Hello fellow Wookieepedians! Hope everyone's having a fantastic start to 2024.
This year's Black History Month is upon us and it's a great time to reflect on the importance of fostering inclusivity and diverse narratives in popular culture. As one of the most beloved and iconic franchises in cinematic history, Star Wars has also recognized the significance of representation. In this post, we'll shed light on four of the talented individuals who have contributed to the galaxy far, far away, as well as a bit on how the month itself originated.
Origins
In 1915, the historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. As the organization developed, the observance became the Negro History Week in February 1926. In 1975, President Ford issued a message about the Observance of Black History Week urging all Americans to "recognize the important contribution made to our nation's life and culture by black citizens." The following year, Black History Week grew to become Black History Month in the United States, and is now celebrated in several countries in more recent times. (source)
Star Wars creators
Billy Dee Williams portrayed Lando Calrissian in the original trilogy's The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, later returning for the sequel trilogy's The Rise of Skywalker. He's been here since the originals and holds a warm place in our hearts for his contributions to the franchise!
Samuel L. Jackson portrayed the Jedi Master Mace Windu in all three prequel trilogy films, often sporting a unique purple lightsaber on-screen. His character is well-loved by many Star Wars fans, and Windu has a new Marvel Comics miniseries starting next week.
John Boyega portrayed the First Order stormtrooper-turned-Resistance fighter Finn in the three sequel trilogy films. The actor been a fan of the franchise for a long time before stepping into the role and deeply enjoyed his time filming the three movies.
Vita Ayala is a comic artist who has worked on The High Republic Adventures: Galactic Bake-Off Spectacular and "Tales of Villainy: Trade Relations," two Star Wars comics released in 2022 and 2021, respectively!
There's definitely many more content creators for Star Wars than can be covered in such a short post, but I invite others to talk about their favorite contributors to the franchise below! I'll definitely say I was thrilled to see Ahmed Best return to Star Wars as Kelleran Beq in The Mandalorian!
Also to look forward to is several variant covers headed for the Star Wars comic market in February to celebrate the month, which are documented in this post.
Other resources
