The Con's website and Facebook header image.
The second annual Fat Activism Conference (#FatActCon) was this past weekend (Friday October 9th through Sunday October 11th, 2015) -- and I was on the keynote panel Fat And Faith!
The second annual Fat Activism Conference (#FatActCon) was this past weekend (Friday October 9th through Sunday October 11th, 2015) -- and I was on the keynote panel Fat And Faith!
The conference was again virtual – you could
listen live or later, on your phone or computer. And one of the great – and alas, all too rare
– things about it was that presenters were paid, through profit-sharing, as well
as having the option to earn money through an ‘affiliate’ program, where we received a percentage of the registrations of those who used our personal
link.
My fellow panelists were Rev. Gina Pond and
Rabbi Minna Bromberg. And we pretty much
did what it said on our tin: "This
panel will look at the places where body size and various faiths collide,
including ways that faith is used as a tool of fat oppression, as well as ways
in which faith can provide a platform for size diversity activism for those who
are interested.” Or at least made a
good start at it. We were introduced and
facilitated by Con organizer and tech guru Jeanette DePatie and moderated by Gina. We pre-recorded the panel, and then added a
live intro and Q&A (where Jeanette read us a few of the questions that had been
submitted by attendees) after it was played during the Con; this was all done
by conference call.
It definitely wasn’t my best work, but I
certainly learned a lot, and made some important connections in all senses.
The collage the Con made for their
website out of our panel's submitted photos (top to bottom it's Minna, myself, Gina).
My bio for the Con: “Mycroft Masada is a faith leader who moved
to the Washington DC area from hir lifelong home of Boston MA a year and a half
ago. Zie is a Community Engagement Adviser at TransFaith, a member of
TransEpiscopal, and maintains the online presence of the Interfaith Coalition
for Trans Equality. Mycroft is called to fat justice, and is a writer and
artist; hir piece “Good News: A Sermon On Fat Justice” appears in the current
issue of Fat Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Body Weight and Society
(the Special Issue on Religion and Fat). Zie is partnered with JuliaMcCrossin, the Fat Studies scholar, and their dogter Ursula is named after the
flabulous Little Mermaid character. More at http://MasadArts.blogspot.com/.”
Gina’s:
“Rev. Gina was initiated into an Alexandrian-type coven in 1999, and
received her Third Degree on Beltane of 2010 as co-founder, along with her wife
Sarah Thompson, of the Circle of Cerridwen (http://st4r.org). In
November 2013, she was approved for ordination in the Progressive Christian
Alliance, and had her ordination ceremony on March 15, 2014. She graduated from
Pacific School of Religion with a Masters of Divinity in May 2014. Rev. Gina
also served on the Minister’s Board at City of Refuge, UCC, which is a
radically inclusive Christian congregation, until the summer of 2015. Rev. Gina is the host of the This Week In
Heresy podcast (http://www.thisweekinheresy.com).
This Week In Heresy is a weekly interview podcast where Rev. Gina interviews
those who are exploring the boundaries of progressive thought, religion, and
social justice. She is also a writer, yarn spinner, soaper, tech geek, and
volunteer for her local Democratic party.”
