Seattle already has a comic con, an annual event known for all things nerdy. But a Seattle nonprofit that puts on programming for the Black community wants to expand what it means to be a nerd.
The nonprofit Langston is hosting the second annual Seattle Black Nerd Festival this weekend. The three-day event kicked off Friday at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute in the city’s Central District.
Jas Moultrie, the nonprofit’s development and programs manager and one of the festival’s organizers, considers herself a "Blerd," or Black nerd. But that hasn’t always been easy for her to admit. In middle school, she was picked as first chair for the school’s band — the top trombone player.
“I remember feeling apprehensive about letting folks know that I was a trombone player,” Moultrie said. “And I was first chair. And I enjoyed it.”
Moultrie thinks her family would have been supportive, but she was nervous about her friends' reactions.
“I didn't want to lose my in, my belonging, my affiliation,” she said. “And it's like, where did we get those prescriptions from? Who told us we had to choose?”
As a young person, Moultrie loved to read and earned good grades. But she felt like she had to choose between being cool and being herself. She eventually dropped band to play basketball.
Moultrie felt like she was always hiding part of herself, “having to separate myself or choose which parts of me get to show up.”
“It has been an honor and a pleasure to hold space for us to no longer have to do that,” she said, referring to her role organizing the Black nerd fest.
Moultrie does not think she is alone in that experience. She said the Black Nerd Fest and others like it are helping other Black people to break that tug and pull of identities.
“There is an enthusiastic joy that I am experiencing at every single one of these, and that is a solution,” Moultrie said. “Feeling good. Feeling joyful. Feeling at home with people who've had similar experiences as you — who hold the same stories as you, all getting to release and celebrate and learn and communicate together.”
This year’s event features panels with Black creatives, gaming competitions, karaoke and “nerdlesque,” or burlesque that features Black cosplayers. It will also screen the film “I Love Boosters” followed by a discussion with the filmmaker Boots Riley.
The festival is growing. Last year, around 500 people attended the two-day event. Organizers now expect around 2,000 people.
Zari Warden, who helps market the festival, said the event goes beyond a typical comic con. It will include conversations about the outdoors, and how to research and tell stories about Black history.
“We're just adding more to the story of what nerdom and what Black nerdom can be,” Warden said. “I think if you are Black and love something, and have an interest and want to dive into it and explore it, you are a Black nerd."
Since putting on this festival, Moultrie said her own definition of what this means has evolved. The event made her realize that Black nerds are “deeply passionate people.”
“It is incredible, the range of us," Moultrie said. "And that is what we are setting out to do, is just to make space for the range of us."
Moultrie cosplays as a dragon because she likes that they are mythical and powerful creatures. “Dragon Jas” is her alter-ego. When she is in cosplay, Moultrie said she feels comfortable being herself.
“It's just, again, this idea of regarding myself as being incredibly powerful and also giving myself the audacity to be the artist I am and the cultural worker I am,” she said. “It's an empowering way of navigating life.”
Everyone is encouraged to dress up for the festival. Moultrie hopes attendees have that same feeling she gets when she puts on her dragon wings.
