San Diego, New York, even Emerald City and the numerous Wizard World shows … sure, Black people show up (and sometimes in a major way), but why aren't there any conventions aimed at us? Oh … right, there's Onyxcon!
On August 19-20, Atlanta will host Onyxcon, a two- day convention that celebrates the contributions and presence of the African Diaspora in popular arts culture.
In its third year, Onyxcon will include digital art workshops, an art show, panel discussions with acclaimed novelists Tananarive Due (Blood Colony) and Steven Barnes (Shadow Valley), door contests, performances and a variety of professional creators.
"ATL needed ONYXCON and I needed ONYXCON!" Convention Organizer/Founder Joseph Wheeler the 3rd exclaims. "There is such a boom in the 'Black Age of Comics' movement, including artists with diverse, culturally innovative concepts."
In a time where there seems to be a convention for every aspect of popular culture, Wheeler explains what separates Onyxcon from other conventions.
"A festive energy blended with refined professionalism in the popular arts, poured over a bed of 'edutainment' — we educate and entertain," Wheeler promises.
One of the things we're most excited about is the premiere of The Urban Shogun Character Guide by James "Mase" Mason. It outlines characters from the surprisingly intricate video game and comic book in the style of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, providing both story and plot summaries with definitive power rankings.
Likewise, Milton Davis and Charles R. Saunders are dropping 14 stories worth of fantastic storytelling in Griots: A Sword & Soul Anthology, described as "a collection of prose and art full of action and emotion based on the traditions, culture, mythology and history of Africa."
Oh, nobody forgot about you East Coast Black Age of Comics Con, we just needed to hype up our A-town kindred. There's options (at least east of the Mississippi) for Black people to have their own conventions.
[Source: Black Sci-Fi.com]
Happy to do what we can — please keep us updated on what you have going on!
Onyx Con was fantastic. Griots did well, as did Shange, a sword and soul graphic novel by Kris Mosby based on my story Walaji Damu (The Blood Eaters). Thanks for the shout out.