Blerdfest 2019

Last Sunday, I had the honor of moderating the keynote panel at Blerdfest 2019. The convention’s organizers have worked tirelessly for years to bring about this celebration of black culture, nerd culture, and the intersections between them. Black nerds of all ages packed out the Algiers Auditorium here in New Orleans, and what I loved best about the crowd was how many children I saw in attendance.

Some nerds of my generation throw shade at the younger folks for being unaware of the travails we went through just to engage with our interests back in the seventies and eighties. Times were genuinely tougher for nerds back then: you could get openly ridiculed or beat down for being too into comic books, Star Trek, or D&D, and nerds these days don’t have to face such resistance.

Even so, seeing the ease and excitement with which these newer generations latch on to and pursue their interests, nerdy or otherwise warms my bitter old heart, especially when they attend events like WisCon or Blerdfest.

Our panel was called “Black to the Future: Where is Afrofuturism Taking Us?” Writer/Journalist Kristina Robinson, Comedian/Entrepreneur Denise Jena, Public Health and Fan Fiction expert Kytara Epps and Activist/Poet Amanda Emily Smith all engaged with the audience, discussing recent shifts in the nerdosphere and the burgeoning possibilities given us by Afrofuturism as works like Black Panther and Captive State move the sub-genre further into the mainstream of popular culture.

This was Blerdfest’s inaugural year, and it was lovely to see the event’s organizers hit the ground running. It was also a thrilling way to end a week in which I was finally able to meet and exchange words with N. K. Jemisin. I’m so glad to have been involved with the first Blerdfest, and I look forward to helping it grow into a pillar of Deep South nerd culture.

Be sure to come on down and check it out next year!