This Black Cosplayer Is On A Mission To Banish Nerd Culture Stereotype

Right now, about 2% of cosplayers are African American, and there are even fewer professional cosplayers.

Older folks say, “She got it honest,” when a kid takes on the mannerisms or likes of a parent. This couldn’t be more true of 22-year-old cosplayer Mica Burton, who got her first taste of the cosplay world while picking her dad, actor LeVar Burton of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame, up from San Diego Comic Con.

While cosplay- the global phenomena where people dress up as their favorite anime, video game or comic book super heroes- might be foreign to many of us, it’s a normal way of life for Mica.

“I say that I was born into a Star Trek family because the influence has always been there,” says Mica, who received her first costume as a child, and would wear it everyday while watching her favorite TV show Sailor Moon. Video games, a pastime she picked up while bonding with her dad, would also play a big part.

However, it was in junior high, when a friend took her to her first cosplay convention, that everything Mica had been exposed to growing up, would begin to…

Please read original article- This Black Cosplayer Is On A Mission To Banish Nerd Culture Stereotypes