#28DaysOfBlackCosplay: Black History in the Making

As the first week of Black History Month draws to a close and you grow weary from watching the media try to pack centuries of complex historical importance into pleasantly digestable pieces (or ignore February’s significance altogether), you might feel like burnout is inevitable. But there is hope, my friend, and it looks like daily posts from cosplayer Chaka Cumberbatch of Princess Mentality Cosplay, the creator of a brand new digital movement called #28DaysofBlackCosplay. The instructions are simple In honor of black history month, a group of black cosplayers have come together to help celebrate and promote diversity in our community. Every day we’ll be spotlighting a different black cosplayer – and we’re encouraging EVERYONE to join in the fun! If you or someone you know would like to be featured, simply post your picture on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc and be sure to include the hashtag #28DaysOfBlackCosplay – it’s that easy. but the impact rippling through cosplay communities is huge (as of writing this article the hashtag’s influence has even caught the attention of major news outlets like CNN). I reached out to Chaka recently and she answered a few questions as to what this united force of Black cosplayers means to her as well as the greater cosplay community.   Chaka Cumberbatch as Dee from Rat Queens demonstrates that cosplay belongs anywhere (photo credit Aperture Ashley). What was the initial inspiration behind this movement? #28DaysOfBlackCosplay was ini…