SDSU Lecturer’s Comic-Con Panels Probe the Future of People of Color Via Science Fiction

Each year, the appeal of San Diego’s Comic-Con grows just a bit more as new fandoms emerge from cinema and social media into the convention’s crowded halls. With these new fan subcultures, the demand for diverse characters grows as well.

Ajani Brown, a lecturer for SDSU’s Africana Studies Department and previous panelist, will be back for this year’s convention. His panels Afrofuturism—Black to the Future VII: CosPlay Heaven and From “Candyman” to “The Blackening”: The Spectrum of Black Horror, will explore how representation in science fiction informs the realities and futures of people of color.

Brown is no stranger the impact of pop culture in analyzing politics and social justice issues. He is a founding member of the Center for Comic studies at SDSU and creator of the courses Afrofuturism and Super Black: the Politics of Representation in Comics.

“When you write a science fiction story, you do a film, and there’s black people flying in spaceships, there’s black people on different planets, you’re seeing it artistically expressed,” said Brown, “But it’s actually a philosophy of making sure our communities are seen as a participant in the future.”

This will be Brown’s seventh year co-producing his Afrofuturism panel alongside Jimmy Diggs, a screenwriter for Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

The discussion this year will surround the importance of inclusion in cosplay, the art of costume play that has grown popular in fandoms. This is a particularly sensitive issue for cosplayers who are Black and have received racist backlash online.

“There is no color code for what you can dress up as a costume character,” said Brown.

At the From “Candyman” to “The Blackening”: The Spectrum of Black Horror panel, visitors will be able to hear discussion of new Black horror movies and revisit clips to see the films’ unique perspective on racial issues. Brown will be a guest panelist for this event.

“When you talk about black horror, you’re talking about what is the commentary behind it?” said Brown on the importance of the genre.

“What is the political commentary, the social commentary behind the monsters? Is it a real, literal monster, or are we talking about how society has been treating people?”

For those interested in attending his panels, the Afrofuturism panel will take place on Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in room 29CD, and the Spectrum of Black Horror panel will take place on Friday from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in room 10.

For those who would like to look at the full schedule of panels, visit https://www.comic-con.org/cc/things-to-do/programming-schedule/.