WATCH: Blerd History Month lesson - Characters that changed the game

In this third installment of #BlerdhistoryMonth over here at SYFY WIRE, Angélique Roché (Geekplain) and Karama Horne (Who Won the Week) talk about some of their favorite African-American actors in the genre. (If you haven't gotten a chance to watch our videos on Afrofuturism and Heroes & Comics, check those out and then come back here!)

One of our faves, John Boyega, has become a force (get it?) both on screen and off. He helped introduce a new audience to the world of Star Wars when he debuted as Finn in The Force Awakens. All that success led him to produce and star in Pacific Rim: Uprising, the sequel to Guillermo del Toro's 2013 original.

We can't talk about black actors in geekdom and leave out Sonequa Martin Green. Her character Sasha was so relatable in The Walking Dead that we were bummed when she was killed off… until we realized that she was cast to play Michael Burnham on Star Trek: Discovery.

Michael's tenacity and refusal to accept that cards she's dealt reminds us of another amazing sci-fi sister: Jada Pinkett-Smith. Most know her as baddie Maria Mercedes “Fish” Mooney from Gotham or Niobe in The Matrix series, but her turn as Jeryline, the final girl in Tales From the Crypt Presents Demon Knight (1995) who defeats demon Billy Zane, is what you really need to watch.