GAANT CHART
mind maps
Firstly I started out by do a mind map of theme suggestions. I took some suggestion from the ones provided on the brief but, the majority are my own themes I had came up with. the themes that are circled and the themes I liked the most and will be expanding on in the next mind map.
After deciding on a few themes, I them merged a few to generate questions from for example the future of games and Afrofuturism. out of these questions, I decided to go with the question on the very bottom left ‘how does lack of representation in games impact the future of Afrofuturism’. I chose this question because I had a hard time choosing which question I wanted to finalise therefore I chose this question as I had realised it would allow me to answer the questions I wanted to pick within this question for example, I also wanted to pick the question how is afro-futurism on the rise but them I realised I can answer this question at the beginning of my finalised question as an introduction into Afrofuturism and what it is. I will be generating list of questions I will be answering within my finalised question.
Questions I can answer within my finalised question
- how is Afrofuturism on the rise?
- with the inclusion of black artist and game designers what could the future of Afrofuturism look like?
- how does Afrofuturism in games challenge western narratives and aesthetics?
- how are games becoming more inclusive?
- what are the long term effects of lack of representation?
Research question: How does the lack of representation in games impact the future of Afro-futurism?
Does the topic motivate me to research and discover?
yes, the more I research, the more I find myself looking deeper and deeper, finding as many things I could possibly not only educate myself on, but also use in my essay.
How might the research impact present or future theoretical and practical study. Are there potentials to apply new learning?
I could apply a new learning after looking at the gaps in current research about this topic.
Will I be able to fulfil and evidence the outcomes outlined in the assignment?
With my extensive research, I am positive I will be able to fulfil this.
Why did I choose this topic in particular?
I chose this topic as it also links with my final major project. not only does it link, but I am also able to educate myself on the underrepresentation in the gaming community. As a young black woman looking to be an artist in the video game industry, I will inevitably be affected by this when going into the games industry.
Thesis or critical report: critical report
Who is my critical report for and what do I want them to know?
My critical report is for anyone who wishes to educate themselves on underrepresentation and the Afrofuturistic genre. As I dive into both topics within this essay, outlining the long-term effects, etc.
How will I link my FMP to my critical report: I can link my critical report and my FMP together as I will be exploring similar themes of Afrofuturism
Rationale:
- The consequences – limited funding, limited opportunities for black creators/artists
- Afrofuturism is on the rise, but because of the lack of representation, it is being limited.
- Without enough representation, Afrofuturism could lose its purpose or could be taken over by people who don’t understand its origin or roots.
Methodology:
How am I going to answer this question?… –
- Books
- Game or case studies
- Articles
- Blogs
- Films/documentaries
- Find 2 Afrofuturist games, compare how strong black representation in one game is different from one with a lack of representation
- Interviews with black creators/artists in the video game industry
- And question I wanted to pick as my thesis question, I can answer within this question, creating more topics to cover
Literature review:
Summaries of (not in order)-
- What Afrofuturism is
- Why is it being limited even though it is on the rise
- Why are black creators/artist and being limited career-wise wise
- What other people think about the future of Afrofuturism
- Long term effects of a lack of representation
- Is it limited because it challenges dominant Western aesthetics and narratives
- Even though there are more black creators entering the industry, why are they being limited
- How is Afrofuturism on the rise, and how are some games being more inclusive with a strong representation, then compare this to a game that is the opposite
- Why representation matters to the audience
Why I chose a critical report over a thesis
I chose a critical report over a thesis as I felt I could relate what I am talking about in the critical report to what I am doing for my Final major project. I am not doing this as a critical report as an ‘easy’ route for this essay. I am doing it just because I am passionate about the topic; therefore, I will be able to link back to my final major project within the essay.
QUOTES TO USE IN MAIN BODY OF TEXT
“I think part of the trouble of having limited representation is that it can put a lot of pressure on any one character to represent every aspect of a culture,” Lewis said. “To tell the story of a Black woman in this setting creates another level of complexity that the team had to meet with curiosity and empathy.” South of Midnight developer ensured its Black heroine was created by Black women | Eurogamer.net
What exactly is Afro Futurism?…
Afro futurism is the genre that re imagines the future of African/Caribbean culture in the form of art, reimagining civilisation, technology and aesthetic in an empowering way. This cultural, artistic, and intellectual movement stemmed form other movements such as the Harlem renaissance and much more.
