it's not just spelman. it's a black spaces problem.

Added: 2026-05-08

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[00:00:08]Yeah, I stole it from PBS Kids. What you going to do? Fight me? Anyway, roll video.

[00:00:26]Okay, so before we even get started with today's subject matter, um we do need to have a brief disclaimer, mainly because we I I just kind of want to do a temperature check right now. Because I make a lot of videos talking about things such as fandom, animation, and cosplay. It's not just white people that watch me. There are a lot of non-black people of color that watch me, and there are also a lot of white people that watch me.

[00:00:51]And because of that, my channel really does focus a lot on black issues and education. And because of that, I think when I make videos where I specifically highlight issues that have to do with the black community, I need to do what I need to do to make sure there is not anti-blackness going on in my comment section from non-black people. And today we will be talking about issues in the black community. So, like I said, if you're not black or if you are not um half-black, um please be mindful of what you say about all of this. If I notice that you are saying some anti-black [ __ ] in the comments, I will remove your comment. That is something that I care deeply about. I do appreciate the non-black viewers of me, but when we talk about black issues, a lot of times I really want y'all to just sit and listen and learn. Please don't try to talk over black people here.

[00:01:53]>> [music] [singing] >> Hey y'all, it's Heriyana and I'm back with another video. Hi, hello, how are you doing? My name is Heriyana, and welcome to or welcome back to The Pirate Ship, also known as Heriyana's Pirate Ship. I'm the captain, you are not my first mate. I don't got no first mate because you want to know why? Bring your closest to the speaker so you can hear me clearly.

[00:02:20]No one's worthy of being a first mate.

[00:02:22]But hi, hello, how are you doing? My name is Heriyana, and I like to make content based on nostalgia and family and children's entertainment and on issues that I find within those spaces.

[00:02:30]Aside from that, I talk a lot about fandom, I talk a lot about community, and today those are two of the major things that we will be highlighting.

[00:02:41]This video is very unscripted. I don't even have an outline written down for this because this is just something that I just want to get on camera and have a discussion about because when I read this essay, it literally reminded me so much of the problems that we have within black fandom spaces, specifically IRL black fandom spaces, and it really just made me think this isn't just an HBCU, it's not just a Spelman problem, it's a black organization problem. So, what have I gathered you all here today for?

[00:03:16]Basically, there was this very amazing student named Gabrielle who wrote an essay for Founders' Day for Spelman where she basically gave her honest opinion on how she feels about the education that she is receiving from the school, but she's also honest about how she doesn't necessarily like a lot of the school's actions. She also focuses a lot on the school is more so focused on this idea of black excellence than actually giving their students what they need and actually doing more for their community. I will have that link down below for anybody that is interested in reading, but y'all don't don't be mean to her. Don't be mean to her. She is allowed to have an opinion on the school she attends. As I was reading this, it reminded me of how I was feeling. And y'all know that I am no stranger to talking about the problems that we have within within black fandom spaces. I have made videos about it on the past here. I made that two-hour-long ass video talking about the problems that we have in IRL fandom spaces in general, but I made sure I highlighted a lot of the problems that we have in black fandom spaces. I wrote this rant essay last summer basically called black fandom is actually terrible. I will have the link to that down below, and that was me basically like expressing my frustrations with how it feels as though nothing in these spaces gets fixed. It's just like everyone feels as though they're focused on showing this idea of black excellence, but won't actually do anything to care for the people in the community. Before we go any further, just a quick little shameless plug. I do have a shop on heriyanahk.com. I sell a lot of bonnets and durags inspired by the things that I enjoy. I have bonnets by My Little Pony, those are currently my best sellers. I also have chains and other cute things just as well. Um just a heads-up for anybody that had placed an order during March, you should be getting that soon. Uh if you bought a London Tipton bonnet, I already went and sent you an email about what's going on with those. Um but yeah, the April orders will be fulfilled as soon as possible. I just been really busy.

