The Academics Afrofuturism began, like so many other ideas, as a critical theory - a framework for thinking about the world in a different way. And the first person to officially coin the term "Afrofuturism" was critic Mark Dery, whose 1993 essay " Black to the Future " affirmed a connection between the black experience and science fiction, reinvigorating a now global discussion and aesthetic across media that is as vibrant and diverse today as ever.