Welcome to our first ever Community Culture blog. At Fandom, we have three simple company values - We Serve a Global Community, We Build Experiences, and We Bring Joy. One way your Community staff lives out those values is to publicly celebrate and highlight the diversity of ethnicities, orientations and backgrounds that makes what we as fans care about so unique and special.
As we considered the best way to keep our spotlights going in 2024, we landed on this - a monthly post that brings together different news and events, allowing us to highlight our many communities and their topics, in order to introduce you to new people and topics. And as you’ll see below, we see this as a way to bring in the voices of you, the fans, and give you a megaphone to share things you love.
Celebrating Art for Change[]
Every month we’ll have a special focus. As this month is Black History Month, we want to start with BHM and its 2024 theme, Art for Change, which highlights art as a catalyst for preserving Black history and culture and honors Black artists evoking change, action, and emotion through their creative expression. We asked Fandom staff and users to tell us about some of the Black artists, musicians, authors, and creatives that most inspire them. Here's a sampling of what they said:
| “ | A Black author that has inspired me is Angie Thomas. Her written work of “The Hate U Give” further inspired me to make a change within my community during the COVID-19 pandemic by supporting and advocating for non-traditionally Black published authors to have their writing and stories be shared and known by more individuals who may have been unaware. A poet that inspired me is Amanda Gorman. Amanda Gorman was the first person to be named National Youth Poet Laureate and youngest poet to read at a presidential inauguration in United States history. Due to her rise in fame, it inspired me to try my hand at poetry, which was outside my usual comfort zone in terms of writing. Writing poetry for me became therapeutic at times. Tyler Perry, an actor, filmmaker, and playwright, who’s best known for his Madea film series, has inspired me to dream big and continue to have faith, especially as a person of color. It’s truly inspiring to see an African American man become one of the first Black men to own a major film studio while it also being one of the largest film studios across the nation. I remember walking onto his studio lot and just felt in awe of what he has done because he essentially came from a background of hardships that tells an inspiring story for anyone seeking to accomplish something big in life. |
” |
-Miller, Wiki Representative
| “ | Dwayne McDuffie was a prolific creator, not limited to Marvel or even the medium of comics altogether, having led an extensive career as a TV writer as well before his untimely death in 2011 at 49 years of age. One of his most memorable creations for Marvel were the humorous superhero battle clean-up crew Damage Control and the futuristic cyborg Deathlok in the late 80s and early 90s. However, what is truly important to highlight about McDuffie's career was his staunch championing for better representation of black people in the media. In 1989, he famously presented Marvel a sardonic pitch for a new series titled ""Teenage Negro Ninja Thrashers"" which served as a critique of the out-of-touch and stereotypical representation of the black community in the company's creative output. In 1993, he founded Milestone Media alongside Denys Cowan, Derek Dingle and Michael Davis to tip the scales and offer genuine comic representation for the black community. McDuffie's trailblazing efforts helped pave the way for mainstream comics to embrace genuine representation, allowing future breakout black characters like Miles Morales to become the norm in the ever-increasingly diverse pool of comic characters. |
” |
-Adour, Marvel Database
| “ | Apollo Creed. Dillon. Jericho Jackson. Colonel Brewster. Chubbs. Combat Carl. Greef Karga. If you recognise any of these names, you’ll know the man who was behind them and many more — the late, great Carl Weathers. Actor, director, football player and one half of the greatest handshake ever committed to film. With Carl’s recent passing, I’ve been delving back into his body of work (although I rarely need an excuse to revisit Predator). His range was impressive; physical action star, subtle comedy, voice over artist — he could even make you believe a small green puppet was real. As a Star Wars fan, he brought gravitas to The Mandalorian and I am saddened by the fact that we will not get to see him in future installments of the series. | ” |
-Mike D., Fandom Staff
| “ | Louis Armstrong and Whitney Houston are musicians who could weave emotional stories into music. They were one of my first influences toward my musical taste. Whenever I listen to them I can't help but hum or sing along to the energy. | ” |
-Nightsilver, Locke & Key, Sandman, The Owl House and Amphibia Wikis
| “ | Quincy Jones has had a prolific career including 70 years working for music and entertainment industries. He has not only received significant recognitions - as for instance 28 Grammy Awards and 80 nominations - but also broke the glass ceiling. He was the first African American to hold a top executive position at a record label, but also the first one to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score, and also the first one to be the musical director and conductor of these awards. His career includes a wide variety of successes, including the production of Michael Jackson's albums "Thriller" (all-time best-selling album), "Off the Wall" and "Bad"; and also conducting and producing "We Are the World". If all of this wasn't yet enough, he was also a successful television producer, including "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' | ” |
