Ecbacc2008: In Depth

Continued from post:
http://purplezoe.blogspot.com/2008/05/
ecbaccs-black-age-of-comics-annual.html




After a relatively easeful 5 hour bus ride broken up by a one hour layover, Youth Contributor Q. and I arrived in Philly around 1pm. We'd missed the Superhero Parade by that time, and some morning seminars, but we were there and put what we'd missed while traveling to the backs of our minds. After a quick ride on Septa's R6 train we found ourselves at the train station across from Temple University, and made our way to Anderson Hall (African Studies Dept.) relatively easily with the direction of a sign that divided the campus up in blocks.

By this time, I had begun to seriously regret not wearing completely flat heels, but bore the pain in the canvas maryjanes I'd recently been given as a gift. Ouch. We entered Ecbacc ready to inhale the art presented on the tables, with Q. quite ready to spend his budget on the rare comics found at Ecbacc conventions from artists that have been underrepresented by the mainstream.




We made our way from table to table, and were given a lovely greeting at 'The Smoke's' table where we took a pic with the wrestler. We enjoyed the works of Miss Martinez's Yume and Ever, Robert Garrett's Galtow (My son lost his mind over this series and bought every comic and an armful of posters), and of course the glorious works of Mshindo Kuumba I and fam whose gear was so outstanding I had to request a pic of the Visual Guru. He was also gracious enough to give some advice to the youth of Underrepresented cultures seeking to share their art with the community.






We didn't get a chance to meet the artist for Brotherman, but this didn't stop Q from acquiring a teeshirt, and we were generously given cards with the website info, so we could download the first issue of Brotherman in a free hi-res issue, and purchase dollar downloads of the others, also in hi-res format.

There were so many extraordinary tables, that we began to take cards so we wouldn't forget anyone whose table we visited (there was an adult area we didn't visit for obvious reasons, and some tables were empty while the artists took breaks). The tables we were able to visit held spectacular works that will feature in the Purple Mag Modern Myth Anthology Issue in the Fall/Winter.




We met with author Eric of Knightseekers, Steven Van Patten author of Brookwater's Curse, and Alan Page of 'The Liberators' Comic.





and spoke with the creators of the fabulous 12 comics series for a few before we returned to the front of the convention hall and learned that it was time for us to meet Nichelle Nichols a.k.a Lt. Uhura of Star Trek fame.
She blew our minds.
Ecbacc began by honoring her with a short film produced created by the Director of the InvisibleUniverse documentary M. Asli Dukan, a performance skit by two local poets, and a reading from Nichelle Nichols book Beyond Uhura.












After Mama Nichols accepted her Ecbacc Pioneer award, she accepted our questions and generally infused us with light.








The woman is deep. It pays to sit still and mind the wisdoms of an elder. I'd never known until that day that Dr. Martin Luther King Junior forbade her to quit Star Trek, making sure she understood how important her role was to people of all cultures.
Having created Lt. Uhura (name and all) she became the inspiration to many of our Elders who had otherwise been barred from the realm of speculative arts. She was responsible for lighting the imaginations of Black Sci-fi artists and authors who would follow in the tradition of exploring the unknown in their art.






When it came time for us to leave the auditorium, I noted how seriously illuminated I had been having been touched by her energy and insight. The vibes were beautiful.
But unfortunately, the clock was ticking.
We quickly sought a moment with the publishers of Sword and Soul; Uraeus and Elijah, who are republishing the works of the Great Charles Saunders. Dig. Very honored. I'll be reviewing Charles Saunders' new release Dossouye for the Fall/Winter issue of Purple Mag.

With the time to depart drawing nearer though, we had to skip the last hour of the convention to catch our bus, which... we did, after a painful walk in inappropriate traveling shoes, and restless waiting in lines for late buses that in the end was all worth it.

I feel seriously blessed to have been able to attend, and look forward to future conventions. Bless you Ecbacc. You're a blessing to the community.


photo: The Founding Fathers of Ecbacc




For a list of all of the vendors you can visit Ecbacc.com
Any that don't have website links can be Googled. Trust us. It's worth your time.