LindoYes introducing the Spoken Word concert at the Poetry, Blerds, and Jams Comic Con. (Photo: Pryce Jamison)
From vibrant cosplay to spoken-word performances, discussions on empowering Black artists, and more, PB&J’s Comic-Con was on full display at the Braid Mill on Saturday, September 12.
210 people filled the High Street building from 12-7 p.m., as organizers activated a space that uplifted Black fandom and expression — whether art, sci-fi, fantasy, comics, or poetry.
When speaking on the purpose of the Comic Con, co-organizer Khalisah Hameed said, “It was really supposed to be a space where Black people were able to be free to nerd out and be really whimsical and imaginative without having to feel stigmatized for it.”
Alongside Hameed, Germantown poets LindoYes Jones and Enoch brought the Saturday gathering alive. The event was sponsored by Futurefull Stories and Row House Publishing, under the nonprofit fiscal sponsorship of the WPP Little Readers Big Change Initiative, Inc.
For Hameed, it was only right that the three of them organize this. “We know what it feels like to kind of feel othered in a way because of our interests,” she said.
LindoYes expanded upon the need for this first-ever event. “When you’re a part of your fandom, it can feel isolating, and it can feel even more isolated to be a marginalized person when [you’re] Black,” LindoYes Jones said.
“We need spaces that protect our Black joy within our fandom, within our discovery of sci-fi and fantasy, so I wanted to create that space.”
Local neighbor and attendee AJ Cook felt connected with the event’s purpose. He found it important to bring this community together as “we’re often typecast into one genre of things that we’re supposed to like.”
LindoYes said he wanted to challenge the norm that Comic-Con can only happen in the Downtown/Center City area. “It can happen in the familiar spaces that we know, near rowhomes and corner stores,” he told GIH.
One of the day’s features was an Artist Alley, where vendors could showcase their brands and sell products ranging from artwork and accessories to comics and novels. For organizers, it was intentional to bring Black entrepreneurs to the forefront.
The vendor section of the event, known as the Artist Alley. (Photo: Pryce Jamison)
“You organize the people in the room so we can organize the money to make sure that these creators keep creating,” Jones said.
“So that someone could go from a sketchbook, to an animation, to a movie, to having a whole studio,” he added.
In that same room was a gaming section and a screen for anime showings.
There were also four speaker panels throughout the day, covering marketing artwork, managing artist burnout, and Afrofuturism, as well as a communal storytelling circle that sparked many conversations folks could join.
“I think the panel discussions did exactly what we thought; everybody became an organizer because we’re talking with each other about getting rid of the knowledge gap, [while] talking about mutual aid resources that we use to help ourselves for a better future,” Jones said.
“We’re having these conversations and are creating tangible results,” the poet said.
(From left to right) Marquise Davon, Jaylene Clark Owen, and Enoch during the Managing Burnout panel discussion. (Photo: Pryce Jamison)
The event culminated in a spoken-word concert, featuring artists Michael J. Ivory, Ciara Chantelle, and Eli Capella.
The Comic Con was also a continuation of multiple community events, called the Black Imagination Book Club, that organizers held throughout the year at the Joseph E. Coleman Library, where similar messages of expression were shared with neighbors.
Even before the inaugural event took place, organizers set a date for the second annual Comic Con for September 18, 2027. Organizers are already focused on another cycle of securing resources, donations, and grants to keep PB&J alive and well.
“I’m fundraising to do this even bigger and better. We learned a lot from the [event] and had a lot of success, but we have to organize the money and organize the people,” Jones said.
Hameed also voiced her hopes for the impact of this event, and knows exactly what she wants it to represent.
“This is more than just a Comic-Con; it really is a culture that we’re trying to create within Germantown and extending out into the Greater Philly area; [a culture] of Black imagination and creativity.”
Pryce Jamison is Germantown Info Hub’s community engagement reporter and a Next City Equitable Cities Reporting Fellow. He covers Germantown and Philadelphia, with reporting that includes features, news, solution-focused and community-focused stories.
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