“…I was walking around posing in my Dark Knight when I happened upon a little (POC) boy in a black and yellow batman costume. He couldnt have been more than 5 or 6. WIth him was his mother. This little boy saw me approaching and immediately stopped dead in his tracks, tugging at his mother’s hand. I could see him point at his hand (the skin) and then pointing to me. I approached and he was a little intimdated at first as any little kid is when meeting a lifesized armored character. I knelt down and reached out my hand for a high five.
With all the force he could muster he slapped my hand, with the biggest smile on his face. He told me he wanted to ask me something so, still kneeling I leaned in with my ear. “Batman” he said timidly “You’re brown, just like me! Does that mean that I can be a real superhero someday too? I don’t see a lot of brown superheros…” If you know me, you know that I dont ever break character but I broke down when he said that. His words touched the deepest part of my soul. I then ignored my #1 batman rule and removed my cowl so he could see my face.
His face lit up and I teared up even more. I looked this kid dead in the eye and said “you can be any superhero you want to be and dont ever let anyone tell you different. Being a brown superhero is a very special thing and I know you’re going to make a great one…"
“Hi there. Your blog inspired me to step out of my comfort zone with cosplay. So this year for ACCC (October 26-28), I went all out and everyone there loved it!” – xbox911
Sailor Melanin was actually born from an Instagram post on my personal account. I decided to wear two puffs in my hair to work, some glittery makeup and wood moon earrings. I took a picture and captioned it “Sailor Melanin”. My friend was like, “ooh. That would be a cute cosplay!” I agreed, but didn’t think about it until I was in Joanns and walked past some kente fabric.
I bought a body suit from capezios and made the skirt and collar from fabric I bought from Joanns. I actually struggled a bit because I tried to use a pattern I bought…and it was waaaaaay undersized. Numbers lie.
I was super surprised by the response at the con. It went over way better than I thought. I had never been stopped for so many pictures! People told me they were inspired by me, and I was shocked. I inspire people? That was a crazy thought to me. I just thought it would be great to present the idea that there are black girls who grow up with magical girl dreams too.
I met my best friends through cosplay. I am relaxed and most at peace when sewing a cosplay. Cosplay brings my family together. I found confidence I didn’t know I had, pride that was dormant and a way to physically advocate the things that matter to me.
I don’t care who you are, cosplay is for everybody and EVERY BODY. Never do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable just to meet a standard. Cosplay the characters you love because you love them:)
Smile It Won't Suck Forever 