Being a black Harry Potter fan hasn’t always been easy, but today is a wonderful time to be apart of this vibrant community. With the rise of black fan content creators and Facebook groups, we’ve found safe and welcoming spaces where we can share our love for the series without fear of judgment and as a collective we’ve made room for ourselves despite the lack of diversity in the original books.
For a long time, many black Harry Potter fans felt like they had to hide their love for the series. There was a fear of judgment from others who didn’t understand their passion for the books due to religion or just being seen as “lame”. But with the rise of black fan groups and content creators, that fear is slowly disappearing. It’s amazing to see so many people coming together to share their love for the wizarding world, and it’s inspiring to see black creators being given the platform to showcase their talents and imaginations of what a more diverse wizarding world would look like.
Despite the lack of diversity in the Harry Potter books, black fans have come together to create our own narratives and interpretations of the series. They’ve created art that depicts black characters in the wizarding world, or Hogwarts houses that are based on African diasporic cultures. We’ve imagined black characters in roles that weren’t originally written as such, and created our own stories and art that feature black protagonists. By doing this, we’ve made space for ourselves in the wizarding world and shown that there are so many different ways to tell stories in this universe.
There are now so many talented creators out there who are making fan art, fan fiction, creating groups and even podcasts about the series. These fans bring a fresh perspective to the wizarding world and provide representation that many of us didn’t have growing up.
One of the most exciting developments in the black Harry Potter fan community is the creation of our own HBCU versions of Hogwarts. These HBCU versions of Hogwarts are not only a celebration of black culture and heritage, but they also provide an opportunity for black fans to see themselves reflected in the wizarding world. They showcase the diversity of black experiences and the richness of black culture, and just how much fun we truly are. They’re a testament to the creativity and imagination of the black Harry Potter fan community.
In addition to creating our own versions of Hogwarts, black Harry Potter fans have also come together to create a vibrant and supportive community. We’ve formed Facebook groups, Twitter chats, and other online communities where we can share our love for the series. We can also discuss important issues like representation, diversity, cool stuff like our interpretations of certain events and how it relates to real life, and fun ish like loving to hate Umbridge because who doesn’t? And how Rita Skeeter is the Wendy Williams of the wizarding world. These communities provide a space for us to connect with each other, to share our stories, to find support and to rep our houses in ways that are cooler than what was done before.
We’ve created our own versions of Hogwarts, formed a supportive community, and are bringing our own unique perspective to the wizarding world. I’m excited to continue celebrating our love for Harry Potter with our fellow fans and to see what amazing things the future holds for our community.