DangerMan, the Black Superman

Submission 1,885

About

DangerMan, the Black Superman, also known as DangerMan, the Urban Superhero, refers to a man dressed up as a Black version of Superman who wears a blue costume and mask. He's an African-American rights activist focusing on issues like police brutality in his hometown of Los Angeles, Calfornia. He started posting content online as early as 2007 on YouTube and has since grown a following on other platforms like Instagram and Facebook. Every year, he hosts the "DangerMan Hero Awards." In 2022, DangerMan became notable on TikTok.

Background

DangerMan's real name is Roger Tinsley and he's the CEO of the DangerMan Education Foundation.^[6] He started his organization in 2004 to empower children based on, "reading, establishing education as a key priority and encouraging them to live a healthy lifestyle: no gangs, guns, drugs, alcohol or tobacco."

Online History

The history of DangerMan predates his online presence. This is evident in his first every YouTube^[1] video, uploaded on November 20th, 2007. It shows him performing in front of school children at a Scholastic Book Fair in Los Angeles. Over the course of 15 years, the video received roughly 1,400 views (shown below).

As stated, DangerMan had been performing educational, school auditorium entertainment before posting about it online. He started on YouTube and continued to post en masse going into the 2010s. Most of his videos throughout this early time period did not reach past 1,000 views. Regardless, he had enough notoriety outside of the internet to book a national tour in 2009. On March 18th, 2009, he posted a video to YouTube^[2] that was a local ABC News story about him touring in Mississippi (shown below).

He continued doing educational tours throughout the early 2010s. On July 5th, 2013, he made his first Instagram^[3] post, earning over 40 likes in nine years (shown below, left). Despite low engagement, DangerMan had a following and affluence, evident in an Instagram^[4] post made on January 29th, 2014 of a Batmobile-esque vehicle with his name and logo on it (shown below, right).

DangerMan Hero Awards

In 2016, DangerMan launched the "DangerMan Hero Awards," which awards primarily Black activists who celebrate and honor, "the ordinary everyday men women and children who make a difference in the lives of others." ^[5]

Appearance with Stan Lee

On April 25th, 2014, DangerMan posted a video to YouTube^[7] that stated Marvel Comics' Editor-in-Chief and executive vice president Stan Lee had honored him. The video earned 47 likes in eight years (shown below, left). In 2016, Stan Lee made an appearance at the first-ever DangerMan Hero Awards. He gave an intro to the ceremony which was posted to YouTube^[8] by DangerMan on November 14th, 2016, gaining over 700 views in six years (shown below, right).

Spread to TikTok

On March 3rd, 2020, DangerMan started posting videos to TikTok^[9] with his first video earning roughly 1,000 plays in two years (shown below, left). He continued to post content to the platform going into 2021, with many of his videos using the front-facing camera. On April 10th, 2022, he posted a TikTok^[10] that earned roughly 776,400 plays and 158,900 likes in five days, showing him in his car singing along to his own theme song which dates back to 2018.^[11]