Since I have returned home, I have not had a change to down the notes that I took on the the other panels that I attended at CONvergence - "Women of Color in Comics: Race, Gender and the Comic Book Medium" and "Latinx Empowerment Through Latinx Heroes" (I also attended "Don't Go There: Taboo Topics and Triggers In Art," but I did not take any notes) - but now I have a moment to get some thoughts down. These two panels do tie into the other panels that I was on (read about Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, and Day 4), and I plan on writing out detailed thoughts about these as time permits.

Women of Color in Comics: Race, Gender and the Comic Book Medium

The concepts of race being gendered and gender being raced:
Artemis in Wonder Woman being described as "brutish"
Other persons of color who have been described as brutes: Venus and Serena Williams
See "Cult of True Womanhood" and CONvergence 2017 - Day 3

When writing characters, be certain to avoid tokenism. See CONvergence 2017 - Day 1 and On Tokenism.

We as a people need to remember that not all women have vaginas, and not all men have penises.

One of the difficulties of being a person of color, and especially a woman of color, is ending up representing one's entire race when among a group of people. See White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack and On Tokenism.

Rosario Dawson -> is she in everything?

Code-switching -> AAVE, why we do code-switching, and the social significance.

Race-bending versus whitewashing - also, listen to 50 Shades of Blackface

Panelists: Bri Donovan (mod), Morgan Strickland, AlysshaRose Jordan

Latinx Empowerment Through Latinx Heroes

Latinx characters to learn more about:
El Diablo -> DC Character, created by Jai Nitz (one of the panelists)
America Chavez
Blue Beetle (Young Justice)
Zorro - especially the novelization written by Isabel Allende
Elena of Avalor
El Dorado (Super Friends) - didn't show up in comics until Jai Nitz put him in
Cisco Kid
Desi Arnaz

Tejano - a Mexican-American inhabitant of Southern Texas.
People in general need to learn about cowboys (Spanish roots, Vaqueros, and the lie of the "American Heroes of the West")
Passing Privilege -> the advantages of looking White
Colorism -> a subset of racism, where having lighter skin is viewed as "better"

Fixers in the community - to whites, criminals; to members of the community, Robin Hoods.
"Criminal doesn't just mean bad."
Lack of representation adds to ideas of monstrosity
"If the only person of color is a villain, I'm; gonna gravitate towards her." - Bri

Stories to check out:
Bitch Planet - Vita Ayala
Suicide Squad Most Wanted: El Diablo and Amanda Waller - Vita Ayala
High Aztech
Cortez on Jupiter

Panelists: Bri Donovan (mod), SEE MORE PERSPECTIVE, Jai Nitz, Andrea Peraza, Clarissa Goldsmith

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