LISTICLE: 10 black cosplayers shaking up the scene
28 Days of Black Cosplay
For more cosplayers of color from thrifty, casual to extravagant veterans check out the trending hashtag on Instagram and Twitter #28DaysofBlackCosplay. The origin of this hashtag is nearly impossible to pinpoint to a single creator, however, members of the online community like Heroes United Online and Chaka Cumberbatch (also known as Princess Mentality Cosplay) did accelerate that trend in early 2015. This trend has more than 16,000 hits on Instagram and thousands more across other social media sites where image-based content is popular.
This year a prompt list started circulating by leaders like Chaka Cumberbatch that encourages a theme every day of Black History Month such as strength, technique and teamwork. This is not necessarily for cosplayers to create daily characters, but instead to encourage the sharing and crediting of the work of fellow cosplayers. This change is a spin on the tradition while still holding the same purpose of promoting a diverse set of cosplayers in a community that often disparages them. Chaka told sheknows that “My goal with this movement is to provide multiple examples for anyone who might be as nervous as I was. I want to empower, inspire and unite this community, one black cosplayer at a time.”
Top 10 black cosplayers
Between this month’s celebration of black cultures, the release of “Black Panther” this past weekend and buzz about the upcoming convention season, The Signal has compiled a group of 10 awe-inspiring African-American Cosplayers.
Alinnfresh
Alinnfresh is a Toronto-based cosplayer that, on top of sharing his unique cosplays and mash-ups, participates in #28daysofblackcosplay by highlighting 28 other black cosplayers. When he is not working out or crafting his cosplays, he does commission work specializing in props such as weapons or masks for characters like Scorpion and SubZero from “Mortal Kombat.”
Cutiepiesensei
Cutiepie Sensei is one of the most well-known people on this list partly because of her versatility in types of cosplay. She mostly recreates characters from her favorite comic book and video games, but she also cosplays as characters in anime such as Yoruichi from “Bleach” and Marowak from Pokemon as well as from television/movies such as Velma from “Scooby-Doo” and Roxanne from “The Extremely Goofy Movie.”
Chibimagicalgirl
Ebby has been cosplaying since 2010 after attending her first Asian Festival near her home in Georgia. Though she does a variety of cosplays, her focus is on magical women across different media, especially ones that fit her personality and petite stature.
Since 2014 when she got her first viral image of Connie Maheswaran of “Steven Universe”, she has updated a public master list of all black cosplayers on Facebook and Instagram she finds.
Ebby told Francais of prettybrownandnerdy “I was getting a little tired of people saying they didn’t know any talented black cosplayers. And black nerds who are trying to get into cosplay, but are discouraged because of the constant racism that goes on in the community.”
Bishopcosplay
Harry is a cosplayer and professional photographer from the northeast part of the United States. His social media handles that contain the name “Bishop” come from his love of the “X-Men” character with the same name. Harry participates regularly in doubles cosplay where he will go with his other half in a duet looks such as Wonder Woman and Superman of the “Justice League.” Harry is also the founder of “Next Issue Podcast” and Pop Culture Uncovered.
Darkarnivalbutler
Félicia Dussault is another Canadian cosplayer. With the amount of finesse she has in cosplay, it is no wonder that her talents also amount to painting, drawing, video editing and acting. A majority of her work across many mediums, including cosplay, focuses on bringing to life 2D and animated characters like Esmeralda from “Hunchback of Notre Dame,” the Tooth Fairy from “Rise of the Guardians” and many characters across various anime’s from “Black Butler” to “Yuri on Ice.”
Magicalgirllexi
Alexis is a semi-casual cosplayer in New York that does a majority of her cosplays based on anime, sci-fi movies and comic books. She has variety in her cosplay, however since she as cosplayed as Bulma three different ways, “Dragon Ball Z” seems to be a favorite franchise of hers. She is another one of the few cosplayers on this list that caught the attention of Marvel Comics.
Heyjaycosplay
Florida based cosplayer Jay has been cosplaying since 2014 and already has a good amount of quality get-ups for her to make the list. She puts spins on characters she loves like Gambit from “X-Men” and Kakashi “Naruto” to make them her own.
When asked how long she has been cosplaying, Jay responded “I’ve been cosplaying for 4 years. I’ve always wanted to but I finally mustered up the courage to do It then!” Though her project list is short, she definitely has potential to be a recognizable name in the cosplay community. Outside of cosplay, she is a full-time corporate event planner and also helps run a community called Urban Anime Lounge.
Ebonywarriorstudios
Ebony Warrior Studios is manned by craft/foamsmith Xavier Conley. As cosplaying has become more mainstream, it was a matter of time before a competition-based show would come with it, and Conley was the season 1 episode 1 winner of Syfy’s “Cosplay Melee.”
Even though Conley started cosplaying in 2010, his high level of craftsmanship got him recognized by both Marvel Studios and Wetta Workshops. Conley is a vocal advocate for social justice and equality especially since 2016 when, according to his website ebonywarriorstudios, he “started in the hashtag #RepresentationMatters after a powerful encounter while wearing his Batman armor with a little boy at Atlanta’s largest convention, Dragon Con.”
Ugoandcosplay
Ugo Anomelechi is a passionate cosplayer and software developer. If his cosplaying choices were not obvious enough, look at his creation of “Cyman Digital Butler” a digital conversation app. His inspiration came from tech like Jarvis from “Iron Man.” Ugo not only cosplays as Marvel characters like Heimdall, Tony Stark, Black Panther, Luke Cage and Mordo, but Ugo also fuses them with other non-related characters from the “Star Wars” and “DC” universe.
Kieraplease
KieraPlease is a beauty blogger, cosplayer and musician with a niche audience for bringing affordable cosplaying to hardcore convention goers and casuals who dress up only for Halloween. All who engage in cosplay are creative – but it takes a special eye to find good cosplay pieces that function as regular everyday clothes as well.
Another special element that makes the KieraPlease brand unique is that she often chooses characters that often get overlooked in favor of anime and comic book subjects. These include characters from movies like “The Goofy Movie,” “Hercules,” “Prince of Egypt” and “The Lost City of Atlantis.” Sometimes she chooses characters from pop culture like “2-D” of the Gorillaz.