[00:05:21]There's just been a lot of things going on behind the scenes, but I'm getting to it, y'all. I'm getting to it. Now, moving forward, talking about Spelman, black organizations, and what we need to do better about. I do want to make it very clear that I also am a college student. I attend Clayton State University. It's probably about like 20 minutes away from Spelman. It's literally south of Atlanta. And growing up, Spelman was held up high up on a pedestal, and that makes sense because like I said, I grew up in the Atlanta area, which is very much predominantly black, specifically in the spot that I was in. Um over like indicator, we would constantly have students from Spelman come to like, you know, our schools.

[00:06:06]They would come to talk to us about like why they think we should pick this college to attend. I have my opinions about HBCUs, and a lot of people feel as though when you have valid critiques about an HBCU like Spelman, they automatically think that you're being anti-black. And that is something else that I have discussed when it comes to black fandom. Y'all think any critique of black fandom is anti-blackness, and it's really not.

[00:06:29]Because I mentioned something about how there's a lot of misogyny war that happens in black fandom spaces, and people were just trying to act as though I was like, you know, "Oh, you just don't want to see black people win." No, y'all are awful to the women in these spaces. Like, Stop trying to Anyway, let's not get carried away. Let's not. But we would constantly have people come and just talk to us about Spelman, but for some reason they just kept on pushing this entire narrative about it being like, "This is an HBCU. This is why you should come." Like the only thing they were really like selling us on it was the fact that like, "Yeah, this is a black school. Y'all are black, y'all should come." But I'm like, "Okay, but like what is the school providing? Are they giving something for everybody? What is going on here?" And while I do go to Clayton, Clayton State actually does have a black studies program. It's not a major though, which I do take issue with because >> [laughter] >> but we at least have one. Is it perfect?

[00:07:27]No. Or is there work that can be done?

[00:07:29]Most definitely, but it is there. So, seeing how my school, even though it is not an HBCU, but it has a very, very high black population, knowing that an HBCU doesn't even have a black studies program really does raise a lot of red flags. When I read this essay, like seeing how the students are not getting the proper education that they need and the school pushing them to use AI, which is really, really concerning because like I said, I go to Clayton, Clayton ain't perfect. They're trying to get rid of the humanities departments and the arts departments. It's actually really, really concerning, and I am worried about my future with my education at my school. Our teachers are very much strictly against us using AI for our assignments, and it's very much not encouraged. As I mentioned that a lot of these issues that I should have with Spelman where it was like they were just pushing this idea of black excellence, but they weren't actually doing much to fix what was going on behind the scenes, and it was affecting the students' education, but also it felt as though the school wasn't doing what they could to be as supportive of their students.

[00:08:28]It's like, "Oh, so it's not just a problem that is going on in these black fandom spaces, these black organizations that I'm going to get into." This is just something that I have noticed with pretty much everything. I noticed this growing up. I noticed it a lot now, and it is extremely It is a big reason why I am very, very selective of when it comes to black fandom IRL spaces that I choose to attend because like I said, in the Atlanta area. There's always something going on here, but I'm very, very picky on where I choose to go because of that.

[00:09:06]There's numerous things that I want to get into. I'm probably going to have this video broken down into like numerous sections, but it's just this thing about black excellence that we constantly want to push, but things behind the scenes just aren't working out all that well. I do have more opinions about Dream Con, by the way, because I do feel like they are a part of this phenomenon too just as well. But y'all I I know y'all are taking time out of me sitting here ranting about Dream Con, but seeing how long that convention has gone on and seeing there's been little improvement that has come along the way, especially when I had talked to Maya and Whitney about their experiences at the con, two people that actually went and they weren't satisfied with what happened. Yeah, that just makes me not want to go at all. Like pretty much everything I hear about the convention, I'm just extremely turned off from it.

[00:09:57]Especially seeing that the type of people that they hold high up on pedestals. But yeah, let's go into this.

[00:10:06]The first one I want to talk about is the situation that happened with Grizz Con and Urban Nerd Con. I Listen, don't send hate to nobody, no [music] con, no organization, no TV show that I mentioned, the staff, the people that work on them. Do not send hate to anybody.

[00:10:26]I don't do that. I I don't support that type of nonsense. Don't do that. Now, what happened with Grizz Con and the Urban Nerd Con is very much a cautionary tale. I wrote about this on my Substack where I was talking about how it is okay to have [music] like a small convention.

