Omaha’s AfroCon is coming back for its seventh year

AfroCon is back in Omaha for its seventh year in a row this Saturday.

The event is planned and put on by Omaha nonprofit the House of Afros, Capes and Curls, and the goal is to provide a place where people of color are openly welcomed and can feel comfortable to indulge in their “nerdy” interests.

The founder of The House of Afros, Capes and Curls is Jade R. Rogers. She grew up in a family that was very community-driven, and whose members strived to help those around them. She was also quite interested in comics, and all things fantasy, such as the 1981 movie “Excalibur.”

But when it came to the local comic book scene, Rogers said she felt more distant.

“I would go to comic book shops and realize that I was the only Black person, the only woman in those spaces most of the time and oftentimes did not feel comfortable. Wasn't made to feel comfortable,” Rogers said. “I wasn't asked any questions about, you know, what I might be interested in, or what am I looking for? And so I had those guard rails, like, I want to get this thing. Let me just go in, prepare myself, get the thing."

Rogers graduated high school and left Omaha to go to college, but she always remained interested in fantasy and comic books. Eventually she came back. Always thinking about community, she decided to host game nights at her house.

“When I started talking to other people, I realized that they were not that comfortable [entering nerdy spaces],” she said. “They hadn't had those kinds of experiences where they could continue to go in or even felt comfortable walking in the door. And that really came from having the people at the game nights that I had started, started talking about all the nerdy things that we like to do.”

Her community-driven upbringing, the feelings she felt while in nerdy spaces and what she heard from other Black nerds all led her to form the House of Afros, Capes and Curls.

“It comes from a desire to build community,” Rogers said.

The game nights quickly outgrew the house she was hosting them in, and eventually the House of Afros, Capes and Curls began to hold more events, one of which is AfroCon. AfroCon is an extension of that original goal, to create a place for Black nerds to feel comfortable.

“It's really for everyone, but Black people will always be my target, because in these nerd spaces, we're never the target,” she said. “We're the consumer, but never the target audience.”

What makes AfroCon unique from other cons, or even other Black-led cons is that the community is ultimately what guides the programming.

“I don't curate the conversations or the panels and workshops. That comes from the people in the community telling me what they want to do,” Rogers said. “We've had therapists do sessions on Black mental health. We've had people in the medical space talk about nutrition and wellness.

“We've had, oh my god, some of my favorite panels were Black, nerdy dads, [on] raising nerdy kids,” Rogers said laughing.

That isn’t to say AfroCon will not have all the nerdy trimmings of those other cons. The event will feature panels, cosplay and a cosplay contest, artists selling their wares and even an esports tournament.

The con officially starts at 6 p.m. Friday.  People will get a preview of the space, and there will be a panel discussion by Omaha women who all graduated this year from the Goldman Sachs Black Women in Business Program.

“The theme this year is the ‘power of imagination,’” Rogers said. “Who better to talk about the power of imagination than the women that have gone through this program that are starting businesses and organizations that are new, that are fresh, that are unique?

Both the panel discussion and AfroCon will be held at Metro Community College’s Center for Advanced and Emerging Technologies building. More information on programming and how to buy tickets can be found at the AfroCon website.