Hey everyone! We’re really excited about Anime Milwaukee! Here’s my cosplay line up, my table location, and some of the stuff that my wifey and I will have available over the weekend. Hug Me Heroes, woodburned work, books, and new cosplay! This is our first con in our convention line up for the year <3
Also, I’m going to be taking pictures and sharing them on the #28DaysOfBlackCosplay hashtag everywhere I can!
Hope to see you there!
So I was listening to the Black Girl Nerds podcast last night, and they had PNW Fattitude as guests. The podcast was amazing to listen to as they covered plus sized cosplay and were all very encouraging. One thing that stuck out to me was the message of “making your cosplay your own.”
A lot of times, plus sized cosplayers think they can’t do certain characters because of their weight. I’m guilty of this. I’m guilty of having this voice in my head that tells me, “No, Bri, you can’t.” As confident as I am, I still have the voice of the fat, weird, black girl who was told that she was strange for being a geek. She’s still there, you know?
But the ladies on the podcast had this awesome message on how, essentially, you should cosplay how you want to cosplay, and do characters the way you want to do them.
Make the cosplay your own.
And it’s something that I tell myself when that voice pops up in my head. When I have that moment of insecurity, I quietly tell myself that it’ll be fine, that I’m having fun, that this is my take on a character and I’m going to rock it.
So here’s some examples of me doing just that :) I started to sketch designs for characters I wanted to do, and my wifey would bring them to life. This is in order of oldest (my Green Hill Zone dress) to newest (my Mario dress).
And remember, always remember, that to love your cosplay is to love yourself :)
New cosplay done!!!
So I sketched an idea for a Mario dress and the wifey brought it to life. I’m so excited with how it came out <3
I got a phone call from my mom saying how proud she is to see #28DaysOfBlackCosplay getting so much positive attention, and I dunno, there’s something about that that just feels really amazing.
My mom’s old enough to have been around when things were really dismal when it came to rights for black people (she’s 61 and damn proud of it), and it’s always kind of hard talking about things like racism. We have made progress, but there’s still so much work to do, and I can hear the tiredness in her voice because… they fought back then so we wouldn’t have to go through it today, and I feel like… when I call her up about it, there’s this moment of, “This isn’t what I wanted for you.” I can tell how upset she is when I tell her stories about racist comments that I hear, or others who I know hear them, even in the realm of something like cosplay, which we always say is supposed to be for everyone, something that’s supposed to be fun.
So when my phone rings and she’s like, “I’m so proud of all of you,” I feel like we’re making a difference, and that’s what this movement is all about.
Thank you for all of the support, everyone <3 Here’s a few pictures of me and my biggest fan, my mama, in cosplay! She’s only tried it once, lol, but I think she really enjoyed it :)
There is a high trending post created called #28daysofblackcosplay in honor of Black History Month. Which I believe is an extremely good idea because just like the real world, the cosplay community itself do holds discrimination. Which is very unsettling because when you think of the community it’s supposed to bring us together as whole. Things we all have in common and what we have a passion for. Conventions that bring us closer together and share.
I never understood why some people bring racism into the community. Or don’t want to acknowledge us because of the color of our skin. Or be told we couldn’t do such a Cosplay because our skin color isn’t right. Things like that should NOT be brought into it. Just as how people throw in one’s size. As aerith I’ve been around cons or see my picture float around say it’s creepy, or “hey look, a black aerith”. They just don’t understand. We’ll continue to teach community and the world.
Its great to know that there is appreciation going around about it. Because we want to be treated as equals and respected. Always remember, continue to do you and NEVER ever be discouraged about who you want to be. If you love it and have fun doing it then let it always be about that and never worry about what anyone else thinks. And that goes for everyone.
It doesn’t matter your size, or color. In the end we’re all the same. Love and respect one another.
No giving up ♡
Reblogging for commentary and for this amazing Aerith cosplay. Just beautiful, the words and the person behind them <3
.Righto, Rant Time from the mouth of Chaos! Whoooo! If I lose followers for this, you know what, it’s their loss.
Okay, so earlier I decided to check my Facebook and came across a post from Brichibi (seriously, she’s absolutely wonderful and an awesome cosplayer, plus she and her wife’s artwork and crafts are absolutely adorable, seriously, go follow her. She’s so positive and uplifting that it will brighten your day) and I was so proud! She’s featuring black cosplayers this month (as is Cosplay in America, if you follow Ejen on here or on Facebook) and I just had to check it out. The cosplayers were WONDERFUL. But of course, anytime you mention something about featuring black cosplayers, or black people celebrating black people together especially during Black History Month, there’s always at least one person who starts talking about “If I featured all white cosplayers, there would be riots” or the ever popular “what about white history month”.
Newsflash, every month is white history month. Not to mention, a majority of cosplayers in the US are white. So, that point is totally moot. And I would suggest you actually taking a look at this month and see that it’s BLACK HISTORY MONTH here in the states. So celebrating black cosplayers is a WONDERFUL idea and gives black people the chance to see cosplayers of their skin colors.
Do you know how hard it is to cosplay as a black person? I’ve gotten told SO MANY TIMES that I can’t cosplay Harley Quinn. All because I’m fatter than Harley is and because I’m not white. I’ve seen people call Sailor Moon black cosplayers, to their face at cons, nigger moon. So many people have decided that shaming and making fun of black cosplayers is the best thing in the world. That it’s funny and completely worth it to tell a black cosplayer how much the dislike the fact that they cosplayed such and such. That they fucked up the character by cosplaying them not perfectly. Although, even when there is a damn good cosplayer, that the default insult goes back to “well, such and such isn’t black. You would do better having done Afro Samurai or insert other dark skinned anime character”.
