Future Black History Month: Janelle Monáe – Android, Artist and Leader

Fuse is once again celebrating an extended Black History Month by looking at a variety of rising forces who are creating Future Black History before our eyes. Today we honor Janelle Monáe, whose contributions to culture are already manifold—in social activism, in boundary-pushing popular music, in fashion, in the music industry—and continuously growing.

Monáe, 31, made her screen-acting debut in two of 2016's biggest films, Moonlight (Best Motion Picture – Drama at the Golden Globes, up for eight Oscars next) and Hidden Figures (nominated for two Globes, three Oscars). In the latter, she's one of three protagonists, alongside Octavia Spencer and Taraji P. Henson. Both narratives had black leads—predominantly women and gay men—and plots that centered exclusively on their experiences. 

Janelle Monáe's involvement in such celebrated, meaningful projects is not coincidental.