[00:10:43]And Grizz Con is a black-owned convention and a lot of their problems with them is that they were trying to upscale a little too quickly for the size of the convention. Cuz Grizz Con has probably only been around for like 2 3 4 years. It's still a fairly new convention. They had it at GGC, which is a college out in Gwinnett County. But there were just so many things going on behind the scenes where it's just like the convention's just not big enough yet. It's not making enough income yet to be doing this. Also, did we not learn from Dash Con? Conventions don't really make that much money as people think they do. Now, the situation with the Urban Nerd Con though is that that is one convention that I was really sad to see didn't really go anywhere. We haven't really heard much about it. And I did sign up to host a panel for their 2023 events. But you know, they said it was rescheduled and then in 2024 the event just ended up being canceled.

[00:11:42]And a lot of that just had to do like I said with them trying to upscale so quickly. But I also wasn't really happy with how things were happening behind the scenes because um that convention was like I said more so focused on black excellence. They care so much more about the celebrity guests opposed to the people who actually do put on the convention. The ones that get people in the seats. The ones that are there buying the tickets. The ones that are filling up the programming. The community. And I'm not sitting here and saying that the celebrity guests are a part of the community. But I'm talking about the people that make up the convention. It's different. So I was very frustrated because I wasn't really hearing back from the panels. I wasn't I wasn't really hearing back about anything from my panels and all of that.

[00:12:27]But I constantly was just seeing them push these celebrity guests forward for the event. And they were using that as a way to get people to come in. But like I said, there was problems that was going on behind the scenes. And like I said, I wish them the best.

[00:12:42]But also at the same time, I just kind of wasn't like I said, I'm a little good on this convention because I did end up watching the interview with Blurred Togrophy.

[00:12:54]Great channel by the way if you're interested in learning about like you know, black nerdy stuff. I'll have his channel link down below. And he kind of like put him in check about this where he was just talking about how the owner of the Urban Nerd Con He was talking about how like he wanted to have this and this and that and that. And I was getting a little frustrated listening because it just felt as though like okay, he still is trying to make this like a big black event having all of these black celebrity guests here. But I'm like you're not even really thinking much about the community that is there to like you know, help put on these events. And I don't know who needs to hear this. But a lot of people don't really go to conventions for the guest list. They go for the actual con itself.

[00:13:41]They [music] go to you know, talk to other cosplayers. They go for the panels. They go for the workshops. They go for the cosplay contest. Like the guests are not the only thing about a con that deserve [music] attention.

[00:14:04]>> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Now, the next thing I want to talk about has to do with Blurred Con. We We got to have a discussion about Blurred Con. My dad I'm somebody that actually did go to Blurred Con. I attended it in 2024. I'm probably not going to go back and that just has to do with the fact that Blurred Con is just bad timing for me.

[00:15:06]It used that just doesn't work. Now, while I did have a good time at Blurred Con, I do have some issues with the behind the scenes that was going on with the convention. And the main issue with that con, it needs a new venue. You either get a new venue or cut tickets. Like that is just something that a lot of cons need to do in general. It's not just Blurred Con. But y'all at some point y'all need to stop letting people in the building. And y'all got to stop letting people in the building knowing that you have an limited space here. The venue for Blurred Con is just too damn small for that con at this point. Like it's very clear that they need to upsize. They need to go bigger. I know that there was a hotel across the street that was also a part of the convention.

[00:16:01]But also it just felt as though nobody was going in that building because they put my panels in that building. Like they put my panel in that building and a lot Like one of them was good and full.

[00:16:12]The other one was kind of a little empty. But a lot of the foot traffic was not transferring over there. Everybody just wanted to be in that main building.

[00:16:21]It was really really crowded to get through. It was also hot as hell, which is probably the reason why I'm pretty sure why they ended up putting it in March.

[00:16:30]Um but it just The panel rooms are also very small. The rooms are also small.

[00:16:35]There's only a certain amount of people that can get in them. Like it has an issue with size. And I It hurts my heart to say that because while I guess I did enjoy Blurred Con, I'm not about to sit here and act like that wasn't a damn problem. And then moving forward also with Blurred Con, a lot of the vendors and the artists were not particularly happy with the way the artist alley was brand. They literally have it all the way down in the basement of the hotel. And that did affect like you know, the foot traffic. It did affect people going down there. A lot of people weren't able to you know, finish transactions. I even had this problem with one of the vendors where I literally had to go all the way back upstairs to the hotel to be able to make a purchase and then come back down here to get my items. Like it just was a lot of issues with that right there. And people were getting mad about the vendors speaking about their experience.