And things get even worse when you mention Black History Month. The default, go excuse on why someone is complaining about February is that “if there was a white history month, people would say it’s racist”. Seriously? That’s the complaint? Really? Every fucking month is white history month. We get one month out of the year to call our own, that we can openly say “this black person contributed this, this, and this and we’re so proud of them for furthering our community and world”, without dealing with the stupidity of people yelling about “black people are a part of this world and should act like it, so why should they get a month about black history”. Madame CJ Walker, George Washington Carver, Martin Luther King… All people who have contributed majorly to society. All people who, at one point or another were faced with obstacles that centered mainly on their race. So are you telling me that we should simply erase the fact that they are black, just so you can feel better about praising them? “Black History is all History” is something I’ve heard on the way towards this month. Well, while Black history is all history, black history is black history first of all. So many people have tried to erase black history from the books of society, and now people are trying to erase it again because they feel that it’s racist to point out the black part of history. It’s not racist to point it out. But it is racist to attempt to homogenize black history because you don’t want to feel guilty about that fact that it was erased, taken over and over all glossed over by oppressors.
I’m proud of Brichibi and cosplayers like her who have defied the amount of people who attempt to discourage black cosplayers. The amount of fucks not given about people making fun of them is wonderful! I will say that if you believe that saying “black cosplayers” is wrong and that they’re simply cosplayers, then you’re missing the point. You’re missing the fact that so many black children, my two boys included, are constantly bombarded with feelings of inferiority and self doubt because of the color of their skin and their heritage. It’s so wonderful to see black cosplayers doing what they love and that’s why I’m all for the 28 Days of Black Cosplayers. It’s showing black people that they can do it.
Brichibi said it best “It’s not segregation, it’s confidence building”. Confidence in our skin being worthy of cosplaying our favorite characters. That the work we put into our cosplays is just the same as the work as others put into their cosplays. It shows our young people that they can dress up like Spiderman, or Batman and be comfortable.
Thank you for all of the love towards me because, I mean, wow, just… thank you :)
Also “28 Days of Black Cosplay” is going to go on all month and featuring all sorts of cosplayers, and I’m proud to be part of this, and am looking forward to sharing and promoting these amazing cosplayers.
I know people don’t like to think of the negative and like to think that such racist comments like “nigger moon” just don’t happen, but they do, and there are so many cosplayers out there who won’t do it because they’re worried about backlash. There have been plenty of people who’ve told me, “This is why I don’t cosplay,” and out of all of the shitty comments I’ve gotten (most recent being fat, retarded baby), those are the most heartbreaking. Everyone should be able to enjoy this, and the fact that people are scared to do this thing that’s supposed to be fun is just sad. This thing that basically boils down to all of us dressing like fictional characters and having fun, seriously, when did this get to the point of calling someone a ghetto sailor scout because of race..?
Anyhow, that’s what this idea is about, to show black cosplayers out there enjoying cosplay for what it is, and hopefully, showing someone that they can join in on this, too. I do the same thing when it comes to plus sized cosplay, showing bigger people that, hey, they can join in on this, too. They can have fun. They can love themselves. It’s o.k. to smile and enjoy who you are. Just because you’re supporting a group doesn’t mean you’re trying to brush aside another group, or saying that one group is better than the other. Like I said before, we all want equality, we really do, but we also need to show people that they’re deserve it.
February 1, 2015
28 Days of Black CosplayDay One: Jay Justice and Tony Ray aka team Ray of Justice
Jay Justice and Tony Ray are cosplayers from the Bronx, NY. Friends and costuming partners since 2011, both are featured today, on the first day of a full month celebrating Black cosplayers in our community. All month long we’ll be sharing different Black cosplayers from all fandoms. If you’d like to join in, please use the tag ‘28 Days of Black Cosplay’ and share Black cosplayers!
Tony Ray has been cosplaying since 2007. During the 8 years of costuming and bringing 30 of his favorite characters to life for fun with friends, Tony has been humbled by the experience of meeting people who have thanked him for inspiring them to cosplay and even to create their own characters to dress up as. Cosplaying to Tony is another way of giving hope to others to see that they too can be whatever character they wish to be.
Jay Justice has been cosplaying since 2010. In the past 5 years she has created over 50 costumes from comic books, video games, films, television and literature, with more costumes soon to come. As a disabled queer woman of color she strives to promote equality, tolerance & awareness among fans & convention goers.
This May marks the first time that Tony Ray and Jay Justice will be official cosplay ambassadors at a major convention. Team Ray of Justice will be appearing at the first ever Atlantic City Boardwalk Convention, in Atlantic City, NJ, from May 14-17. ACBC will host publishers Marvel Comics, Boom Comics, Aspen Studios and Top Cow, as well as celebrity guests Michael Rooker, Manu Bennett, Sean Gunn, and Special Guest of Honor Stan Lee.
ACBC is an ‘All Things Geek’ con like no other, with full accessibility for disabled guests and attendees, costuming classes with Broadway and Hollywood pros ready to help attendees bring their cosplays to the next level, workshops and classes taught by industry leaders, including the “Emerging Creator Program” which will provide artists, writers and programmers with one-on-one time with industry professionals. ACBC will also include a one of a kind, epic cosplay “War-room” that features costume changing areas, costume repair stations, costume creation stations, body paint stations and more.
When ordering tickets to attend this amazing con, be sure to use the promo code ‘JUSTICE10’ to not only save 10% on your passes, but to let the convention know that you support diversity in fandom and cosplayers of color as well. A portion of all proceeds earned by Tony and Jay at ACBC will be donated to the non profit organization Campaign to End AIDS. Thank you all for your continued support! We hope to see you in Atlantic City!
So for the entire month of February, I’m going to be sharing black cosplayers, in honor of Black History Month :)