-Hector D., Fandom Staff
| “ | Megan Thee Stallion is so unashamedly herself and doesn’t let anyone stop her, and that shines in her music. Keith David's voice is like butter and he delivered a beautiful performance in the song “Loser, Baby”. Lenny Kravitz is an overall legend. Alicia Keys' early songs carry me a lot of nostalgia and her voice is amazing. | ” |
-CAMERAwMUSTACHE, Just Dance Wiki
| “ | Octavia E. Butler is a real hero of mine, a compelling author with an equally compelling backstory. Coming of age during the Black Power movement of the 1960s, she perfectly blended over and over again the real-life perspectives of a Black Woman during a turbulent 20th century into a science fiction world. She became the first person to ever win the MacArthur award for science fiction writing, and won countless other Hugo and Nebula awards. My favorite novel of hers is Kindred, which somehow flawlessly combined a slave narrative with time travel to create one of the most unique stories I have ever read. | ” |
-Tim Q., Fandom Staff
| “ | Keith David performances instill confidence in a way everyone of his protagonist characters seemed to inspire and make a point that things are hard but if you find yourself, everything will be just fine. | ” |
-VeggieGoBrrrr, Hazbin Hotel Wiki
Black History Month Playlist[]
With this year’s theme celebrating the impact of Black art and music throughout history, we've created a new Spotify playlist of over 100 songs to jam to during your next editing session. We’re taking it all the way back to the '50s and making a stop in each decade as we showcase some incredible Black artists who’ve been instrumental (no pun intended) in shaping the music industry into what it is today.
These artists have given us songs of love, happiness, empowerment, pride, and protest that have resonated through generations past and will continue to influence generations to come. Some have even personally inspired our Staff members and users as you’ve read above! We hope you’ll find something new to love (or re-discover something old!) Check out the playlist below:
Shows To Watch For Black History Month[]
Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur
Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur’s second season premiered on February 2 on the Disney Channel. The animated series’ first season earned high praise and five Children’s and Family Emmy Awards. After 13-year-old super-genius Lunella accidentally brings ten-ton T-Rex, Devil Dinosaur into present-day New York City via a time vortex, the duo works together to protect the city's Lower East Side from danger.
A reboot of the film Mr. & Mrs. Smith created by and starring Donald Glover, the series released on February 2. Also starring Maya Erksine, two strangers land jobs with a spy agency that offers them a life of espionage, wealth, and travel. The catch: new identities in an arranged marriage.
Created by and starring Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary’s third season premiered on February 7, and was swiftly renewed for a fourth season. A workplace comedy centered around a group of dedicated teachers - and an oblivious principal - in a predominating Black Philadelphia public school where, despite the odds stacked against them, they are determined to help their students succeed in life.
Iwájú is a six-episode animated series due to air on February 28 on Disney+. Written by Adeola and Halima Hudson and directed by Kiki Nelson, the series is a comic-style animated sci-fi series set in Lagos that explores themes of class, innocence and challenging the status quo.
How Our Communities Are Celebrating BHM[]
In addition to all of this, some of our communities are celebrating Black History Month in exciting ways. Here are some links to those discussions and events:
- Wookieepedia's Celebration
- Hazbin Hotel Wiki's Celebration
- Just Dance Wiki's Celebration - Part 1 and Part 2
- Turtlepedia's Celebration
- Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki's Celebration
- (FR) Borderlands Wiki's Celebration
- Drag Race Wiki’s Instagram campaign featuring The Vixen, Tynomi Banks, and Tayce.
Other Moments Worth Celebrating[]
Here are some other moments in the last few weeks we want to celebrate and share:
- Oscar Nominations came in earlier this month and some exciting milestones were achieves. For the first time, three-female directed movies received a Best Picture nomination. Also a first in the Best Picture category, more than one non-English film was nominated. Meanwhile, Lily Gladstone made history as the first Native American Best Actress Nominee for her role in Killers of the Flower Moon.
- Tracy Chapman returned after a long hiatus to perform “Fast Car” at the Grammys
- The United Kingdom celebrated LGBT+ History Month. That country honors the history of the LGBT+ rights movement in February to coincide with the repeal of Section 28. If you’ve never heard of Section 28, we’d highly recommend you read this linked article about its history and eventual repeal.
That’s it for the February Community Culture. We hope you enjoyed reading! We’d love to hear from you - Leave a comment below to share what’s caught your attention this month. What’s the best book you’ve read recently? A new movie you discovered? A show you rediscovered?
Before you go though – if you’ve enjoyed reading this blog, check out some of Fandom’s previous content for Black History Month:
- 2023: Black History Month at Fandom: Culture-Shifting Moments in Entertainment
- 2022: Celebrate Black History Month with Fandom
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