CONvergence 2024: Everyone’s Invited is just around the corner, and I am very much looking forward to it. It will be great to see friends and acquaintances, go to panels and learn/experience things, be on panels and share my knowledge, and all the fun things one can do at a convention! I hope to see you there!
Well, it’s almost Independence Day Weekend, and that means that it is almost time for CONVergence 2023: All Dressed Up. I am looking forward to it; I haven’t been to CONvergence since 2019, since just before the pandemic. I am eternally grateful to be able to go to CONvergence once again, to see those whom I don’t get to see often, to go to panels and learn/experience things and share my knowledge. It promises to be a grand time.
Last season, I started to take some time to sit down and talk to fellow POC folx in the geek community about our experiences. Now that we’re in season 2, the discussions continue. Today we have a returning special guest - writer and cosplayer, Sonni de Soto (she/her). You can find Sonni with the following links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sonni_de
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sonni_de_soto/
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/sonnidesoto
Content Warning - Mentions or Discussions of:
COVID-19
Eyes
Religion
Spoiler Warning:
The Good Place
In this episode, we discuss topics ranging from Religion and Vampires to Transformers and Star Trek.
Hosted By:
Justin (xe/xem) - https://www.justingrays.org/
Nat MN (they/them)
Sarah (she/her)
Content Warning - Mentions of:
Dysmorphia
Religion
Sex
Vampires
Werecreatures
Books/Comics/Series Referenced:
The Season Finale! In this episode, we discuss topics ranging from theater to anime to World War II.
This episode is not sponsored.
Hosted By:
Justin (xe/xem) - https://www.justingrays.org/
Nat MN (they/them)
Sarah (she/her)
Content Warning - Mentions of:
Chronic Pain (Migraines / Sciatica)
COVID-19
H. P. Lovecraft
Louis C.K.
Holocaust / Nazis
Robert A. Heinlein
Student Debt
So, as longtime listeners may be aware, the usual format of this podcast is for me and two or three of my co-hosts to talk about society and current events from a perspective other than your stereotypical podcaster - that is, not from a cishet white male. But another thing that I’ve been meaning to do is to sit down and talk to fellow POC folx in the geek community about our experiences.
And so with that in mind, today we have a special guest - writer and cosplayer, Sonni de Soto (she/her). You can find Sonni with the following links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sonni_de
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sonni_de_soto/
In this episode, we discuss topics ranging from city councils and the military to The Muppets and Animaniacs.
This episode is not sponsored.
Hosted By:
Justin (xe/xem) - https://www.justingrays.org/
Nat MN (they/them)
Sarah (she/her)
Content Warning - Mentions of:
Alcohol
Anti-maskers
Death
Medical Appointments
Medical Procedures
Mental Illness
Military
Police
Psychological Abuse
Racism
Slavery
Starship Troopers
Spoiler Warning: Disney’s Gargoyles
In this episode, we discuss topics ranging from conventions and politics to COVID-19 and memes.
This episode is not sponsored. We are not medical providers, and nothing we say should be construed as medical advice.
FaeBun (she/her)
Justin (xe/xem) - https://www.justingrays.org/
Michelle Chmura (she/her) - https://twitter.com/avocadabro & https://residentialrobot.tumblr.com/
Content Warning - Mentions of:
Aging
COVID-19
Death
Fibromyalgia
Military
Physical Therapy
Richard Dawkins
Weight & Weight Loss
Over the last four years, I have been promising to finish cleaning up the audio from the various panels that I have been on and improve the show notes. Now that the GraysMatter Podcast is up and running, I have taken the time to also revisit these panels. Please join me in experiencing Justin on Panels.
The desire for realism is high in the cosplay community, but when does it go to far? Is it okay to change skin tone to emulate a character of a different race? Is it necessary? What is the difference between looking like another race and another species?
Panelists: Justin Grays, Stephanie Stensland (mod), Sarah Molasky, Morgan Strickland, Charlene Holm
Content Warning:
Blackface
Racism
Now, let’s be clear on this - I will not be attending. This is only about me and the specific situation that I am in, and no one else. Other people have their own decisions to make, and I am not trying to influence that. This is just to explain why I am not going, because many people keep asking me why and I find it easier to have a central spot to provide an answer.
