NYCC 2020: Respect to the Black Writers
Joseph Watkins
With all events going virtual, I was excited about the panels and events for NYCC and was looking forward to the merch that was going to land in my cart. But prior to the event, I was diagnosed with COVID. Nervous and scared, my stepfather in-law recently died from the virus and my mother-in-law recovered with some health setbacks. The doctors informed me that I would have to quarantine away from my family so I would not get them infected. With those words, I packed my PS4, laptop, and get well cards from my kids and went into hibernation for two weeks. For 14 days I became a “self-imposed hostage” in a 10” x 12” room looking at the window and television for my escape from this place as I endured my own version of recovery.
But, as New York Comic Con went virtual for the first time, I was fortunate enough to be able to see it from my home as I’m in my final stages of quarantine. As I went into the event, NYCC just keeps getting better and better. Now named the Metaverse, NYCC’s alternate internet reality, Reedpop laid out their virtual event perfectly.
This time, I decided to embrace the event by focusing on the Black Writers.
Marvel’s Black Panther: Sins of the King
Black Panther once again is hitting stores, but in a whole new way, with a whole new story line and a whole new cast. Black Panther: Sins of the King, from Serial Box; makers of audiobooks & ebooks for science fiction & fantasy novels, had a panel discussing the event. The panel, moderated by Karama Horne, aka Blerdgurl, brought us back to the world of Wakanda with panelists:
Ira Madison III, lead writer for Sins of the King
Geoffrey Thorne, lead writer for Sins of the King
Tananarive Due, Author, British Fantasy Award Winner
Steven Barnes, Author, New York Times Bestseller
Mohale Mashigo, Author, The Yearning
William Jackson Harper, Narrator for Sins of the King
As they briefly described the context of the story, I was amazed by the amount of work that these phenomenal people contributed to in the world of literature; most notably, the lovely couple, Tananarive Due and her husband, Steven Barnes.
Tananarive Due, a professor of Black Horror and Afrofuturism at UCLA and a NAACP Image Award and British Fantasy Award winner, her writing has been included in various anthologies worldwide. Her husband, Steven Barnes, is just as great, as he is a famed writer who has written novels, short fiction, screen plays for television, and scripts for comic books, animation, newspapers, and magazine articles.
As they continued to discuss the new series, I still find it amazing how Wakanda’s place in the Marvel Universe (MU), is still turning heads today. A wondrous, vibrant city that is full of untapped potential and is now open and available to all now in both, the MU and the MCU. Aside from the city, what makes Wakanda amazing still is the popularity of its characters; T’Challa, Shuri and the Dora Milaje. These characters are both warriors and engineers and as they continue to surprise us with their actions, we continue to gravitate to them, hoping for the next big event.
With Black Panther’s success in theaters, Black characters are transcending racial barriers and has also led to some very impressive monetary rewards. Kurama, asked a question about this and about the fate of Black superheroes in the media:
“Geff, I’m very curious, with all of this renewed interest and renewed energy, and like I said, you’ve been writing for a long time. You’ve seen trends come and go…but, we have all this interest now in seeing Black comic books, Afrofuturism, and basically black folks in fantasy and science fiction. Do you think it’s here to stay or do you think it’s a fad right now?” - Karama H.
Geoffrey Thorne
“I think it’s our ball to drop. The door got kicked open this time; it was edged open in the past and this time it was kicked open. The Black Panther movie made a loooooot of moooooney!! Like aaaa looooot of money right? Like more than a lot, “AAAA LOOOOOT!!” and that’s just not Black people going to see it, right? Anything that you make, and black people see it, it’s a guaranteed hit, but if you want a blockbuster-go to the moon hit, you want everybody’s assess in those seats and that’s what we saw with Black Panther. So, we got a core group of people, like us, who are dressing up, getting in shape for their Black Panther Festival, but we also have a whole bunch of White kids dressing up for Halloween. There’s money in that. So, smart people will want to exploit that audience; I’m being cynical in my conversation about this right now. So from a business side, it would be literally, stupidly, leaving money on the table to drop this ball, but from the point of view from the creative side, it would be literally, stupid to drop this ball. The door has been kicked open, and Steven has been at this longer than me, and I remember reading his books, and I was like, ‘someone like me is doing this, so I can do it.’ I won’t be the only one, there’s someone before me. In comic books, there’s McDuffie, who I was lucky enough to meet. Another person, who I found out later, was Black……” - Geoffrey T.
With the onslaught of major new works in Black media, ranging from Science Fiction, Horror, comic books and television, the Black media revolution has begun and now we have the power to keep the momentum going or get it tossed to the wayside. .
Rise of the Black Superheroes: Female Edition
With Black superheroes becoming the rage since the arrival of Black Panther, there has been an increase in Black superheroes as they are dominating both, the big and little screen, showcasing their powers, words of wisdom and their extraordinarily good looks. However, the hard work that makes them look so good in Black is the direct result of the writers and directors who are creating better scripts for them, thus improving the Black character, and making the Black superhero experience greater. As the Black character dynamic continues to evolve, I’m wondering if there will be a limit to how high they can go, especially for the Black female superheroes.