[00:17:28]But I was like oh no, I think they should be heard. I think they can sit here and talk about how they you know, paid money to vend at this event and they felt as though they weren't like you know, being properly cared for.

[00:17:40]Black excellence.

[00:17:42]Black excellence. And then moving forward talking about Dream Con, I have been hearing the same issues about Dream Con for the longest. And I said this before like on threads. But I make it very very clear that if you like are a Dream Con apologist, then I'm not for you.

[00:18:01]Um honestly, y'all just don't like black women with opinions. Um that's just for fandom spaces in general. But that's specifically for Dream Con apologists.

[00:18:10]Because a lot of people that I see do speak up about how they truly feel about the convention including people that actually did go and pay their money to attend. A lot of these people are black women. A lot of these people are black films. And y'all literally sit here and try to shut them down when they speak up about their experience here. Doing that doesn't fix like anything. Like the black community is always telling black women and black films to shut the [ __ ] up. Y'all been telling us to shut up for the longest. And nothing has changed now. Cuz even with the Spelman essay, people were mad at her for what she said. And I was like y'all just don't like when black women talk. Y'all just can't stand us. Go ahead and admit it. Like the black community is literally all subcultured whether it's cosplay, game gaming, T C G. Misogynoir is loud. I even have to deal with that when I be checking people in when I host the cosplay contest on the weekend. And people be giving me attitude when I ask them simple questions trying to tell them what to do. Trying to give people simple instructions and here they go being rude to me. Then I'm just like all right. But as I was saying, people have been talking about their problems that they have had at the convention.

[00:19:17]While they say yeah, the artist alley is good. They like the vendors. Yeah, they enjoy the vibes. They enjoy the people.

[00:19:23]A lot of others have brought up that there are safety concerns here. Not only are there safety concerns, fire hazards. People don't seem to understand how a fire hazard is more serious than y'all act like it is. Like I said, well a lot of these buildings be having too many people in them and y'all need to start capping. Y'all need to start cutting tickets. They don't do that. They just be letting anybody in.

[00:19:43]Y'all don't be checking badges. And people don't seem to understand how important that is. Like I literally um was on working at this cosplay pool party. And I literally had to sit there and check everybody's ID before they went in. Because if I did not do that, that would have been a safety issue.

[00:19:58]Like people was giving me attitude when I was like, "Hey, I need to see your ID before you enter in back there." But I'm doing what I had to do. But anyways, it's like the same old same old year after year of problems that people are having with this convention. And I was even talking about like the Megan Thee Stallion situation. By the way, if you are a Megan hater, then this channel is not for you. It's not. I I think you can tell by the type of content I make. But I even talked about this last year where uh basically Megan Thee Stallion was a guest at Dream Con. And you know, Dream Con, like I said, they focus so much on black excellence and getting all these guests that they know will attract people to come to the con, but the problems behind the scenes ain't being taken care of. And a lot of people are raising their concerns talking about how it's starting to feel more like a streamer convention. There is just it's getting bigger. It feels like it's lost focus. It's not the same as it used to be, which are valid concerns. Like don't forget about the community that got you there. But anyways, like I said, with the Megan Thee Stallion situation, there were people leaving disgusting ass Tory Lanez jokes on those posts. And they basically didn't do [ __ ] about it. Like and that raises some concerns. Y'all wonder why black women talk about how they don't necessarily feel safe in environments like that. And then [ __ ] like this happens. Like I said, if you have not read my little rant essay called Black Fandom is actually terrible. I will have that link down below because at some point, when are we actually going to sit here and do something about the problems that we have in here?

[00:21:30]Because everybody want to turn up.

[00:21:31]Everybody want to sit here and have fun.

