Anime expo 2022 volunteer7/24/2023 I assumed and hoped it was a one-off instance, but I had interactions and sightings in similar genres the next two days of the con. It may seem like a small matter, but I mentally noted that someone wanting to show off-and feeling comfortable with showing off-an Info Wars backpack at Anime Expo felt like … a shift. I peeked at the guy’s face-white guy, no mask (masks were supposedly required). It effuses the most eyebrow-raising right wing conspiracies as you can get. Suffice it to say, it’s headed by the guy who encouraged people to make the lives of the parents of the Sandy Hook victims even more of a living hell. If you’re not familiar with Info Wars, lucky you. On yet, on Saturday, there it was: an Info Wars backpack. (I’ve learned to accept the inevitably of the booby mouse pads and sexy nudie body pillows. Perhaps it’s my privilege speaking, but I do not remember anything presented matter-of-factly that made me uncomfortable. I remember the joy and the exhaustion and the incredibly sore feet. I’ve only been to one other Anime Expo, as a fan, way back in 2017. It seemed that what my partner quip-nicknamed “The Pepe The Frog Coalition” felt more emboldened to show themselves. For me, personally, the highlight was a One Piece cosplay gathering, where, for a straight hour, over one hundred people gleefully flooded in and out of poses for photos, all while celebrating and commending everyone’s cosplays.īut as Anime Expo went on, I began to notice things which gave me pause. I chatted with a couple vendors about this-there was a consensus that it was both thrilling and joyful, but also a lot. It was the first time myself and many of the vendors, volunteers, and attendees have been in a crowded space since 2020. In most ways, it was a rejuvenating, joyous event where people excitedly came together to celebrate this cultural phenomenon we all love deeply. People have changed, too-many, like myself, as a byproduct of barely leaving our homes.Īll of this is becomes blatantly apparent at events like Anime Expo, which just had its first in-person convention since 2019. And that’s all just on the national stage, and it doesn’t even begin to cover everything. The then-President encouraged a violent failed coup and started a fast-growing (and false) tradition of denying the legitimacy of our elections. Women and the LGBTQ+ community have lost core rights. After worldwide protests against deadly police violence here, white people as a group have no excuse to not be aware of systemic racism, and no excuse not to work to help dismantle it. Our politics have become even more polarized and are often dominated by fringe groups and conspiracies. There’s no denying that, since the COVID pandemic shut down America in March 2020, there have been many changes on scales large and small.
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