Lack of Black Women in Comic Writing

       
          I'm an African American women, seeing people like me in fields that I wish to go into is important. It means that I'm not alone, I have people I can look up to. I'm not saying that I can't look up to people not of my race, but with those of my race we have a shared experience.

          Ever since I was a young child around age 10 or 11 I had a huge interest in writing. I loved it, I would write stories in notebooks and create story-lines in my head. During my senior year of High School I took a creative writing class that helped me decide that writing was the career path I wanted to take, I loved writing and story creation that much.

        So I went to college for creative writing, I learned a few things but there is something I did notice during my time in my BA program where I think the problem begins. I was studying creative fiction writing. I was 1 of up to 7 black people (all women no men at the time) in my program, and they were studying poetry except for 1 other women.

I know there weren't that many black women as fiction writers to start with. But where are the black women writers and creators in the comic industry?!? But I know over time collectively the number of black women wanting to write comics has to have gone up? But through all my research I haven't found any information on any black women working in the comic industry. I've asked around, my tweet has gone around to "big" comic people, and no one has anyone's name to give me, or any answer for me.

           As a young writer I can't even find any way to break into the comic industry to help change the statistic that there are no black women working in comics.

The "Diverse" Gender in Comic Book Panel @ SDCC

           At SDCC this year there was a The Gender in Comic Books Panel which really upset me. I know there is quite the unbalance in men to women ratio in the industry, and it needs to be talked about. But on the other hand we have the lack of other dynamics in the field being totally ignored!!!! Not one person of color sat on that panel! NOT ONE! And they called the panel diverse! I mean the issue race in comics isn't even being talked about! It's really upsetting.

         
It shouldn't just focus of black women, it should focus on all under represented demographics in the comic industry, and allowing new blood to break in.

              -Quiana