WHAT IS AFROFUTURISM -The Harlem Renaissance
Afro-futurism is an aesthetic that creates an alternative look at the future, past, or present through an Afrocentric lens. The Afrofuturistic genre came about in the Harlem Renaissance, where black people were able to take ownership of how they were portrayed in things like art, books, and movies by creating their own genre they have control over, which birthed a new generation of painters, writers, poets, and artists overall.
Case study:
Case study ideas:
- how black character are portrayed in a certain game for example Genshin impact. Link this to recent death of a young black cosplayer due to bullying for cosplaying nonblack game characters – this impacts the community and young viewers.
- character customisation – lack of real-life hair styles, skin tones etc in a game
- underrepresentation of black developers or artist
- Why many major franchises/game companies avoid Black lead characters (marketing myths (back or cultural characters will never sell))
- Positive case studies – games that include representation (spider verse – miles morales, Black panther etc)
- Impact on the community and younger viewers (recent death of a young black cosplayer due to bullying for cosplaying nonblack game characters)
Genshin impact
I will be looking at Genshin Impact as one of my case studies as i think that some issues that have came up about them can be talked about within my essay and can be linked to the under-representation in games. Some of those issues include white washing of black characters, not crediting cultures they use as inspiration and without a doubt a lot more if i research into it in depth.
Spiderman into the spider-verse
I will be using this film, but more specifically Miles Morales as a case study as it is a clear example of sources of media that know how to represent a black character and their culture. Most specifically, which isn’t typically seen, and Afro-Latino character. I also think that this character and the film as whole has had a major impact on the black community.
Chosen authors
For my essay, I have decided that I will look deeper into 2 chosen authors and use their research to also support my argument within the critical report. I found 2 others that I will be able to look into. When looking for authors, I took into consideration my critical report question; therefore, I wanted one author who talks about Afrofuturism specifically and one who talks about the underrepresentation in games. I think these 2 topics link perfectly with my research question, therefore allowing me to use their author’s research as support.
Kishonna Gray:
I will be looking at the book, Race, Gender, and Deviance in Xbox Live: Theoretical Perspectives from the Virtual Margins (Theoretical Criminology). Within this book, she talks about how underrepresentation created a community that normalises the exclusion of black people within games.
Notes after reading the book:
- In the book Gray focuses on how online gaming spaces can make some groups feel excluded or unwelcome
- Gaming spaces often treat white, male players as the “normal” gamers
- Racism and sexism have become too common in games
- women of colour often face more intense harassment than white women or men of colour
- Some behaviours (like harassment) are treated as normal in gaming. Especially when it comes to fans harassing people like voice actors or cosplayers of a video game
- ertain players are treated as “deviant” just because of who they are
Quotes that can be used in essay from book:
- “…when they thought about how amazing this experience online was going to be, they really had this one type of person in mind — the default user.” – Gray explains that this makes others feel excluded after seeing how spaces were imagined for the default user.
- “…when I went into the space and people like me went into the space, the space was immediately violent… and we were instantly told that we weren’t welcome in the space.” – this shows how black people are being excluded
- “I don’t see the level of activism in the gaming space that I might see on one’s Twitter stream… If I wanted to see reduced racism then no, nothing’s changed.”
Ytasha Womack:
For Ytasha, I will be looking at the book, Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture. Within this book, she talk about the Afro futuristic genre highlighting topics such as culture, tradition, technology and spirituality and how all these topics tie into the genre and make it what it is today.
Notes after reading the book:
- Afrofuturism focuses on imagining black futures where black people are central powerful and free
- Afrofuturism mixes Black culture, history, science fiction, fantasy, and technology
- The main purpose of Afrofuturism is to reclaim black identity by creating new stories and futures
- Afrofuturism uses imagination as a way to fight oppression and stereotypes
- Afrofuturism creates a genre where black people are not left out
- Afrofuturism shows how imagining new worlds can lead to real-world change
- Afrofuturism helps people see beyond limits placed on Black communities
- African and Caribbean traditions are important in future visions
- A lot of time travel and alternate realities are used in Afro futuristic sources of media
- The afro futuristic genre also shows how new technology can be used to for freedom and empowerment
- the genre connects technology with spirituality and culture
- Afrofuturism matters as it gives black people control over their own stories as well as expanding who gets to imagine the future
- Common themes in Afro futurism show advanced civilisations showing black excellence
- Representation matters as it helps people be feel seen and valued
- Afro futurism also has hints of fantasy with some including things like magic
Quotes that can be used in essay from book:
- “Afrofuturism allows people to define themselves rather than be defined.”