Those of you who are going, though, I have two requests:
Please take a lot of pictures! I hope to see what it is like this year. I am sad that I am not going.
Please volunteer or donate to CVG! CONvergence needs community support to stay afloat, and I for one would love to see it make a comeback in 2022.
Black Fan, White Fandom: What it was like in the days before representation was as prominent, even though we have a long way to go. Panelists: Taylor Aaron Cisco, Briana Lawrence, Justin Edward Grays. Liaison: Shannan Paul
Although COVID-19 has postponed CONvergence: The Stuff of Legends to 2021, we still were able to move forward with having an online convention. CONvergence Online was a free to attend event where we can digitally gather and enjoy the convention weekend; we were still able to hold room parties and participate in panels over Zoom. You can listen to or download an audio version of the panel here, or watch on the CONvergence YouTube channel.
Although COVID-19 has postponed CONvergence: The Stuff of Legends to 2021, that doesn’t mean that there won’t be a CONvergence in 2020. This weekend will be CONvergence Online - a free to attend event where we can digitally gather and enjoy the convention weekend! I hope to see you all there!
I will be on a panel with Taylor A Cisco on Friday the 21st at 6PM: Black Fan, White Fandom - “A discussion of how PoC kept their geek torches burning in the days when representation was non-existent.” If you have any early questions that you would like us to consider during our discussion, please feel free to fill out the form below. I cannot guarantee that your question will come up, but even if it doesn’t, I will do my best to answer your question in a post after the convention!
How can we encourage a sense of inclusivity and community in your favorite geek spaces? Participants: Rakhi Rajpal, Echo Martin, AlysshaRose Jordan, Justin Edward Grays (mod)
Back by popular demand! Polyamory means “many loves;” but there are many ways to be polyamorous. Come discuss it and some ways to navigate it. This panel provides space for those new to/curious about polyamory.
I did not record the panel this time due to privacy concerns. It is not safe for people to be openly polyamorous; people who are outed can lose their friends, lose their jobs, be denied promotions, lose their children, and lose their homes. There are audio recordings from other panels that I’ve been on about polyamory & non-monogamy - look at posts with the tags Polyamory or Non-Monogamy [Note 1].
There will be another post later for the Polyamory 202 panel at CONvergence 2019. At the end of that panel, I had made a post that included links to related topics and a form for those who had feedback or had more questions to ask. I am still accepting questions from it and will be making a separate post with responses after I finish writing about the CONvergence 2019 panels.
Androids & AI in sci-fi disrupt the idea of a gender binary: what purpose is there for an android and/or AI to have gender? Could an android/AI be trans, gender-fluid, and/or non-binary? How will that affect how we as a society see gender as a construct? Participants: Naomi Kritzer (mod), Leigh Hellman, Justin Edward Grays, Nate Bird, Elliot Besmann
Content Warnings:
Mention of sexual harassment towards AI.
References to the dehumanization of indigenous peoples.
Creating actual diversity requires a great effort to avoid unintentionally tokenizing your characters. Tokenism, even when unintentional, is what leads to adding "diversity" for the sake of diversity. How do we engender true diversity in our literature?
Panelists: Tamora Pierce, Justin Grays, Kerry Peterson (mod), Jei Herald-Zamora
At the end of the Polyamory 202 panel at CONvergence, I promised that I would put up a form for those who might have more questions or want to see what was discussed on previous panels. Most everything will have the tags Non-Monogamy or Polyamory, so they will be easy to find in the future (as well as any future writings).
At the end of the Polyamory 101 panel at CONvergence 2018, I had released a survey that asked for any questions that people wanted to ask but didn't have the opportunity to, as well as asked what people would like to have discussed at a future panel. I had hoped to answer these questions several months ago, but unfortunately things got in the way.
Content Warning: Rape gets brought up in this post. It is mentioned in the Hard Passes.
CONvergence 2018 was July 5-8, 2018, almost 3 months ago now. I had planned on getting this post done two weeks ago as I have been trying to get posts out on a regular basis, but certain events tied up my brainspace. I’m not willing to say that I am back on track yet, but I am certainly trying. As a reminder of Day 3 (Saturday the 7th), I was on the panel “Polyamory 101” and attended “Sex in Sci-Fi/Fantasy”. For part 2, I present to you my notes from “Sex in Sci-Fi/Fantasy”.
