Representation matters.
Happy Star Trek Day!
I was at DragonCon one year when Avery Brooks was on a panel, and a Black dude stood up and talked about how the year DS9 came on, he became the sole custodial guardian of his small son, and he was *terrified* and felt helpless, because he hadnât really had a father himself, and he didnât really know any Black fathers he particularly wanted to emulate, and no Black single fathers at all. He talked about how every week heâd put his kid to bed and sit down and watch Deep Space Nine, and think to himself, âOkay, this, I want us to be this kind of father and son,â and how, silly as it might sound, the idea that Ben could be there for Jake, all the time, successfully, and earn his admiration and trust, was the only source he really had of inspiration, the only voice that was telling him he could handle this job.Â
I swear to fuck there was a whole auditorium of people in tears by the time he was done, including both him and Brooks. It was one of the most beautiful moments I ever saw about the sometimes bloodless-sounding term ârepresentation,â and about fandom in general, and I will never forget it.
[Image description: Twitter thread by Pete Souza Petty (@KendraJames_) that reads as follows:
Itâs #StarTrekDay, and I canât begin to express how much Sisko and DS9 meant to me as a kid. Not gonna try, Iâll just repeat my fave story.
I got into basically every college I applied to, and when it came down to it I was choosing between Oberlin, Pitzer, and I think Occidental.
I was leaning heavily on Pitzer, which seemed like Oberlin with better weather. My parents didnât want me to go to LA.
(caps) (LOL jokeâs on them on Tuesday when I move there anyway, ainât it?)
Anyway (end caps).
I was scrolling Wikipedia in my dorm room one night trying to look for facts that would convince them to let me go to Pitzer.
I got to the Oberlin page, basically looking for dirt, and scrolled down to the âfamous alumniâ section and saw Avery Brooksâ name.
I think it was like 10min later I called my parents and said âIâll be okay with going to Oberlin, Sisko went there, write the check pls.â
My logic was that, as a famous alum, heâd probably come back and maybe lâd get to meet him.
And my logic panned outâ Avery Brooks came back twice. Once to do Death of a Salesman. It was amazing.
He worked with the AfAm Studies and Theatre departments, and came back a second time to give a lecture during my senior year.
I met him the first time and cried (A lot) while trying to explain what he and Sisko meant to me.
He said, âI know. This is why I did itâ so *you* could watch it.â Then I cried some more.
My favourite Avery Brooks quote is from one of his Oberlin talks: âBrown children must be able to participate in contemporary mythology.â End description.]
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