This year’s New York Comic Con was bigger than ever. Every network, actor, comic book publisher and independent artist you wanted to see was there. It’s safe to say that media has caught up. Fan conventions have become a proving ground to impress potential fanbases. But there was also another side to this year’s event schedule that I loved. There were a number of panels on diversity, inclusion and the normalization of black and brown people in all kinds of mediums. Even though some were scheduled at the same time, I went to as many as I possibly could.
Here’s a recap of some panels at NYCC 2016 that celebrated us.
WNDB Presents: Women and Gender Nonconforming Writers of Color in Digital Media.
Panelists: Cristinia Arreola, Swapna Krishna, Jamie Broadnax, Christian Tesoro and Bani Amor.
The panel was hosted by Jennifer Baker. And all of the women present had an hour-long discussion about their experience as women (or gender non-conforming) in their specific writing fields. We were able to listen from the perspective of both the freelance creative and the editor. As well as, in Jamie Broadnax’s case, the benefits and challenges that come from building your own space entirely.
Afropunks & Blerds: The Black Nerd Renaissance
Panelists: John Jennings, Dr. Sheena Howard, David F. Walker, Vernon Reid, Jamie Broadnax, Ytasha Womack.
This panel was moderated by community favorite Karama Horne, aka The Blerd Gurl. And the discussion went pretty deep. Panelists talked about the afropunk movement and the rich history of the music culture that birthed it. And even more importantly, how this culture influenced the work they do as creative black people. This panel gave us all the chance to challenge what words like diversity and inclusion really mean in the first place, as well as what we’re really asking for when we use them. There was a room full of us agreeing, and I’m not sure I felt more collective synergy at another panel that weekend.
FanBrosShow Presents – Inclusion is Revolution: Reclaiming Geek Culture
Panelists: Joseph Illidge, Daniel Jose Older, Kennedy Allen, Tatiana King Jones, Isaac Goodheart, June Kim.
All of the panels on diversity and inclusion during NYCC weekend were important and necessary. I honestly felt like the discussion got the furthest when we sat down with FanBros and their guests. There are a number of things we’ve been fighting in the entertainment zeitgeist over the past year. And during this hour, we got a chance to touch on them all, plus get in some great fan questions. Kennedy from the Black Tribbles and Joseph P. Illidge dropped nothing but bombs. Award-winning author DJ Older spoke candidly about the relationship between black and brown people with publishers. Isaac Goodheart and June Kim had really great things to say about letting inclusion shine in their work and whitewashing in media. It was their very first panel ever, but it wasn’t hard to tell that The FanBrosShow crew are pros in the game.
There are definitely some panels on diversity that I couldn’t make it to this year. Shout out to Black Heroes Matter, Women of Color in Comics, #WhitewashedOut Books & Media, the discussion on Race & Sexuality, #BlackComicsMonth, and all the other great panels that time didn’t permit me the ability to attend. New York Comic Con ’16 was a big win for inclusion, just by nature of the fact that there were too many panels to actually get to them all.
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