This weekend, the people at Star Wars Celebration were kind enough to have given Brothascomics a media badge to cover their event in Orlando. Straight up, I never really knew how big a deal Celebration is/was. I had watched some of the coverage on-line a few times, but never really fully grasped how BIG it is. And its a huge deal! There were Star Wars fans from all across the world in Orlando this past weekend!
But it did give me pause as I walked around the Orange County Convention- and my pause thought was in this sea of Star Wars fandom: Star Wars clearly was not made for Black folks( and people of color). I know someone read this and was like, "No shit, Sherlock!" But let me finish. See as I made my way from booth to booth and from panel to panel and exhibit to exhibit, I was just overly amazed by the amount of white faces and the lack of POC faces. It was startling! The fact that this movie franchise- which just turned 40 years old, could still invoke the passion and emotion it does with white fandom is amazing. But it also points out dramatically how people of color have been left out of the narrative. Yeah, we got Lando, Mace, and Finn, but what of the Black women of Star Wars? There are none, really. Until Rogue One, Latin and Asian faces were also minimal or missing from this story and that is sad!
Now this does not take away from my enjoyment of the movies. I love Star Wars with all my heart and will continue to do so. I just wish Star Wars loved me ( and people who look like me) back. And this does not mean, Black folks and people of color don't love Star Wars. They DO and we all represented at Celebration!
So this post is a Celebration of #BlackStarWarsFans! Please read and share this and post your Star Wars pictures using the #WeHere!
The Producer
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