What Sun Ra’s Fashion And Music Tells Us About Black Radicalism

Without the jazz musician, poet, and bandleader Sun Ra, the music industry would look and sound somewhat different. Countless mainstream artists have been inspired by his boundlessness and his ability to sustain his central belief system, which is now described as Afrofuturism. These ideals are explored in the film “Sun Ra: Do The Impossible,” which was presented at BlackStar’s Film Festival this past weekend. The film, directed by Christine Turner, begins with Sun Ra’s origin story, which started in his birthplace, Birmingham, Alabama, where he would later contribute to the swing music scene there as a pianist and artist. 

Alienation and creative inclinations led him to Chicago, where he built the fantastical band Arkestra in the 1940s–later he’d relocate with the band to New York City, while there they began living in a communal apartment. Jam sessions and strict music regiments spearheaded by Sun Ra ensued and the band blossomed. A pivotal move to Philadelphia informed the group’s sound and the continuation of how they explored their musicality and costuming choices. The latter was pivotal as it laid the groundwork for future musical acts that followed them. Turner intertwined stories centering Sun Ra’s poetry and the anthologies he wrote and took direction from with his music. This enmeshment of creative sources showcased how the titan utilized himself as an instrument who chose to refuse normativity. “Music based on who the negro was, is, and should be,” stated Sun Ra in the film on the genreless music he and the Arkestra were creating. 

Notions of self-resilience and acknowledgment of one’s gifts rang loudly at the beginning of the film. To me, these were some of the strongest claims “Sun Ra: Do The Impossible” made. But an equally strong claim was that since he was the father of Afrofuturism, the music industry is still impacted by him. Two artists who immediately come to mind as children of Sun Ra include singer, producer, and visual artist Solange and the rapper and musician American jazz pianist, bandleader and composer Sun Ra (centre) performing with his Arkestra at the Newport Jazz Festival, in Newport, Rhode Island, circa 1990. (Photo Credit: by David Redfern/Redferns)

By utilizing clothing as a means of self-expression, Sun Ra Arkestra set a standard for attire to play a major role in performance-based work. Clothing was nearly as significant as the intentional concerts they were a part of, which were showcased in “Sun Ra: Do The Impossible.” The distinctness of their costuming and Sun Ra’s attention to detail showcased how imagination also played a role in the utopia he believed was capable for Black folks. 

Solange falls in the lineage left behind by Sun Ra. In the past, she has shared that the artist was a source of inspiration for her album “When I Get Home.” To many, this album resonated deeply due to what was explored thematically on it: themes centering around identity and home were central to the compilation. Aesthetically pleasing performances from this era of her musical career, alluding to her affinity for performance art. Solange’s disbelief in the commercialization of her art is a notion that speaks to her falling under the lineage of Sun Ra. 

Both artists were uninterested in the delusions that come with being attached to the mainstream music industry. (Sun Ra and his former business manager, Alton Abraham, launched a record label, El Saturn Records, in 1957–Solange launched her record label Saint Heron in 2013, it has sincedecoding="async" src="https://www.essence.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/GettyImages-1683259534-scaled.jpg" alt="What Sun Ra’s Fashion And Music Tells Us About Black Radicalism" width="400" height="494" />Hip-hop artists Big Boi and Andre 3000 of Outkast in November, 2002 in Atlanta, Georgia.(Photo Credit: Gregory Bojorquez/Getty Images)

Sun Ra and the Arkestra forged new territory organically as the years stretched on over the course of their most successful years as a group. Turner’s documentary depicts craft-making and world-building through interviews that speak to the self-actualization and determination that drove the group’s core. In “Sun Ra: Do The Impossible,” the importance of Sun Ra as the titular figure is central to garnering an understanding of how he dreamed up a new reality for himself and his bandmates. With his futuristic vision, his ability to showcase his ideals through clothing, and his radical beliefs, the composer and musician enriched the lives of many. He also created an improvisational method of music-making that is still felt in the present iterations of jazz, neo-soul, and alternative music genres.

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