How did you get involved with ECBACC?

I'd been into comic books forever like most kids. The first comic book I bought with my own money was Black Lightning. When I went to college, one of the first people I met was Shankar Davis who was on the board of ECBACC. I met him and his wife, and we started talking about Black folks in the history of comics, folks who were contributing to the mainstream and the independents. I was like, Woah, I am so behind! I took the opportunity to volunteer at ECBACC. I was a gopher the first year. Because I helped some of the presenters with their tech, the next year I was the go-to person for tech. If you needed an extension chord here or an adapter there, I was your girl. As a matter of fact, one year it became necessary for me to use my phone as an internet hotspot for one of the presenters.

What is a cherished memory from ECBACC?

I haven't gone to too many cons, but Tony Isabella was at the first ECBACC I went to. He's the guy who created Black Lightning. I was completely emotionally overwhelmed. I mean, Black Lightning was the premiere Black superhero, probably one of the first for DC. Trevor von Eeden worked with Tony to create the image of Jefferson Pierce and his family. Tony even let me interview him. I had a digital video camera, and that interview is one of my prized possessions.

I provided support for one of the regular participants, Alex Simmons. He was in Russia one year and I provided internet access for him to be connected to the con that year.

He presented from Russia?

Yeah! I used my computer to project Alex from Zoom. That was also the first season of the Black Lightning TV show. Tony had brought his wife. The trailer was out, and even some of the music that would be used in the program had been released. I lit up the lobby with Godholly. Tony didn't expect that. I also ran the trailer while we were setting up for Alex.

What would you love to see for the future of ECBACC?

I would love to see ECBACC get more play. I think the fact of the matter is there's a lot of brothers and sisters who contribute to the overall history and popularity of comic books. Some of them create some of the best stories of all time. Two or three members of Milestone were constant contributors to ECBACC. One of them was the late great Dwayne McDuffie.