- “Black identity has always been connected to speculation and survival.”
- “Afrofuturism reclaims the right to dream.”
- “The future is a place we can shape with intention.”
- “Afrofuturism is an intersection of imagination, technology, the future, and liberation.”
I personally bought the book online to be delivered as a physical copy as the reading experience compared to online reading would of been better. As the topic of Afro futurism has really intrigued me I would like to own as many afro futurism books as possible.
What makes a source reliable?
something that makes a source i would use in my essay reliable would be things like:
- It had been recommended to me by a tutor
- Is found on the UAL website for resources
- Published by trusted sources
- Written by experts
What makes a source credible?
Published by trusted sources – verified websites, popular authors etc
Solid evidence
Written by experts/ people with knowledge about on the topic
What makes a source unreliable?
Claims without references or anything to support it
Outdated articles
unverified fan sites/wikis
Content from YouTube, Instagram, TikTok
No clear author
No publication date
Game references
South of Midnight
I chose this game as a refresher to use in my essay as it shows strong themes of afro futurism that is rare for game nowadays. Things like including southern folklore replaces knights, dragons, and medieval tropes with spirits, haints, and mythic creatures rooted in Black Southern culture with a futuristic twist. The main character of the game is a black female which is very race with western games which is why i picked it as a reference as it shows strong representation of not only black people but the culture.
NEPTUNE FROST: THE GAME
Even though this game has yet to release, i still chose it as something to look into as a game reference mainly due to the confirmed genre of the game which is specifically afro futurism. There hasn’t been any games to my knowledge and research that have this specific genre. The closest i would say is similar to this would be South of Midnight. In my essay i could bring up how more games like this which is a culturally centred game with an afro-futuristic genre should be produced more often as it not only impacts the black community as a whole but also the young viewers who would feel seen and inspired by this.
Film references
BLACK PANTHER
when looking at the theme of afrofuturism the film black panther would come to mind as it was a film that dips into the re-imagination of black culture in a futuristic way to every blow up globally. Using some of the ways they had reimagined aftican culture can be a good reference for me to look into.
SPIDERMAN INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE
In the introduction of my essay i talked about the patters and gaps in current research about the topics i want to cover in my essay. One of them being that most research mainly covers anything about African culture. So including a reference that is talking about a character Afro-latin culture can help fill the gaps in some research of the chosen topics by changing it up a bit. Miles morales is also one of the first black marvel superhero which has had a major impact on not just the black community but everyone globally.
Representation and under-representation
In the video game industry specifically Under representation of black people has become a major problem. And the over representation of people in the west has caused viewers to be bored on the repetition. Main characters are often designed with Western features, cultures, and lifestyles, while people of colour are shown less often or only as side characters. And when they are shown they are presented in a stereotypical way. This has been a growing issue in the game community causing demands on more authentic representation.
An example of stereotypical characters would be:
- Franklin Clinton (Grand Theft Auto V) – present as a ‘thug’ with a crime based background
- Barret Wallace (Final Fantasy) – presented as the stereotypical ‘loud’ black man
- Dee Jay (Street Fighter) – musician with an exaggerated personality
HARVARD REFERENCE
Norwood, R. (2021) Coding Blackness: A History of Black Video Game Characters, Wired. Available at: https://www.wired.com/story/black-character-history-video-games/.
Main body of text – Research – Topics to talk about
GENSHIN IMPACT
white-washing and under-representation
SPIDERMAN INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE – MILES MORALES
The rise of a black character (possible case study)
I could use miles morales as a possibly case study as he is a good example of the rise of a black character. This character alone has greatly impacted and inspired black people globally.
AUTHORS
In my main body of text, I can talk about the 2 authors I have decided to highlight within the essay. One being mostly about underrepresentation and the other about Afro futurism. I can use their knowledge on the topics to support and back up my argument.
Books research :
As research into different books that could provide me with more knowledge about the topics I will be covering in my critical report, I visited a black owned book shop here in London called New Beacon Books that sells books that talk about things like the Harlem Renaissance, underrepresentation and racism in modern-day times.
