#meccacon

MECCAcon is space that provides an atmosphere for nerds of color to interact with and support creators of color, check out new diverse titles, and free reign for cosplay. You can also meet up with other nerds of color that share the same interest across the genre of pop culture. Black Nerd Problems talked with Maia “Crown” Williams, the founder and organizer of MECCAcon, to learn more about the importance of the gap MECCAcon fills.

© NayMarie Photography for Taji Mag | www.TajiMag.com

Black Nerd Problems: For years you have nurtured MECCAcon/BSAM into a much-needed haven for incredible African diasporic comics, film, and art from some of the most slept-on Black and brown indie artists in the game. That seems to be the ultimate labor of love. What work or moment sparked that passion for you and what makes you so ride-or-die for this particular universe?

Maia “Crown” Williams: The biggest moment was looking thru my son’s comics collection, and noticing the severe lack of self in books my son was reading. Other than Black Panther, which he had many of, there were barely any others. Also, not one was an indie series of any kind. I began researching and discovered another person in Detroit, Andre Batts, who organized a local convention here in Detroit. I met him at the African World Festival and began working with him immediately. I also began googling indie Black comics and met quite a few online via Facebook. Us indies are everywhere on social media, but we form like Voltron via Mark Zuckerberg.

I was so amazed how many Black comic series existed, how many creators were Black that I had never heard of, and I became obsessed with buying my son… everything, lol. His comic book selection is insane, he has titles famous, legendary creators even tell me they’re jealous of. He even has like 50 first edition prints of Milestone. How? One will never know the Jedi mind tricks my son beholds. I believe in working in the comic book industry cuz I believe the self-sustainability of my people. I can’t complain about lack of this, that, and the third if I’m not out here contributing to the growth and elevation of it all. I do my part, then I complain.

BNP: You are constantly imagining ways to grow MECCAcon into a bigger and better entity. One of the cool things you’re introducing this year is a subscription box service. Can you talk a little bit about that and what we can expect to find inside?

Maia: #MECCAconSubBox is literally the first of its kind. A friend of mine came to me with the idea because she was crazy enough to think that I could pull this off, lol. It officially launched in full on October 1st, and I am very excited! You receive 3-4 printed comic books, downloads of international Black award-winning films, and maybe downloads or a physical gift of something else. We have many sci-fi, Afrofuturism, speculative fiction, and filmmakers participating, as well as Black-owned businesses, all from across the country and globally. It’s pretty exciting.

 AWSUM ISLOVE / SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2017

As you rave over Luke Cage, and soon Marvels’ Black Panther, Black SuperHeros have had a presence and history that out dates these two series. While this may the first time Black Superhero’s have been prominent on white owned media platforms, independent Black owned media platforms have been doing this for decades.

There are #AfrikanSuperHero movies, t.v series, & comics written, produced, directed & illustrated by actual Afrikans & the Afrikan Diaspora.

 Black Comic book conventions such as E.B.A.C.C (www.ecbacc.com/wordpress4) (Yumy Odom, Founder and President)  of the largest Black Comic book convention on the East Coast was created in May 2002 in Philadelphia.  The Schomburg will be doing its 7th Annual Black Comic Book Festival in January 2018, co-produced by John Jennings. The producers of the festival are replicating it in California. In the Midwest for have MECCAcon ( https://meccacon.wordpress.com/) (founder, organizer, CEO, Maia Crown Williams)

OYA: RISE OF THE ORISHAS  is a short film originally released in July 31, 2016. Created by Nigerian-UK filmmaker, Nosa Igbinedion, it was nominated for the Efere Ozako Award for Best Short film. You can currently watch the new installment, YEMOJA:Rise of the Orishas, on demand via the website.

(www.riseoftheorisha.com/)  

This generation of Black-African Super Hero creators has done what #SidneyPoitier #HarryBelafonte, #RubyDee, #OssieDavis, The Black Arts Movement, & many more have done before them. Most millennials, born between 1980-1999, only know Ruby & Ossie as the old couple from Spike Lee’s, “Do the Right Thing” film. What you probably don’t know is that they owned/operated a production co. for audio recorded cassettes of music and ent. Emmalyn II Productions Co., Inc. and a business consulting service Dee-Davis Enterprises in 2010. Ossie was a film, television and Broadway actor, director, poet, playwright, author, and civil rights activist. Ruby was an actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist and civil rights activist. 

