“Even if words like ‘colonization’ have a different context off-world, on somewhere like Mars, it’s still not OK to use those narratives, because it erases the history of colonization here on our own planet,” Melvin told National Geographic in 2018. Various scholars and Black astronauts – from aspiring to retired – have called attention to worrisome language being used to describe humanity’s aims and objectives in outer space.įor instance, retired NASA astronaut Leland Melvin – known as in the Twittersphere – has pointed out how it’s problematic to talk about “colonizing” Mars. I believe our world is shaped by the language we use to describe it. Will it be for everyone? Or will it be yet another attempt at the expansion of white global dominance? That is to say, while I know that space exploration is an inevitable part of the human journey, I also believe that it pays to remember both past and present realities here on Earth, particularly when it comes to issues of race and oppression.Īlong those lines, it’s also important to examine how space is viewed, what purpose it will serve and for whom. My view on the future of space exploration hovers somewhere between the optimism of will.i.am and the pessimism of Tribe. “We’re taking off to Mars, got the space vessels overflowing / What, you think they want us there? / All us n-gg– not going.”Īs a scholar and hip-hop artist, I know that how rap lyrics talk about space tells us as much about what is going on Earth as it does our imaginings of beyond. The group laments that “they” would prefer to “leave us where we are so they can play among the stars.”
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