One Year Later: Remembering Darrien Hunt

Last year on September 10 a Black man named Darrien Hunt was shot and killed by the police for supposedly swinging his sword at them, a death which later made his image the poster child for fear of cosplaying while Black (an issue which our Editor-in-Chief wrote about at the time). Today, there has still been no justice for the Hunt family. To add insult to injury, Darrien’s mother Susan Hunt recently told news outlets that she was offered and rejected a $900,000 “gag order” that would have required her never to discuss the case again. As if even millions of dollars could ever heal a mother’s broken heart. I think a lot about Darrien Hunt, still. I know the terrifying statistics, that every 28 hours a Black person is murdered by the police. I carry the exhaustion of a new face and a new name to pin to my heart, to wear a T-shirt of, to listen to recited in chant. I watch my friends and loved ones, many of whom are Black and therefore at risk at any minute to be another name on this impossible list, process this trauma as best they can. To be honest, reading and writing Black Nerd Problems articles probably falls into that necessary self-care category more often than not. Maybe that’s why I come back to Darrien so often.

As a Black cosplayer, it’s undeniable how much Darrien’s death shakes you to the core. I think about how many times I’ve worn Bat family cosplays at night in predominantly White cities or towns, running around pretending to be a vigilante on the bus or on str…