Ivan Dixon, director of “The Spook Who Sat by the Door” in 1970, was an actor, director & producer from 1957 to 1991 . Brock Peters, producer of 1970 film “Five on the Black Hand Side” made his film debut in Carmen Jones in 1954, and sang background vocals on the 1956 hit "Day-O" by Harry Belafonte. He did voice overs in Batman: the animated series, and Darth Vador for the radio adaptation of the original Star Wars trilogy for National Public Radio (1981-1986).

White owned media saw the mass amounts of money that was being made by independent Black owned business & entrepreneurs that contribute to African diaspora characters. Not only was it making money, but it was taking money from their pockets as #BlackConsumers went to their own for empowering images of themselves. Prior to this, they cared nothing of us (and still don’t) only our money.

A living, elevated example of that transition, is Pamela Thomas. Culminating her collection as an adult, she looks back at her childhood. Disappointed with the  lack of empowering Black representation, if any,  in main stream comics, she looked elsewhere...and found it!  The Museum of Uncut Funk, (http://museumofuncutfunk.com/) is an online digital museum of BlackSuper Heros, She-rah’s, & paraphernalia that, “ celebrate[s] our contribution to history year round!” Everything from Fat Albert, The Jackson 5 cartoon, Mr. T comics, The Harlem Glob Trotters cartoon, and stuff I never knew existed. Her traveling exhibit, “ Funk Turns 40: Black Character Revolution” debuted at The Schomburg in 2014. That exhibition also eye-marked a new curation style for the Schomburg center; the walls were painted in bright solid colors dipping the viewer inside the luscious array of diversity and beauty, that is Black culture. It was this authors official introduction to Black Characters & the History of Black Characters. Since then, everything in regards to Black characters on t.v. and advertisements, failed in comparison. We have set a very high bar. That bar, is the norm for the independent Black image creators. Since then, everything in regards to Black characters on t.v. and advertisements, failed in comparison. We have set a very high bar. That bar is the norm for the independent Black image creators mentioned in this article.

“ Since then, everything in regards to Black characters... failed in comparison. We have set a very high bar. That bar, is the norm for the independent Black image creators...”

And again, my people have drunk the Koolaid of a white owned representation of something Black, thinking it will be "sweeter" & “cooler” than what we create for ourselves. This is a falsehood, (& an act of cultural treason) that must stop. Wanting Black content is not enough. We have to want ourselves.

* Pay Attn  to the Dates.* Your vision got drowned out by the white accredited version of a Black Superhero. (HHHmmmm) Their approval is not necessary for us to be fabulous, amazing, talented, disciplined, successful, & valued.

 The best pple to represent our stories is US! And it is EXCELLENT!

In Order of Mention:

The Schomburg Center: Black Comic Book Festival ( https://www.nypl.org/locations/scho...)

Cosplay at the 5th annual Black Comic Book Festival

John Jennings  (http://jijennin70.tumblr.com/)

EBACC

Yumy Odum: Founder/ Ceo Of EBACC (East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention, Inc)

MECCAcon

Maiya Crown Williams; CEO, Founder, Organizer of MECCAcon: (photo from www.sugarcayne.com)

Nosa Igbinedion ( https://www.nosa-filmmaker.com)

Sidney Poitier /  Bahamian Actor, film director, author and diplomat.

Harry Belafonte

Ruby Dee & Ossie Davis (Power Couple) 

Ivan Dixon

Brock Peters

The Museum of Uncut Funk / Pamela Thomas

HCIC Pam Thomas, with actress of Blaxploitation films, Pam Grier.

For a full article review with pics on the Funky Turns 40 exhibit http://www.a-r-t.com/funky/

Premier of FunkyTurns 40 at the schomburg; 2014

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Other Independent African Diaspora Creators Links:

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Banned Cartoons: What images of the African Diaspora ( & references to our culture) used to look like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNr...

OYA: Rise of the Orishas (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMb...)

The Rise of Sango and tthe Lagos Comic Con https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duV...

Michael Rima (Visual Effects artist):

Hardware and Static by N. Steven Harris for MECCACon 2017.

Saturday, September 16, 2017

Detroit Public Library

5201 Woodward Avenue

Detroit, MI 48202

Save the date.