BLERD CITY CON

BLERD CITY CON

A 2-day conference taking place July 29 - 30, 2017 celebrating the Nerd in you through panels & workshops of Art, Science, Film, Comic Books, & Technology with 5 venues in the Dumbo area of Brooklyn, New York making you truly feel like a Blerd take over.

Clairesa Clay, the founder of BLERD City Con, has a simple and inspired mission: "I want the audience to experience Horror, Science Fiction, and Fantasy by the talents of leading African Diasporic filmmakers, writers, coders and creators who are serving the community of Black and Nerdy.”

This year, BLERD City Con will be honoring L.A. Banks for her outstanding contributions in fantasy horror speculative writing and non-fiction with an award in her name.

BLERD City Con is working with some of the most renowned, accomplished, and critically-acclaimed presenters within the community:

Tim Fielder, graphic artist, cartoonist, and animator, best known for Afrofuturism: The Next Generation.

Warrington Hudlin, veteran producer of film, television, and online media

Regine Sawyer, owner and writer at Locket Down Production, a press comic book company. Also the founder of the Women in Comics Collective International.

Sheree Renée Thomas, award-winning fiction writer, editor, and poet, and author of Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora and Dark Matter: Reading the Bones. Sheree will be honored with the new L.A. Banks award.

Floyd Webb, an award-winning filmmaker and groundbreaking film festival producer.

SATURDAY JULY 29, 2017 PANELS

A live reading and examination of Josh Whedon’s 2009 Wonder Woman Script

Examination of Josh Whedon’s Wonder Woman script of sexism and racism.

Facilitator:  Valerie_Complex

Women In Comics:  Gender and Inclusion in the Modern Age of the Comic Book World                          Looking at leading women artists who are in the comic books industry.

Moderator: Regine Sawyer

Enter the Last Dragon:  Black Folks & Martial Arts

A panel on the love of Martial Arts by Black people

Moderator:  Jacinto Taras Riddick

Wakanda’s World and a Superhero’s Journey

A discussion about the upcoming film Black Panther, and the history of the comic book.

A Right Not to Die:  Imprisonment from Birth to Death

A discussion about the prison system’s impact on black and brown males and females.

Moderator:  Monifa Bandele, Community Activist

Correcting People Correctly

Empowering yourself to respond to hate and bigotry online and in real life.  Panel discussion led by an                   all queer black cosplayers.

Facilitator:  Brienne Colston

Cosplay Ball

The audience and cosplay judges will decided the best costume of  showmanship and creativity.

Mistress of Ceremony:  Robyn Warren

Cosplay, Disabilities, Geek Culture and Neurodiversity! 

Cosplay and geek culture have helped and hindered the disability culture. Panelists discuss experiences including topics such as neurodiversity, disabilities (both visible and invisible), and the accessibility of cons and geek culture as a whole.

Moderator: Joseph Munisteri

Hackathon: Coders & Writers

Inviting coders and writers to the same room to hash out stories involving responsible image making of people of color for the next century game.  

#BLERDFOODJUSTICE

The examination of the food injustices in the African Diaspora community.

Moderator:  Keith Carr

Artist Spotlight:  The DieselFunk Brothers – Gloggers Tim and Jim Fielder

The creative ventures of the two brothers, Tim Felder and Jim Felder, glogging—graphics and digital media—around the political world.

AfroPast and AfroFuture: Indy Explosive Comics

Meet 2017’s new and exciting Comic Book artists.

Propulsion of Black Aesthetics Mixtape Parables

Speculative Fiction and poetry artists of Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy reading their current works.  Audience members are invited to wear their favorite character from Sci-Fi, Horror, and Fantasy book or book inspired film.  

Moderator:  Sheree Renée Thomas

Imagenation Short Film Showcase

Programmer:  Moikgantsi Kgama

Creatively Speaking Short Film Showcase

Programmer:  Michelle Materre

SUNDAY,  JULY 30, 2017 PANELS

Fandom Diversified:  The Changing Face of Nerd Journalism

From the Gamergate scandal to the advent of BlerdNation, both high and low points are heavily spotlit.  But what does this mean for the future?  Is it mission accomplished?  We;ll talk to writers from Black Girl Nerds.

Moderator:  Valerie_Complex

#BLERDOUT: A Picture is Worth Less than a Thousand Words

Nerds come to tell your stories of being a Black Nerd.  Bring in a  picture of yourself to tell a 3-4 min story that answers the question:  "I became a Blerd when. . ."

Anime & Manga Mash Up

Part 1 Kpop and Blackness:  Appropriation or Appreciation?

Panel explores the instances of some of the cultural manfields that kpop and black fans often have to negotiate.  

Moderator:Johnny GoodMo

Part 2 Anime, Manga, Kpop & Race Mash Up

Prepare to be schooled on the racial dynamics of Anime, Manga, and Kpop Fandom with the intersectionality of fetishization of women and idolization that intersects with Western gaze and other images in pop culture.

Moderator:   Black Girl youth Moderators

AfroCrowd: Bringing the Digital Footprints of the African Diaspora with Wikipedia

AfroCrowd is a new initiative, which seeks to increase the number of people of African Descent who actively partake in the Wikimedia and free knowledge, culture and software movements.  Learn the landscape and skills to make an entry in Wikipedia.  The history is at our computer board.

#BLERDDATING:  A Twitter Storytelling Chat

A workshop about the world's first Twitter stories/chat mash-up party from a blerd POV that are smart and funny and weird.  Talking about dating/relationship issues. Some are deeply personal.  

Multiverse: Close Encounters of the Stellar Kind

Speculative Fiction  of Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy reading their current work.  Audience members are invited to wear their favorite character from Sci-Fi, Horror, and Fantasy book or book inspired film.  

Moderator:  Sheree Renée Thomas

Betting Big! Tech and Business Showcase

Black TV and Film Collective Short Films Showcase & Workshop

Short films and a workshop

Programmer:  Huriyyah Muhammed

ImageReMaker Short Film Showcase

Programmer:  Anjanette Levert