Creator Spotlight: Black Nerds
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    • Jun 7, 2020

Creator Spotlight: Black Nerds

(Creator Spotlight)

For this month's Creator Spotlight we're doing things a little bit differently. Normally we only highlight one nerdy creator we love per article but for this month we wanted to shine a light on amazing Black creators in fandom and we thought it was important to showcase as many as we could. So here are a bunch of amazing Black Nerds who are creating a wide-range of great geek content, from podcasts, to cosplay, to cons, to comics. Check them out, support them and elevate the voices of creators like:


Black Nerd Comedy

Image source: https://www.youtube.com/BlackNerdComedy

Andre is the black nerd of Black Nerd Comedy over on Youtube with over 700K subscribers to his amazing channel which has videos covering nerd news, video essays, reviews and trailer reactions.

Black Nerd Comedy describes his channel as “Geek Entertainment, Nerd Culture, and Nostalgia featuring Rants, Reviews, Reactions, Recommendations, and Retro 80s, 90s, and 2000s in the world of Pop Culture, Movies, TV, Cartoons, Gaming, Comics and More.”

He’s also asking the real questions we all want to know like Can Tenet Save Movie Theatres and more importantly, Who Fucked Palpatine?

The BlerdGurl / Karama Horne

Image source: https://twitter.com/theblerdgurl

Founded in 2013 by Karama Horne, The BlerdGurl website covers entertainment journalism with a focus on “geekdom, inclusion and the large often ignored sub-fandom of Black nerds or #blerds.”

Horne has also just launched a new Youtube series, Stream This!, about her favorite genre shows on streaming networks and her podcast is a must-listen if you’re looking for nerdy commentary and interviews from a blerd perspective. Horne is also a contributing editor to SYFYWIRE where she writes a weekly column and does a ton more stuff so you’re going to want to follow her on Twitter to make sure you catch it all.

CutiePieSensei

Image source: https://twitter.com/cutiepiesensei

CutiePieSensei is an incredible cosplayer who covers the entire spectrum of cosplay from simple (but spot on) cosplays to intricate, full costume recreations of Shuri/Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Nubia/Wonder Woman and many more. Her work is as incredible as the amount of cosplays she creates.


She describes herself as “just your friendly neighborhood cosplay girl. Keeping cosplay positive” and she’s constantly promoting other cosplayers on her FB page. Check her out on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook to see all her looks.

BlackComicsChat

Image Source: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blackcomicschats-podcast/id1013283715?mt=2

BlackComicsChat has you covered whether you’re looking for a comic book podcast, interviews, twitch channel or book club, they do it all.

Hosted by Anthony Otero, Marcus Kwame, Leonardo Faierman, Grace Gipson, and Thelonious Legend, BlackComicsChat is a “podcast at the inters​ection of Comics and Blackness” focused on discussing comics, interviewing comic creators and promoting diverse comix. The team has also recently launched their graphic novel book club and hosts a special Twitch stream every Saturday and Sunday called Cartoons & Cereal where the hosts provide “commentary on some of your cringiest animated favs from the 80s and 90s.” Truly, BlackComicsChat has something for everyone.

Hero Nation / Jermaine Dickerson

Image source: https://twitter.com/heronationorg

Founded by Jermaine Dickerson, Hero Nation’s goal is to “help underprivileged youth feel powerful with specialized comic book and video game-based programming.” They achieve this through their Comic Book Union program which helps promote youth literacy with comic books, graphic novels, and manga through specialized reading curriculum, and their Gaming Warriors initiative whose goal is “to build safe spaces and inclusive communities around young gamers.”

Hero Nation have also hosted Black Panther events and local comic cons. The next Hero Nation Comic Con is currently planned for September 26, 2020 (Covid-19 Pending) and they are currently accepting donations in hopes of making the event entirely free and also be able to purchase comics, toys, and school supplies for giveaways.

Learn more about Hero Nation and how to donate on their website.



BlerdCon

BlerdCon is an annual con that “highlights and celebrates Blerd culture and creates a marketplace of ideas where sharing that culture can take place with proper context, attribution and positivity in an inclusive environment.”

The con includes panels, celebrity guests, workshops, gaming tournaments and many other activities all with an aim to celebrate diversity in nerd culture.

The 2020 BlerdCon has unfortunately been cancelled due to Covid-19 but they have already scheduled BlerdCon 2021 for July 16th-18th in Crystal City, VA.


Check out their website to learn more, or follow them on Twitter or Instagram.


Black Comics Collective

Image source: https://www.facebook.com/theblackcomicscollective

The Black Comics Collective is a “NYC-based community of black comics enthusiasts” who create a digital and live forum for connecting comic creators of color with the community. Their goal is “to amplify awareness of creators, writers, illustrators, and publishers who are producing independent comics that depict a dynamic range of global black experiences.”

They do this through live events such as exhibitions, workshops and pop-up shops, promoting black creators in their digital spaces and they are also the co-hosts of the Black Comix Expo in Brooklyn, a free event held at the Brooklyn Academy of Music focused on “celebrating comic writers, illustrators, and creators of color” with activities like children’s art workshops, superhero cosplay and panel discussions.

Getting Animated Podcast / Destiny Senpai

Image source: https://twitter.com/GettingAnimated

Getting Animated is a weekly podcast hosted by Destiny Senpai, focused on providing a voice for women who like anime and also for those who have “limited resources but still have that fire passion for anime” to be able to connect and stay involved with what’s going on in the anime world.

Getting Animated goes over Anime News and Topics, interviews with voice actors and fangirling “topped with Black Girl Magic” and is available on all major podcast providers.

Superheroes In Color

Image source: https://superheroesincolor.tumblr.com/

We’re a big fan of Tumblrs here on the From Superheroes Network and there are few Tumblrs better than Superheroes In Color. Self-described as a “blog is dedicated to racial and cultural diversity in comic books and derivative works” Superheroes in Color have been documenting and celebrating diverse comics and nerdy works since 2014.


Whether you’re looking for comics, cosplayers or books by and/or about people of color, Superheroes in Color will help you find so much of what you’re looking for.

Noir Caesar Studios

Image source: https://www.facebook.com/NoirCaesarLLC/

Described as the “Creators of Cool” Noir Caesar is an indie studio that publishes over a dozen comics from diverse creators, including titles such as Degeneratez, Primus 7, Try-Again and more. The studio has “has positioned itself to become a global brand that readers and viewers can rely on to create stories full of diversity, without sacrificing quality.”

Along with comics publishing Noir Caesar is also a full service creative studio specializing in 2D & 3D animation, graphic novels, and marketing or ad campaigns whose goal is to produce new and diverse content.

You can check out their comics and manga here and details about their creative studio here.

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We know there are many more black creators out there doing incredible things and this list is not exhaustive. Check out all the creators above and hit us up on Twitter or Facebook to tell us about those we missed.

Please visit Black Lives Matters for resources on protesting, petitions and ways to donate to a wide range of causes including bail-out funds for protesters and fundraisers for the victims of police violence (there are even ways to donate with no money at all). Find it all at: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/

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