Nerd Power: A diverse geek universe makes progress at New York Comic Con

At this, point, a considerable amount of time has passed since the end of New York Comic Con '16, and I've still got the con jitters. It's a peculiar type of energy to be sure, especially considering the fact that a Sunday during a convention of this magnitude usually means most folks are ready to call it a night.

I've certainly experienced that same feeling when the Tribbles made the trek up to NYCC a few years back. This kind of event offers everything a nerd can possibly do . . . all at once, and if not prepared, it can be a bit overwhelming. The major comic book publishers are out in force, and Artist's Alley is abundant with ripe, new material. Cosplayers flex their creative muscles and strike character poses for crowds of cellphones and cameras, gamers wait hours in line to demo those new releases before they hit the market, and the full spectrum of pop culture celebrities can be found signing autographs behind curtained dividers. A surging crowd of more than 180,000 people got their geek on this past weekend, but the real revolution was happening in the panel rooms on the ground level of the Javits Center.

In the wake of Netflix's victorious series Luke Cage, the decades-long cry for more diverse representation in and outside of the industry continues to ring out louder than ever. Under the "Diversity" category, this year's NYCC featured thirty-eight separate panels split into four subcategories: Disability, LGBTQIA, People of Color, and Women. The latter two had the larger number of panels with fourteen a piece, while the former had four and six panels respectively. There is a clear and decisive call for a more accurate representation of the robust demographics within both the consumer and professional realms of geekdom. These panels made it plain to see that it is no longer acceptable to have teams of writers that don't include any other ethnicities, women, or any members of the LGBTQ communities. While Zendaya being cast as Mary Jane in the upcoming Spider-Man film is as great to see as a woman taking on the mantle of Thor, it has been made clear by fans and professionals alike that there is an endless source of new, innovative, and exquisitely crafted material to draw from.

To many of us, this demand for responsible representation is old news. What was most striking about this year's selection of panels, was the focus of intersectionality within the aforementioned marginalized communities. There was a common thread of self-determination in these panels as well - a sense of ownership that was and is strong enough to be classified as a movement. As consumers, fans are demanding more from the major publishers and studio executives. The "pipeline problem," which is the notion that diversity doesn't exist within a field of expertise due to a lack of qualified professionals, is somehow still rampant within the comic book industry. But with panels entitled Afropunks & Blerds: The Black Nerd Renaissance, Super Asian America, Black Heroes Matter, Queer Enough?, and Crazy Talk: Mental Health, Pop Culture and Empowerment, the geek community, in all its shapes, shades, and sizes, is ready for progress.

So what now? Now that these various and complex groups of people have asserted themselves and are no longer accepting the same cookie-cutter stories that the industry has been force-feeding them, how do we proceed? We can see that the misrepresented communities have done their parts by creating everything from content to entire companies so their voices can be depicted more accurately. Part of the overwhelming success of Luke Cage is due to the broad and intricate manner in which the Black American experience is portrayed, evenly (and flawlessly) covering the many nuances of Blackness that are rarely, if ever, seen in the media. So, now that it's been shown that these rich communities are resilient and insistent in their artistic presence, the onus of change rests solely on the shoulders of the gatekeepers. These studio executives and these editors-in-chief with their archaic perceptions must reevaluate and re-structure how they conduct their business. Because at the end of the day, it is a business ultimately fueled by the dollars of fans.These same fans can stop buying Captain America, even if Sam Wilson is carrying the shield, and choose to stock up on issues of AJALA, Matty's Rocket, Blackjack, or Solarman instead. Cooperative economics can be a powerful tool when combating preconceived notions of who buys what and why. Inclusion truly has the power to change not only how the geek community perceives itself, but also how those who capitalize upon our art and culture view us as well. If the strength and solidarity that was displayed this weekend is any indication, this revolution will go on, whether someone has the sense to televise it or not.