We made it around the sun once again and today, the Midwest Black Speculative Fiction Alliance celebrates its second anniversary! This has been a whirlwind of a year, full of programs and conversations and debates and friendship building and I look forward to more in 2017!

Here’s a short recap of what we got up to this year:

• In April, we chatted with University of Cincinnati Professor Charles Jones about Afrofuturism 2.0: The Rise of Astro-Blackness, the book he co-edited with Reynaldo Anderson, co-founder of the Black Speculative Arts Movement. I also made my second appearance on the BLKBOARD podcast.
• In May, we had a table at the Cincinnati Library Comic Con at the main branch. We did trivia on the show’s black recurring characters and guest stars.
• In June, we hosted the 2nd Queen City Black Comix Day, showcasing local and regional comics artists and creators. We were also featured on Ghettoblaster Magazine‘s website.
• In September, we had a table at MECCACon in Detroit and hosted a steampunk character building workshop for adults.
• In October, we hosted a sci-fi short film night in honor of Black Speculative Fiction Month.
• In November, we hosted a panel on cyberfunk at Pandoracon, a three-day sci-fi convention in Cincinnati. I also served as the Queen of Diamonds for the event.

Thanks to the rest of the Midwest BSFA crew for making these last two years so much! I look forward to doing bigger and better programming with you in the years to come!