by MC Brooks, contributor

2005 was the year that I attended my first ever convention. To be honest, I had no idea that people who had the same nerdy interests as myself actually got together to celebrate fandom. Don’t get me wrong, I had anime club in high school but it’s not hard to see the difference between a group of 15 and 1500. Much like that first cigarette, the experience gave me a high that I would try to find again as I attended various conventions over the years. I had a lot of fun but I couldn’t help but notice that I usually was one of only a handful of people who looked like me at these conventions.

I first heard about Blerdcon in late 2016 through one of the many of nerd groups that I was a member of on Facebook. For those of your who are unfamiliar, Blerd is a portmanteau of Black and Nerd. The Con part, well, you can figure that out. The idea was brilliant and I was honestly surprised that an event like it hadn't already been put together.

I grew up in DC when DC was still "Chocolate City". My experiences lead me to believe that it was common to find other people like myself who were into the same things.

While the people I knew didn't consider themselves nerds and didn't attend conventions, I had plenty of debates about whether Vegeta could ever beat Goku, if Sonic was better than Mario (he is), and what kind of powers I'd want if I became a superhero. I was spoiled by growing up in a city primarily comprised of black people because friends and colleagues of mine have frequently expressed their frustrations at not knowing other black people who had nerdy interests.

With that understanding, I knew an event like Blerdcon had the potential to be special because it would be an event that was not only BY us, but FOR us as well.

The first annual Blerdcon was in 2017 and it was a pretty good experience. It wasn't perfect by any means but there was still something special about being in an atmosphere with other nerds of color who could be themselves unapologetically, without fear of judgment from others. I left that convention feeling very inspired and motivated to create after seeing how many black creatives showed up and showed out.

They couldn't possibly out outdo themselves the second around, right?

Wrong.

The 2018 edition of Blerdcon built upon the foundation of the previous year and improved what was already a successful convention. On Friday, I attended the Black Heroes Matter panel which explored the positives and negatives of the recent run of black representation in media with films like Black Panther and shows like Black Lightning. It was an important conversation and it highlighted the importance of events like Blerdcon. As I mentioned before, I've been attending conventions for a long time. This was the first I'd ever sat in a panel that spoke to both my blackness and my nerdiness.

Saturday's are generally the busiest day of any convention due to the amount of people already in advance PLUS the people who are only available for a day or two. I attended a few panels on the connection between hip hop and comic books, self-care, building your own community, women of color in sci-fi, and much more. The real highlight of the day was the Mega Ran & Edo Bushido concert on Saturday night. Even if you don't consider yourself much of a nerd, there was something for everyone and that's why I'm very happy that Blerdcon exists.

All in all, I had a pretty good experience here. I would absolutely recommend this convention if you are black and/or of color and are looking to find yourself among other like-minded people who have similar interests. The family atmosphere is unlike any other event I've been to. Many of these people were strangers but they felt like family. That's something that is hard to describe in words. I'm very excited to see how they continue to grow and improve for 2019. Thanks to BlerdCon for letting me having access to this event! Check out some of my photos below.

Comics and Books

MC Brooks at BlerdCon 2018!