The books I found:
I managed to find a book that talks about the Harlem renaissance in detail as this author/ philosopher lived through that era. i also found some of his poems/book in the UAL library(shown below).
- Lesson Workshops/ activities:
This lesson helped me find academic philosophers and authors that I could reference in my main body of text.
- Tutorials with assigned tutor:
In my tutorials with my assigned tutor, I received a lot of helpful feedback that led me to develop my idea at the initial stages more in depth, resulting in a much better outcome.
- Library & Online Resources:
To help me with the research part of my critical report, I used the LCC library and UAL online resources.
what I found online:
using UAL online resources, i had found a book i would like to have a read of as i think it could help me with my research into the harlem renaissance in my essay.
FEEDBACK
MIRO – introduction draft hand-in
Website links for research and references:
Some of the links added are from researching certain topics and slightly skimming over them. If I feel like some of the content within the article/podcast, etc, would be a good fit to look deeper into it as references for my final essay.
Interviews:
Black Creatives on Representation in the Gaming Industry | Hypebeast
Articles:
invisibility blues: exploring racial representation in video games | AFROPUNK
Invisibility Blues: Exploring Race in Video Games by Samantha Blackmon — Kickstarter
‘We Are The Caretakers’ Puts Afrofuturism Front and Center | WIRED
The Power of Representation: Elevating Game Development
Podcast:
Black representation in games – Level of Detail S4 EP2
Harvard references for research
GAME REFRENCES
- Afroversemag.com. (2025). Afro-Futuristic Gaming: The Future of Black Excellence in Video Games – AFRO VERSE MAGAZINE. [online] Available at: https://afroversemag.com/afro-futuristic-gaming-the-future-of-black-excellence-in-video-games/ [Accessed 9 Oct. 2025].
AFROFUTURISM RESEARCH
- Benne, J. (n.d.). ‘We Are The Caretakers’ Puts Afrofuturism Front and Center. [online] Wired. Available at: https://www.wired.com/story/we-are-the-caretakers-afrofuturism-game/.
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GENERAL REASEARCH
- University of Staffordshire (2025). Black representation in games – Level of Detail S4 EP2. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOd_a4smHb8 [Accessed 29 Oct. 2025].
- Spotify. (2025). Spotify – Web Player. [online] Available at: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Qch7cPiQC4N0lGXgcLb7J [Accessed 29 Oct. 2025].
- Kickstarter. (2016). Invisibility Blues: Exploring Race in Video Games. [online] Available at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/113093954/invisibility-blues-exploring-race-in-video-games [Accessed 29 Oct. 2025].
- Candy, E. (2015). invisibility blues: exploring racial representation in video games – AFROPUNK. [online] AFROPUNK. Available at: https://afropunk.com/2015/07/invisibility-blues-exploring-racial-representation-in-video-games/ [Accessed 29 Oct. 2025].
- Finding Community and Black Representation in Video Games. (2022). Hypebeast. [online] 4 Mar. Available at: https://hypebeast.com/2022/2/black-representation-video-game-industry-interviews.
AUTHORS
- ytashawomack.com (no date) ytashawomack.com. Available at: https://www.ytashawomack.com/.
- Race, Gender, and Deviance in Xbox Live (2024) Google Books. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Race_Gender_and_Deviance_in_Xbox_Live.html?id=s9LR0AEACAAJ&redir_esc=y (Accessed: 10 January 2026).
REPRRESENTATION REASERCH
- Lee, S. (2025). The Power of Representation: Elevating Game Development. [online] Numberanalytics.com. Available at: https://www.numberanalytics.com/blog/power-of-representation-in-game-development [Accessed 29 Oct. 2025].
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HARLEM REINESANCEE
- Play Black Wall Street (2022). Intro to Afrofuturism | Part 1 What is Afrofuturism. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX43Uc5WQAw.
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Links for final body of work
Intro to Afrofuturism | Part 1 What is Afrofuturism – YouTube
South of Midnight developer ensured its Black heroine was created by Black women | Eurogamer.net
Full draft hand-in feedback comments
Based on this feedback I looked at more academic references and added to my literature review.
File management
Software used
Miro – I used Miro to communicate with my group tutor during the drafting phase of the essay. it was a quick and easy way to give and receive feedback from my research and drafts.
Adobe Word – I used a Word document to write up my final critical report essay, as well as any drafts or planning that came before that.
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