Mimi the Nerd, Adobe Stock - Vjom
everyone would support each other and it would
be full of rainbows and fairy dust. However, we
still have a long way to go to be fully accepted in
this space. Even though it’s 2020, there’s always a
black cosplayer getting abused by a racist online
and it does need to stop.
Any online personality knows there will always
be negative comments and internet trolls who are
not fans of their work. This is something I am all
too familiar with. I have the support of my fans
and followers, which I am grateful for, but I’m also
exposed to nasty comments that include racist or
ignorant thoughts. One comment that comes up
a lot is when some people say I cannot cosplay
a certain character because the character is not
black. This is pure ignorance. Any cosplay is a
person’s take on a character, not an exact mirror
image of the character. How someone wants to
represent a character is completely up to them.
Creating cosplays is something that helps me
keep my mind off things and a way I cope with
my mental health. I will not let these comments
get in the way of me continuing to be active in
the cosplay community and I will forever use my
platform to use my voice. These trolls cannot stop
me, and you shouldn’t let them stop you either.
These are people hiding behind their computer
screens. They’re most likely jealous.
My journey as a cosplayer has been quite
a rollercoaster, to be honest. I wasn’t always
confident, and I wasn’t always vocal. But the more
I knew I wanted cosplay to be more than just a
hobby, the more I grew confidence. The more
characters I did, the happier it made me, and I
would always look forward to whatever I came up
with next. It also helped cosplaying quite strong
characters that I admire, because they ooze
confidence.
THE YEAR OF COVID AND BLM
Covid-19 has caused 2020 comic conventions to
be canceled, and cosplayers have been dealing
with it in their own ways. Some are using this
time to make bigger and better costumes so
they can be ready for the next convention. Some
are doing virtual conventions featuring special
cosplayer guests, which is a super cool idea.
Others, me included, are using this time to create
as much content as they can for their socials.
The recent events taking
place and the Black Lives
Matter movement are not new,
but they have sparked conversations
on social media now more than ever. There
has been an influx of support for black
creatives and we’re starting to get more
recognition because of hashtags like #blerd
and #28daysofblackcosplay, and challenges
such as #amplifymelanatedvoices, founded by
mental health therapist Alishia McCullough and
activist Jessica Wilson, which invited users to
spend a week promoting work by black creators
rather than their own. The intention was to show
solidarity and amplify black voices because black
creatives are often overlooked in comparison to
those who are white or white passing. When it
comes to allies in the cosplay community, I feel
like a lot of non-black people are still very quiet
on these issues and don’t really fight with us
when things happen, which is a shame because
you’d think as a community, we are one. I have
hope that things will change for the better, but
like I mentioned, there’s still a long way to go.
Lastly, my most important tip is to just go for it,
have fun! It’s so important to not take yourself too
seriously when cosplaying because that’s when
you’ll be too in your head and stress out. The
definition of cosplay is literally “costume play”
so play around, have fun, and don’t stress. At the
end of the day, do what makes you happy and
forget what anyone negative has to say because
they don’t matter.
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