Embedded Files
Credit: Lynn Randolph’s “Cyborg” painting, that became the cover of her new book “Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature.”
Dreaming Beyond Survival
Dreaming Beyond Survival
For queer and trans individuals, survival has always relied on imagination. We’ve had to envision beyond what's been presented to us—to create futures in the spaces that systems have denied us. World building isn’t just fiction or fantasy—it’s a tool, a form of resistance, and a plan.
This module explores queer futurism, Afrofuturism, Indigenous futurity, and trans utopias as more than just styles—they’re strategies for coping and finding purpose. We employ storytelling, art, play, and design as forms of resistance. Because we’re not only surviving—we’re envisioning a better future. And every dream we share brings us closer to that reality.
Core Content
Core Content
Video Essay (YouTube): “Queer Futurism | Lonny J. Avi Brooks” - The Long Now Foundation
A portraitist video combining elements of Afrofuturism and queer futurism, centering Black queer visionaries imagining collective liberatory futures.
Lecture (YouTube): “Kara Keeling – Queer Times, Black Futures” - boundary 2 journal
A recorded lecture by queer theorist Kara Keeling, exploring the link between Black futurism and queer temporality—making time for alternative queer futures.
Scholarly Article : Approaching Our Futures with Care: Indigiqueer and Two-Spirit Speculative Fiction - River Pruitt
A recent academic article explores how Indigiqueer authors craft speculative futures centered on decolonial and queer world-making.
Anthology Excerpt: “How Long ’til Black Future Month?” - N.K. Jemisin
A short, visionary essay on centering Black and queer lives within speculative imaginaries, available on Jemisin's website.
Creative Toolkit (PDF): Gender Futurity, Intersectional Autoethnography - Amber L. Johnson and Benny LeMaster
A collection featuring trans and nonbinary contributors exploring how narratives around gender open pathways toward queer/trans futurities.
Extra Credit
Extra Credit
Panel Talk (Youtube): On Black Futurism with Leah Thomas
A 15-minute recorded interview with Black queer artist and futurist Leah Thomas, discussing community-led, speculative futures.
Reflect, Resist, Rejoice: Discussion & Practice
Reflect, Resist, Rejoice: Discussion & Practice
Reflection Questions (great for journaling or small group dialogue)
Reflection Questions (great for journaling or small group dialogue)
What does a future where you feel fully seen and safe look like?
What sounds, people, or places are part of it?
When have you glimpsed a future that felt queer, expansive, or free?
Was it in a story, a moment, or a relationship?
What role does imagination play in your survival?
How do you use it to resist, cope, or create?
Who are the queer or trans artists, writers, or dreamers that shape your vision of the future?
What do they offer that mainstream visions leave out?
What’s one piece of the world you’d redesign if you could?
How would it be more loving, more just, or more queer?
Critical Discussions Prompts (for classrooms, study groups, or peer-led facilitation)
Critical Discussions Prompts (for classrooms, study groups, or peer-led facilitation)
Why do dominant narratives about the future often erase queer and trans people?
Who gets imagined into the future—and who gets left out?
How do queer and trans people use art, storytelling, and design as tools for resistance and worldbuilding?
What makes those tools powerful?
What does it mean to center imagination as a political practice?
How does speculative thinking challenge systems of oppression?
How can queer futurism avoid reproducing white, colonial, or ableist visions of utopia?
What makes a future truly liberatory?
How do current systems punish or suppress queer and trans dreaming?
What does it mean to defend the right to imagine?
Creative + Collective Practice Prompts (for workshops, zines, or embodied learning)
Creative + Collective Practice Prompts (for workshops, zines, or embodied learning)
Design a queer future.
Draw, collage, or write a description of a world built for queer and trans thriving—not just survival. What’s different? What remains?
Write a letter from your future self.
Imagine you’re living in a liberatory queer future. What do you want your present self to know? What has changed—and what did it take?
Build a speculative collective.
Imagine a queer mutual aid group, community, or neighborhood in 2075. Name it, describe its values, rituals, and how it sustains itself.
Create a queer utopia survival kit.
Fill it with real and imagined tools, objects, memories, and ideas that help you imagine forward. Share what’s in yours.
Co-author a speculative story, comic, or audio piece.
Use prompts like: “What if queer youth ran the city?” or “What if gender was seasonal?” to spark collaborative worldbuilding.
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