[00:21:33]Everybody want to do everything in the name of black excellence. But when it comes to what is happening on behind the scenes, nobody wants to sit here to adjust the problems. As long as stuff look good on the surface, y'all that's y'all only care. That's the only reason y'all care. And like I said, I am somebody I grew up around black people my whole life. I grew up in a very predominantly black area. I went to this cheerleading gym, very much black. There were like no white people that went there. And let me tell you, we did everything we could to look good on the surface, but behind the scenes, there were issues. And by the way, I am very pro black, but I'm also very pro LGBTQ.

[00:22:09]I am pro disability rights.

[00:22:11]Uh what else over here? I do not tolerate transphobia whatsoever. But a lot of y'all are really only pro straight black people. You're only pro able-bodied black people. You're only pro skinny black people. Like y'all do not care about everybody in these spaces. You only care about these people that only have this one view of blackness. And that is just something I noticed that has sadly dominated in [music] black fandom spaces, but not just black fandom spaces, a lot of these black organizations. It's it it it's sad that I'm having this discussion right now. Like it's really it really is sad.

[00:22:46]And people was getting mad at her and I was like, "Y'all, nothing she said was like, you know, not true."

[00:22:53]Cuz everybody want to sit here and talk about, "I went to this place. I went to that place. I do this. I do that." But like anytime people have a valid concern about what happened at these events, at these organizations, they're quick to shut them down. Like I said, Clayton State always going to get it for me.

[00:23:09]Okay? I don't care. Clayton State is always going to get it for me. They always going to hear from my ass. And like I said, then while I was having a good time at Border Con, I'm about to I'm not about to sit here and ignore the problems that was there. And even with a lot of these black productions, a lot of people feel as though we are really, really harsh and critical when it comes to black media, which I do feel like is true.

[00:23:30]I do think we can be extremely harsh on black media and we don't critique it the same way as we do like white media or even like media made in Japan, uh Asian medias, too. Cuz I don't even see this with Japanese media. I see it with Chinese media and I see it with Korean media just as well. I don't feel like we should be extremely harsh and critical when it comes to this work. But also at the same time, like sitting here and pretending that there is not a problem doesn't do anything. Because for the longest, people would literally like Tyler Perry's fan base will sit here and act as though he is producing top-tier [ __ ] But a lot of his works have issues with fatphobia. A lot of his works have issue with misogynoir. A lot of his work have issues >> [music] >> with ableism for sure. As much as I love Diary of a Mad Black Woman, that movie has a ableism problem and it's terrible.

[00:24:19]Like I said, this this is just a chit-chat video. This is just a video of me just talking and expressing like my thoughts.

[00:24:27]And I'm I'm just kind of like what what what are we doing at this point? What exactly what are we doing? What are we doing?

[00:24:36]Because I remember even when this happened with The Proud Family, I remember for the longest that you could not have a somewhat negative opinion about The Proud Family without people getting on to you. And I think one of the worst offenses for me this has to be the television series Grown-ish, specifically when Grown-ish was like in its first season. If you tried to say anything negative about the damn show, you literally got dragged to hell and back. But now people actually do talk about Grown-ish. They do hold the show accountable and critique it for what it is. And it's not even just with Grown-ish. It is with Kenya Barris's work in general. But like moving back to The Proud Family, I remember that people would act like if you had an opinion about that series, specifically the original Proud Family, the one that came out in the early 2000s, people just assumed that you were just being a hater. But in reality, that show got problems. That show most definitely have problems. Did I enjoy The Proud Family for what it is? Yes, but I'm not about to sit here and ignore everything else going on in it. I love That's So Raven just as well, but I'm not about to sit here and act like That's So Raven was perfect. That show was colorist as hell.

[00:25:41]But yeah, um yay, black excellence.

[00:25:43]Yeah.

[00:25:44]Um I'mma shut up now. Uh I done talked y'all your off.

[00:25:48]Thank you for watching this video.

[00:25:50]Um and this is your introduction to my channel. Hello.

[00:25:54]Yeah.

[00:25:56]My hair is Twilight Sparkle inspired, by the way, if anybody wanted to know. Uh yeah.

[00:26:02]Um I'm going to let this video uh Thank y'all for watching. Have a great day, night, whatever time of day you chose to watch this video. I'm just thankful that you're watching with the ads on.

[00:26:11]All right, thank you.

[00:26:13]Goodbye.

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