Are you a black nerd? Then you might want to check out the Blerd City Con

Are you a black nerd? Then you might want to check out the Blerd City Con.

What is that you ask?

Simply put it's a 3 day geek out for black people who like science fiction, horror, and fantasy.

“I want the audience to experience Horror, Science Fiction, and Fantasy by the talents of leading writers as well as filmmakers, coders and creators of the African Diaspora who are serving the community of black and Nerdy,” said founder Clairesa Clay.

The 3-day conference takes place July 13 - 15, 2018 celebrating the fantastic nerdiness in you! Through panels & workshops of Art, Science, Film, Comic Books, & Technology in Brooklyn, New York making you truly feel like a Blerd!

Blerd City is a conference dedicated to showcasing the multidimensional complexity of black nerdiness through all spectrums of creativity, invention, and innovation and this is its second year in action. You can expect panels, workshops, film screenings, Afrofuturism, special guests, and presentations. In addition, there will be a marketplace for gaming and comic books open to all ages.

The conference will take place at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, New York.

For more information click here: https://www.blerdcityconference.com/

Wesley Snipes new book: TALON OF GOD A Novel about the Battle to Prevent Hell on Earth

The acclaimed actor makes his fiction debut with this enthralling urban fantasy in which a holy warrior must convince a doctor with no faith to help stop a powerful demon and his minions from succeeding in creating hell on earth—a thrilling adventure of science and faith, good and evil, damnation and salvation.

Imagine that everyone you have ever known or loved was forced against their will into a state of demonic possession and spiritual slavery. Imagine an unholy cabal of the world’s richest and most powerful men directing this sinister plan in order to cement their unbridled control of the planet.

Imagine two heroes emerging from that darkness to do battle with the forces of evil.

Set in the mean streets of Chicago, Talon of God is the action-packed adventure centered around the Lauryn Jefferson, a beautiful young doctor who is dragged into a seemingly impossible battle against the invisible forces of Satan’s army and their human agents that are bent on enslaving humanity in a mission to establish the kingdom of hell on Earth.

But Lauryn is a skeptic, and it’s only as she sees a diabolical drug sweep her city and begins to train in the ways of a spirit warrior by the legendary man of God, Talon Hunter, that she discovers her true nature and inner strength. Facing dangerous trials and tests, it’s a true baptism by fire. And if they fail, millions could die. And rivers of blood would flow throughout the land.

Imagine such horror. Such pain. And imagine what it would take to fight against it. For only the strongest and most faithful will survive?

Get ready. Armageddon approaches quickly.

KINDLE---- PAPERBACK----- HARDCOVER

Star Trek: Discovery casts Sonequa Martin-Green as lead

Sonequa Martin-Green, well known to genre fans for her role on AMC’s mega-hit The Walking Dead, has been cast as the lead of Star Trek: Discovery, sources tell EW.

The casting ends meticulous search to find the ideal actress to anchor the eagerly anticipated new CBS All Access drama. Martin-Green will play a lieutenant commander on the Discovery. (CBS Television Studios had no comment.)

Martin-Green is will continue to serve as a series regular on AMC’s zombie drama, where she has played the tough pragmatic survivor Sasha Williams since season 3.

[SOURCE]

Donald Glover cast as young Lando Calrissian

Lucasfilm announced today that Donald Glover, an acclaimed actor, award-winning writer, and Grammy-nominated artist, will be playing the part of Lando Calrissian in the still-untitled Han Solo Star Wars film, helmed by directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Glover will join Alden Ehrenreich — previously cast as Han Solo — in bringing two iconic Star Wars characters back to the big screen, but at a time in their lives previously unexplored. This new film depicts Lando in his formative years as a scoundrel on the rise in the galaxy’s underworld — years before the events involving Han, Leia, and Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back and his rise to Rebel hero in Return of the Jedi.

“We’re so lucky to have an artist as talented as Donald join us,” said Lord and Miller. “These are big shoes to fill, and an even bigger cape, and this one fits him perfectly, which will save us money on alterations. Also, we’d like to publicly apologize to Donald for ruining Comic-Con for him forever.”

Glover is best known for creating and starring in the critically acclaimed FX series Atlanta (which had the highest premiere numbers for any basic cable comedy show since 2013), as well as for starring in four seasons of the show Community, and for his Grammy-nominated album Because the Internet, performed under the name Childish Gambino. In addition, Glover appeared in the Academy Award-nominated The Martian, and will be seen in the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming.

