Khem Fest 2019 Celebrates the Heroes of Color.

Blerd-Hop was born on Heritage Hip-Hop after we went to our first Khem Fest 5 years ago. We saw the fusion of Hip-Hop and comics forming due to the rise of anime and comic book references returning back to the genre in high details. Within beats and punch lines people have referred back to the days of Spider-Man, Batman and other superheroes. Naseed Gifted bought the Khem Fest to the people that loved Comic books but wanted to see more than Caucasian superheroes in the world but to see more people of color in the genre as well. Now we see that there are many that feel the same way and they showed up and showed out at the 2019 Khem Fest.

This year the venue was in the Hahne Co. building in Newark, NJ and the fans were greeted by tables full of people that are creators of their own specific brands. There was a table for heroes that come from Africa, web series of superheroes based on people of color. There were heroes of East Indian descent, Puerto Rican decent, and books based on not only Science Fiction but on revolutionaries like The Black Panther Party, and also Hip-Hop characters. People who are deep thinkers and that are woke could also find heroes based on Khemetic foundations of thought to challenge the status quo of what is "traditional" when it comes to the make up of the motivation and background of what a hero is.

As a comic book fan I feel that the mainstream comic book companies have done a horrible job at creating good stories that teach and entertain the reader. The stories are recycled and independent companies are keeping the genre alive. Khem Fest gives people a chance to experience more than just the "norm" of characters and stories. With Luke Cage and Black Lightening being great hits on Netflix and CW11 the mind has opened to a lot of people on where can they find more heroes that represent them in the field of comics and literature. Khem Fest has helped to expose this by not only bringing books to the people but helping to expose People of Color that write books, create animated series and web series to the masses to be seen and heard.

Where many Comic Cons fail, Khem Fest succeed because they fused the genres with music to aid in the atmosphere. Live performances by Lyle Omolayo, Queen Legend Gail Campbell, Tha Gata Negrra, and The Ronin of Rap helped to aid in the culture of bridging music and comics together to solidify that Hip-Hop culture is not only music, but the expression of talent God has given you and how you sew those seeds back into your people and the community you share your gift with. In 2020 Khem Fest will be back and we invite you to come be apart of it. Not only that take the time to look for more outlets that produce heroes that reflect your face, and values in all media to learn and teach the generations that come after you about their importance and gifts they bring to not only comics but to life as a whole. We are our best heroes and now the world is watching and taking notice.

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#MARVELCOMICS #INDEPENDENTCOMICS #COMICBOOKS #ANIME #WEBSERIES

R.I.P. To the Father of The Modern Age Super Hero.

November 12th 2018 Stan Lee passed away and the throne king icon of the superhero genre has been left vacant. There are many kings that have come from the comic book world and Dwayne McDuffie is one of the ones I personally love. Yet, This article is for the man that gave many of us in the world the hero that embodies not only power but what we are defined by, and that is our humanity.

Racism, sexism, self-doubt, being a nerd, social awkwardness and the defining of family all came into comics from the mind of Stan Lee. The Fantastic Four are the first family in comics and through their change in acquiring powers we see a family grow together and save the world while dealing with how life changes around them. In Spider-Man we see the epic teenaged loser grow to become a man and pays off the debt to his late uncle to saving the world "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility". To many of us that see the racism and prejudice in the world the X-Men are the representation of how the world may see people that are different and wants to condemn them.

Stan Lee used the 1960s revolution of human and civil rights to create the X-Men and as he saw the world change he showed us how the world creates it's heroes and how the humans react to a world that fears them. The X-Men's Charles Xavier and Magneto are based on Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X respectfully as they lead to schools of thought in our world so they lead 2 ideals in the comic book world. Stan Lee was bigger than Marvel Comics though as he made heroes for DC Comics as well.

Stan Lee made a female flash, A luchador Batman, and other reimaginations of DC heroes through his school of thought, "Heroes are people with flaws too." His ability to create humanity in the scope of being a hero and how the human character reacts to tragedy and failure is what made Marvel Comic heroes some of the best ever created in the Modern Age of comic books. The Marvel Cinematic Universe benefits from this style of writing as we see people of all ages connecting to the humanity of the heroes on the screen and not just to see the powers that are displayed on the screen.

We have all lost a great contributor to our entertainment and journalistic lives. Stan Lee's cameos will be missed in the Marvel Movies and to everyone that ever met Stan Lee at a comic con you have taken away a small gift of what made the world appreciation him so much. You took away his genuine love for us as we all enjoyed his work as it came to life in our imaginations and in front of our very eyes.

Rest In Peace Stan Lee, and rest knowing we will continue to read and share your work with generations to come and appreciate all you have given us. "Excelsior"

#RIP #StanLee #MarvelEntertainment #MarvelComics #Excelsior #comicbook #comicbooklegend #comicbooks #comics #Spiderman #Xmen #Hulk #thefantasticfour #Daredevil #Captainamerica #DrStrange #Thor #Avengers #Antman #marvelcinematicuniverse #Marvelmovies #Disney #Marveldisney #Disneymarvels

Marvel Comic Tribute: https://www.marvel.com/remembering_stan_lee

DC Comics Tribute: https://www.dccomics.com/blog/2018/11/12/dc-remembers-stan-lee-1922-2018

Stan Lee Tribute - All Of His Marvel Universe Cameos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61moFSk9YvI

Statement Award given to The Cast of Marvel's Black Panther

As a comic book fan, I was happy to see another "Black" super hero movie get made. Let's not forget Wesley Snipe's Blade is the beginning of all these Marvel Comic movies for all us real fans. But when Marvel Studios was established and Ryan Coogler was given the task to create Black Panther, historic presidents were set in motion not only for The Hip-Hop community but society in general. This movie set records for domestic and international total gross income and showed the world that people of color will represent for a product that represents them on the big screen.

Personally to hear children get so happy to see a hero that looked like them did so much for the emotional and psychological development of the young children in the inner city that new forms or pride were shown when children went to school with Black Panther bookbags and sneakers on.

We may have the discussions on the effect this movie will have down the line in the future and one of those questions may be how will this effect the rest of the comic book community with people of color producing more comics outside of Marvel and DC comics? There is so much this movie has done for opening the world of possibilities to casual readers, comic book fans and the people looking for a message of hope.

Michael B Jordan's Killmonger character and Chadwick Boseman's King T'Challa were dichotomies of thought that touched each other in so many contexts of what family, patriotism, and nationalism truly is. The female characters in this movie were excellent as they were not sexualized and were strong feminine warriors and not docile slaves to their country or culture. I saw a video were a young man saw this movie and said "So this is how you feel? Speaking to the mainstream Caucasian community in regards to walking out of movies seeing Batman, and Spiderman, never getting to fully relate to the pride of self in seeing a reflection of something close to himself on the big screen.

Before a sequel in made and we lose this opportunity, this award is given to Marvel the staff, characters and the fans around the world that made this event possible. Let's just support our fellow comic book creators and go beyond black panther to give our children and ourselves the message of pride we felt in seeing a "Black" superhero on the screen.

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