Astro Egalitarian Virtual Network (AEVN)

Design and development convening 01, hosted on Oct. 23, 2022

Pictured (L to R): Alexander Jones, Ahmed Best, May-Li Khoe, Nina Woodruff-Walker, Dr. Yewande Pearse, Dr. Sará King, Dr. David Kong, Jade Fabello, Ytasha Womack, Dr. Lonny Brooks, Judith Okonkwo, Kwamou Eva Feukeu (on screen), Blessing Greer-Mathurin, Hodari Davis, Audrey Williams, Kate Morales, Antajuan Scott, and Nyame Brown.

Last month, Fathomers joined Ahmed Best, Dr. Lonny Brooks, and Jade Fabello to co-host the first convening on the Astro Egalitarian Virtual Network (AEVN), a community-centered Afrofuturist virtual reality “pluriverse” guided by liberatory, anti-racist principles. AEVN seeks to prioritize ancestral intelligence, marginalized voices, and the rediscovery of lost Black and Indigenous stories to help us imagine (and survive) a future of rapid social and ecological change, as well as a newly blended virtual/reality. We were honored to share space with over a dozen trusted specialists across various disciplines, including arts, culture, economics, governance, and more, and grapple with questions surrounding these exciting possibilities and challenges of the virtual landscape.

So much more to come from this incredible group, and even more to follow as the network expands. Our sincere thanks to those that joined, to the Interval and team at the Long Now Foundation for their support, and to all of those committed to building equitable futures in VR.

Documentation

(Photo credit: Fathomers)