The untitled Han Solo movie is set for release in 2018.

[SOURCE]

University professors uncover new sci fi story by W.E.B. Du Bois

If you’re an avid reader of science fiction by big name authors like Ben Bova, Robert Heinlein, and Ursula Le Guin, you may have heard that the earliest African-American writer in the genre is Samuel Delaney. He was an early one who has definitely made a big contribution to the genre. However, there was one who predated him by several decades. Because he was more known for his non-fiction on race issues of his time, most people would not think W.E.B. Du Bois wrote science fiction among other fiction genres. Scholars have already known about W.E.B. Du Bois’ science fiction that often served as social criticism especially in light of technology. One of these stories is “The Comet”. But two university professors opened a Du Bois scholar’s version of a “Christmas gift” earlier this year but news media started reporting on it only since the beginning of the month. The “gift”: a short story by Du Bois entitled “The Princess Steel” that may be his earliest science fiction work to date.

Britt Rusert, professor of African-American literature at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Adrienne Brown who is a University of Chicago professor discovered Du Bois’ “The Princess Steel” in an archives box packed with short fiction of various genres, including science fiction, states a Slate.com article. According to “io9”’s Charlie Jane Anders, the story was originally titled “The Megascope: A Tale of Tales”. Rusert and Brown “have dated [it] to 1908 and 1910—much earlier than any of Du Bois’ other speculative fiction,” explains Slate.com.

According to Slate, the story involves a black sociologist who looks into the past with a device called a “megascope”. Through the megascope, he sees a mythic society where an African princess, called the Princess Steel, is imprisoned by an imperial character known as “The Lord of the Golden Way”. He steals the princess’s silver hair that he discovers to be made of steel and uses it to establish a global-wide mill industry. Slate says the story is an important link in Afrofuturism, a social criticism movement against racism and poverty that often uses science fiction by black storytellers as a tool to teach about these issues.

[SOURCE]

Forest Whitaker May Be Joining The Star Wars Universe

Looks like Lando Calrissian won't be the only black man in the Star Wars universe. Variety reports that Forest Whitaker is in negotiations to join the first Star Wars anthology picture, Rogue One. Chances are that since he has won an Oscar his character probably wont die first and should be in the movie for more than thirty minutes.

Lando Calrissian getting his own limited run comic book!

The smooth-talking scoundrel strikes back! Marvel and Lucasfilm announced today that Lando Calrissian — puffer pig collector, Cloud City administrator, and Rebel hero — will star in his own limited series. Lando #1, from creators Charles Soule (Death of Wolverine, Inhuman, She-Hulk) and Alex Maleev (Daredevil, Spider-Woman, Moon Knight), hits stores in July, and finds Lando embarking on his greatest caper ever.

In Marvel’s Lando, developed closely with Lucasfilm, the titular character — in the days before he became a hero, but still with Lobot at his side — looks to steal one of the galaxy’s most valuable ships. But, as usual, he may be in over his head.

Read more: LANDO #1 COMING IN JULY FROM MARVEL – EXCLUSIVE!

Hey, black people like scifi and comics too, they just don't play dress up...LOL.

Now there's a supposed list of things black people don't do. You know like swimming, vote republican, or watch Fox News. Okay that last one may be true but the others are grand generalizations.

Another generalization I hear because I'm a writer of science fiction and horror is that black people don't like science fiction. I also hear that it's a waste of time marketing such books to them. I would like to state that is categorically false. Just as many African Americans are fans of science fiction as any other group. Yeah we don't show it or talk about it as much but that's because many want to avoid ridicule from our own at times.

Telling other black people you like science fiction is like saying that you are a republican. ( okay maybe not that bad ). All black sci-fi fans have been minding their own business watching a TV show or reading a book and had someone asking what weird sh*t are they reading / watching now? Now normally this comes from people who watch reality TV and think that sh*t is real.

To avoid that reaction many people just keep their love of science fiction it to themselves. It's get tiresome answering the question, "Why are you wasting that time on that made up stuff? Explaining to people that the other stuff on TV is made up too normally falls on deaf ears especially to anyone who thinks Basketball Wives is engaging television.

For the record just as many black people love Star Wars ( not anything featuring Jar Jar Binks though ), Star Trek, Battlestar Galatica, etc. Now you may not see as many of us going to conventions in weird outfits or anything like that but trust me we love the weird sh*t just as much as anyone else.

So there's that's another generalization laid to rest. Live long and prosper!

George Cook AAReports.com