BlerDCon Review: First Year Convention Centered on Black Nerds and Inclusivity

[divider type=”space_thin”]This past weekend put my ass through the ringer creatively and intellectually, as well as challenging my own social conditioning on ideals of race, progression, and inclusivity. All this came from a first year multi-genre convention whose premise is based on inclusion of all people of varying races, ability, sexual orientation, gender, and lack thereof. I had the enormous honor of being able to attend BlerDCon in Crystal City, Virginia with fellow BNP contributor Lauren Bullock as we observed (often times with glee and awe) this extraordinary weekend event. This convention had everything you’d want from the average convention: nicely-sized game area with various old-school arcade games, multiple rooms to host panels and screenings, a cosplay contest, an adorable Maid Cafe, and, of course, beautiful nerds from all backgrounds coming together to enjoy themselves around their peers.

I loved how this convention never forgot that it centered on focusing on marginalized groups of people, especially on Black nerds. Often times, POCs are shut out of the conversation regarding the evolution of media representation and the “next-step” of superhero characters, but from listening to the multitudes of geeks in attendance, I have seen that many artists, musicians, and directors continue to fight for fair representation, and will not be deterred by glaring offenses of oppressive forces, especially of those who seek to maintain the status quo of employing more-tha…