In, The Rise of The Black Superheroes panel moderated by Keisha Hatchett, an associate editor at TV Guide, she spoke with fellow writers and creatives
Carrie Bernans – Actor/Stuntwoman
Neema Barnette – Director/Producer
Aida Croal – Writer/ Producer
Karama Horne – Culture Journalist
on the magic of the Black woman dynamic and how the growth of the superhero industry for Black women is increasing. Not without its challenges, they described the past of Black writers and discussed situations that have led to some setbacks in the media industry for Black America. For example, with the rise of “Spike Lee and John Singleton”, some hoped that more Black creatives would be let in, but it didn’t happen. As Kurama said it best, “we were at a standstill”, and now with Black Panther being the film’s catalyst for more Black creativity, more Black “magic”, the Black media revolution is growing, with Black women obtaining their well-earned slice of the cake.
I recently saw an episode of LUKE CAGE on NETFLIX, and remembered what famed villain Mariah Stokes said, “Black women have always had superpowers. Turning pain into progress, nothing into nurture….” and as I’m looking at theses superpowered beings in the panel, not only do I see phenomenal Black magic, I see power, perseverance and progress. As I listened in, I then started to understand why LUKE CAGE is considered one of the best Black superhero series on Netflix (although canceled). Aida Croal, co-executive producer and writer for the series, explained it perfectly:
“Its starts in the writers room, you have to choose those writers well and make sure you put together a diverse room that can really bring depth and complexity to the Black experience from so many different sides. So, we had that; we had men, we had women, we had gender non-conforming folks, we had people, different sexual orientations, we had age discrepancies, we had as much diversity as we could muster….” - Aida Croal
And that is what makes movies golden, the spirit of diversity, the gathering of differing opinions coming together and writing a smash hit. To make something great, rooted in a diverse room is what true movie magic is all about. There was too much wisdom and energy in this panel and I’m happy they were nice enough to discuss their views and opinions. As this panel came to an end, a question was asked in regard to the next Black superhero movie we should see?
Two words: Storm and Martha Washington.
As the amount of Black superhero movies increase, my hope is that the next wave of movies will be created by “Black creators, writers, and directors”, keeping it as “Blackity Black” as possible.
From NYCC: TV Guide editor Keisha Hatchett, a contributor to TV Guide's package "Rise of the Black superheroes" moderates a conversation with influential Black Women.
Black Horror
My last panel left me speechless as I journeyed into the realm of horror. This panel of phenomenal directors and writers:
was moderated by Chancellor Agard, from Entertainment Weekly, as they discussed how Black horror has taken on the weight of incorporating messages into their genre, scaring you while leaving you with a very powerful lesson. I was curious about the messages and why Black horror movies are headed in this direction. Antebellum, one of these ‘message laden’ movies in which the protagonist is trapped in antebellum slavery, was a hit on streaming services and their directors discussed the reason why the message was necessary. Conceived from a dream, the directors were able to beat the bullies of Hollywood, link up with a company, who supported their message and stayed true to their vision:
Gerard Bush
“ …What was crucial was that we land with a studio partner that would actually be courageous enough to work side by side with us from the very beginning until we got what we wanted on the screen. Whenever you’re saying something in Hollywood, where you don’t ask for permission from the culture, the cultural gatekeepers or when you’re not asking permission from the right wing sort of White America, then chances are you’re going to be attacked by multiple sides when you’re trying to make something like Antebellum. Christopher and I come from a social justice background so we consider it a badge of honor and so we really wanted to get what we envisioned on the screen, so that we could have a meaningful conversation. We weren’t looking to create something ‘milk toast’, we weren’t looking to create something that was entertainment for entertainment’s sake, we are incredibly concerned about the world we live in and a host of urgent issues that seem to be enveloping America, metastasizing across the country at a breakneck pace and so, for us, it was crucial that we get this medicine out and we bury the medicine within the thrill and we can have a conversation about it and move toward meaningful action as it relates to race in America…”
The truth of Black Horror is that it acknowledges the truth of America’s plight against Black America, both past and present. As more and more Black horror movies continue to reflect those injustices, my hope is that America can finally wake up and see that it needs to stop, one way or another. For horror movies such as these, the amount of creativity is what makes this genre one of the best genres to work in, especially for the Black dynamic. It allows you to take ‘the culture’ and turn it into unspeakable horrors that are relatable, understandable and emotional. That and Science Fiction.
From NYCC: Black filmmakers are revitalizing the horror genre and confronting American racism head on.
God Bless the Writers
NYCC was definitely for the Writers and I absolutely had a great time as I explored the Black side of NYCC from my quarantined quarters. As usual, they didn’t disappoint as they allowed the panelists to expressed themselves as honesty was always one of the key elements to what keeps me attending the con every year. Although, there were other Black writers and creatives in additional panels, given my state and well being, I couldn’t get to all of them. Still, respect to all the writers and creatives as they are the ones who continue to dedicate their talents to create such great works of art for the masses. To me, they are the true superheroes and they definitely deserve the accolades as they continue to provide us with hope, power, and strength as we see ourselves fighting oppression, evil spirits and the racism of America on the screens.
#respecttheblackwriters
