99 problems, diversity ain’t one.

Gimli was a badass in the books, he deserved better than to be the punchline of jokes

The only thing my father probably hates as much if not more was how they turned Gimli into comic relief in the Lord of Rings Trilogy. Gimli was a badass in the books, he deserved better than to be the punchline of jokes. Yeah, my pops would nerd hard. Legend says he read Tolkein to me while I was just a potential human inside of my mother, starting at the Silmarillion and ending with Return of the King before I was born. While maybe that sounds like an origin story for me, it really enlightened me to the fact that my love for science fiction and fantasy, comics and Battlestar are not foreign bodies to a young Black enthusiast making his or her way in the world. Even when so many things shout the opposite to you.

Silmarillion and ending with Return of the King before I was born. While maybe that sounds like an origin story for me, it really enlightened me to the fact that my love for science fiction and fantasy, comics and Battlestar are not foreign bodies to a young Black enthusiast making his or her way in the world. Even when so many things shout the opposite to you.

Black Nerd Problems came about in a flippant conversation between Omar Holmon and myself as we were probably complaining about the lack of minority representation in DC Comics New 52 most likely. We realized that part of the problem with representation in popular and geek culture isn’t solely on the source, but on the verbal strength of the consumer, on the coverage, on the reporting. We had begun to make friendships with other Black Nerds through social media and the poetry slam community (how Omar and I met) and thought, how cool would it be to control our own narrative?

The only thing my father probably hates as much if not more was how they turned Gimli into comic relief in the Lord of Rings Trilogy. Gimli was a badass in the books, he deserved better than to be the punchline of jokes. Yeah, my pops would nerd hard. Legend says he read Tolkein to me while I was just a potential human inside of my mother, starting at the Silmarillion and ending with Return of the King before I was born. While maybe that sounds like an origin story for me, it really enlightened me to the fact that my love for science fiction and fantasy, comics and Battlestar are not foreign bodies to a young Black enthusiast making his or her way in the world. Even when so many things shout the opposite to you.

Black Nerd Problems came about in a flippant conversation between Omar Holmon and myself as we were probably complaining about the lack of minority representation in DC Comics New 52 most likely. We realized that part of the problem with representation in popular and geek culture isn’t solely on the source, but on the verbal strength of the consumer, on the coverage, on the reporting. We had begun to make friendships with other Black Nerds through social media and the poetry slam community (how Omar and I met) and thought, how cool would it be to control our own narrative?

The only thing my father probably hates as much if not more was how they turned Gimli into comic relief in the Lord of Rings Trilogy. Gimli was a badass in the books, he deserved better than to be the punchline of jokes. Yeah, my pops would nerd hard. Legend says he read Tolkein to me while I was just a potential human inside of my mother, starting at the Silmarillion and ending with Return of the King before I was born. While maybe that sounds like an origin story for me, it really enlightened me to the fact that my love for science fiction and fantasy, comics and Battlestar are not foreign bodies to a young Black enthusiast making his or her way in the world. Even when so many things shout the opposite to you.

Black Nerd Problems came about in a flippant conversation between Omar Holmon and myself as we were probably complaining about the lack of minority representation in DC Comics New 52 most likely. We realized that part of the problem with representation in popular and geek culture isn’t solely on the source, but on the verbal strength of the consumer, on the coverage, on the reporting. We had begun to make friendships with other Black Nerds through social media and the poetry slam community (how Omar and I met) and thought, how cool would it be to control our own narrative?