our story
The year was 2019 — the location, The Glitterbox in Bloomfield. In a room pulsing with laughter, art, and the electric energy of friends and collaborators, founder Ahmed Tacumba Turner Jr. experienced an epiphany: what began as his 25th birthday party could become something transformative. That night wasn't just a gathering — it was a manifesto of Black creativity, resilience, and brilliance. Drawing 100+ people to an art show when no one knew he'd ever curated one?
Revolutionary.
Our FOUNDER
Ahmed Tacumba Turner Jr. is a curator, photographer, and community organizer in Pittsburgh. He founded The Future Is Black in 2019 and has since produced 12 exhibitions featuring 200+ artists at grassroots spaces like Bloom Craft Theater and in partnership with the August Wilson African American Cultural Center and Brew House Arts.
To date, the work has paid out $55,000 in direct artist contracts and stipends and delivered $8,000 in technical assistance , website buildouts, business plans, and legal support, marketing through the Fellowship Model. Artists get paid, and they leave with infrastructure they keep.
Before The Future Is Black, Tacumba spent eight years in urban agriculture and community development. As a teaching artist with the Hazelwood Youth Media Justice Program, he taught photography and visual storytelling to high school students, building toward community exhibitions on environmental justice. His work has been recognized with the John Kingston Food Sovereignty Award (2021), the Breakout Change Maker Award (2022), and the Transformative Leader Award from the Equity Impact Center (2024).
OUR MISSION
The Future Is Black is committed to empowering underrepresented creatives by providing mentorship, resources, and platforms that amplify their artistry and economic potential. Rooted in an Afro-futuristic lens, we cultivate spaces of joy, healing, remembrance, critical thought, and connectivity, bridging the gap between creative vision and tangible impact.
FOCUS AREAS
Supporting artists
The Future Is Black is dedicated to providing a platform for artists to thrive, express themselves, and contribute to the Afro-futuristic movement.
Community Building
The movement fosters a community that rejects societal norms, embraces authenticity, and encourages individuals to express themselves freely.
Event Curation
Throughout the calendar year, we curate events focused on Joy, Healing, Remembering, Critical Thought, and Connectivity, providing diverse experiences for the BIPOC community.
CORE PRINCIPLES
REMEMBRANCE
Honoring ancestral wisdom and lineage. Situating ongoing discussions within historical context. Understanding current struggles as part of a continuum. Introspection through archival connection.
Joy
Presence and mindfulness as radical acts. Celebration, dancing, laughter, and beauty as resistance. Refusing the narrative that Black life is only struggle. Playfully exploring future potentialities.
HEALING
Spiritual autonomy and direct access to the divine. Individual and collective practices of restoration. Acknowledging trauma without being defined by it. Creating space for vulnerability and transformation.
CONNECTIVITY
Building and sustaining community across difference. Upholding our responsibility to each other. Learning from collective wisdom and varied experiences. Understanding interdependence as fundamental to survival.
CRITICAL THOUGHT
Rigorous examination of systems, narratives, and assumptions. Intellectual engagement with art and culture. Challenging conventional frameworks. Centering analysis alongside creation.
Our IMPACT
12+
EXHIBITIONS
$55,000+
IN DIRECT ARTIST STIPENDS& contracts
200+
ARTISTS FEATURED
