Chronicles of the Revolutionary Nerd 7

Kenjji grew up in Detroit’s Rosedale Park neighborhood, went to Catholic school for eight years, and later attended University of Detroit Mercy and Western Michigan University, where he studied art.

Kenjji dropped his surname because of its connection to slavery and its consequent “unpretty history.”

He was first inspired to create comics after reading Brotherman, one of the first independent comic books featuring a Black superhero, which was published in the late ’80s and early ’90s.

“I decided it was time to reinstate books like Brotherman, which I found so influential and appealing, and the first thing I had to do was create a character that was just as cool as Brotherman,” he explains.

“I wanted to do a character with cornrows — that was the look. Around the time I was working this out, D’Angelo [noted for his cornrows] came out with his album Voodoo, which gave me the inspiration to start researching Voodoo as a background for this character.”

Hence the birth of his protagonist, who was named after a “super-suave friend” by the name of Jovan who lived on Carrington Street.

Kenjji is a strickler for detail, and wanted his book to paint an authentic picture of Voodoo. He extensively researched the history of the misunderstood practice, devouring books and studying under a Voodoo priestess who runs an informational Web site about the practice and history of Voodoo.