying art mediums, such as (but not limited to) dance, film, graphic design, and music, can be modes of Black storytelling and liberation. My expertise and other major, dance, will be utilized the most among all other forms present within the work. The goal is to cast dancers specializing in varying dance forms so that many Afro-diasporic movements can be referenced. Structurally, the film will be divided into 3 chapters, each of which will attempt to reference specific popular culture examples of Afrofuturism that, again, will be referenced in my paper. In addition, New York City's landscape will be referenced heavily within this work, showcasing the many pockets of hidden black history within the streets and parks many of us walk daily.