
Ytasha Womack
Ytasha Womack was recently honored as DesignHub’s 40 Under 40 designers for social good and innovation.
Her books include Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci Fi & Fantasy Culture, the sci fi novel Rayla 2212, Post Black, and Beats Rhymes and Life: What We Love & Hate About Hip Hop.
Afrofuturism is a 2014 Locus Awards Nonfiction Finalist. Ytasha is a frequent lecturer on Afrofuturism and the imagination and speaks at conferences, workshops, and comic cons around the world.
Her latest feature film, Bar Star City, an Afrofuturist work is in preproduction. Other film works include A Love Letter to the Ancestors From Chicago, an Afrofuturist experimental dance film; Couples Night (screenwriter), Love Shorts (producer/writer), and The Engagement (director). Ytasha has recently currently developed an Afrofuturism dance therapy program. She teaches an array of styles for both children and adults with the Beverly Arts Center’s outreach and after school programs.
Ytasha began her career as a journalist covering arts, entertainment and business. She is editor-at-large for NV Magazine, a New York based business publication; a former editor-at-large for Upscale Magazine and former columnist for the Chicago Defender. A Chicago native, she has a B.A in Mass Media Arts, studied Arts, Entertainment and Media Management at Columbia College. She has a Masters Certificate in Better Living, a study in Metaphysics and New Thought Philosophy from the Johnnie Colemon Institute.