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.
The adventure of cleaning up audio and improving show notes from previous panels continues in today’s episode of Justin on Panels. We are still working through MarsCon 2018, with the panel “Race and Culture in the Honorverse”. Please note: MarsCon 2018 was seven months before the release of Uncompromising Honor (HH14). Shadow of Victory (SI4) was the most recent novel in the current timeline.
Content Warning: Slavery does get discussed in this panel, and there are white men trying to whitesplain it away.
David Weber's Honor Harrington series presents a very diverse gambit of humans in a far future when race does not seem to matter as much as politics. Juxtaposed against our own realities, how does this fundamentally affect our perception of the Honorverse?
With: Justin Grays, Stephanie Stensland
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 adventure of cleaning up audio and improving show notes from previous panels continues in today’s episode of Justin on Panels. We are still working through MarsCon 2018, with the panel “Cleavage Optional: Gender, Cosplay, and Genderbending Cosplay”.
Content Warning: Blackface does get mentioned during this panel.
How is the cosplay experience different for women and men? Why is genderbent cosplay so popular? What fans aren't doing it and what characters aren't being genderbent? What does this mean for trans and non-binary characters and fans?
With: Bridget Landry, Justin Grays, Kris Heding
The following is a guest post from Helen Back. She is the Outreach Manager for KillTheCableBill.com. Helen loves to help people rid themselves of the high costs of cable and satellite TV, through writing about simple cost effective alternatives to cable TV.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Justin Grays. Any content provided by the author is of their opinion and has not been verified by Justin Grays.
The adventure of cleaning up audio and improving show notes from previous panels continues in today’s episode of Justin on Panels. We are still working through MarsCon 2018, with the panel “Gem Watch”.
Discussion of the recent episodes of Steven Universe. What are your theories about events on Homeworld? What will this bring to Beach City?
With: Kathryn Sullivan, mod.; Justin Grays
Content Warning - mentions of:
Death
PTSD
Stress
Toxic Masculinity
Toxic Relationships
Trauma
Spoiler Warning: Steven Universe
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.
Our special guest this week is local geek Kareem Abdelrahman.
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 GraysMatter Podcast is up and running, I have taken the time to also revisit these panels. Please join me in experiencing Justin on Panels.
In society and in the media, a number of myths have revolved around polyamory. Though polyamory is becoming more generally accepted, the media shows it as a white phenomenon. Explore and discuss how the polyamorous experience is portrayed and how it differs from reality.
With: Kyle Andrew, Justin Grays
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.
Our guest today is an accomplished performer, choreographer, and director with Fandazzi Fire Circus, Katy Solko. You can find Fandazzi Fire Circus here:
Website: https://www.fandazzifire.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FandazziFire
Instagram: https://instagram.com/fandazzi
Welcome to Part 2 of my conversion with Sonni de Soto. If you haven’t listened to Part 1, I suggest you listen to it first. Sonni and I had a lot to talk about, and this is starting right where we left off.
You can find Sonni with the following links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sonni_de
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sonni_de_soto/
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
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 GraysMatter Podcast is up and running, I have taken the time to also revisit these panels. Please join me in experiencing Justin on Panels.
Creating actual diversity requires a great effort to avoiding 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 sci fi and comics?
With: Justin Grays, Rob Callahan, S.N. Arly, Tyler Tork, mod.
Content Warning:
Mention of the slur for Romani people
Transracial/Transcultural adoption
In this episode, we discuss topics ranging from White Liberalism and Oregon to The Simpsons and Avatar: The Last Airbender.
This episode is not sponsored.
Justin (xe/xem) - https://www.justingrays.org/
Nat MN (they/them)
Sarah (she/her)
Content Warning - Mentions of:
Animal Injuries
Blood
Collapsed Lung
Medical Neglect
Medical Racism
Medical Sexism
Nazis/NeoNazis
Racism/Racial Slurs
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
We talk about everything from masks, fashion, and glasses, to policing, skinny dipping, and kayaking.
This episode is not sponsored. We are not lawyers, and nothing we say is intended to be, nor should be constituted as legal advice.
FaeBun (she/her)
Jen (she/her) - https://twitter.com/Jenathi
Justin (xe/xem) - https://www.justingrays.org/
Nazis
Rape Culture
Vomiting
Police
Transitioning
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!
Some time ago, someone wrote a post on social media and accredited it to pro-golfer Bubba Watson. This post was a poorly written, terribly construed piece of garbage that takes more time to explain why each point of it is incorrect than it took to write in the first place. It uses the type of rapid-fire wording that makes it look like it is trying to be thoughtful and making a point when it is nothing more than an offensive dog-whistle and rides on the back of the lack of media literacy in certain groups of people. It is an attempt to make things look like Black people don’t care about our communities when we have been struggling our entire lives to survive.
We have been seeing gestures from political entities, ranging from Black Lives Matter murals painted on streets and streets renamed to Black Live Matter, to congresspeople wearing Kente Cloth, to cops kneeling in supposed solidarity before resuming their beatings of protesters. But gestures are not enough - action is needed. What we need are the defunding and dismantling of police, as well as investment in communities.
