Mark Wesley Pritchard

When will it ever end? That’s the question I’ve been asking myself. The “it” I’m referring to is police brutality and racial injustice. The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day and the manner of how he died broke my heart. The video of a police officer pinning Floyd on the ground, using his knee and pressing the back of his neck for several minutes, pleading that he couldn’t breathe, was disturbing. It was heartbreaking to watch and was in tears.

Greetings, Vocal readers. Pride Month has finally arrived. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, we have to remember that we’re still fighting for equality for all LGBT people. I know that marriage equality has been legalized for almost five years, but queer people are still being discriminated against and denied services. We have an election coming up in November and if President Trump doesn’t get re-elected, the next commander-in-chief has to be committed to fight for the rights of gay and lesbian people and condemn discrimination of all forms.

In case you haven’t noticed, a majority of conventions, not only here in this country, but in other contries, have other been postponed to later in the year, summer, or cancelled altogether. I’ve recently asked cosplayers on my social media pages if they felt comfortable or nervous about attending a con this year. A large number of people said that they’re mostly concerned about bad hygiene from others. I’ve been a cosplayer for about six years and I’m really big on hygiene. I make sure that I take a shower before attending a convention and taking another one when I get home from one. In my opinion, hygiene is something that all cons should address and there should be strict rules about that to prevent others from getting sick. Also, they should have social distancing measures implemented. I’m confident of attending a con this year, but doing it safely and responsibly.

It’s been a while since I’ve done a game review. Since I’m currently on paid leave from work because of the coronavirus pandemic, I playing video games to keep myself occupied. For the first time on Vocal, I’ll be reviewing two games at the same time. Those are Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition. I’ll share my own personal ratings for both games near the end of this article.

Greetings, Vocal readers. I’ve recently resumed doing cosplayer interviews after a three month hiatus from it. The following cosplayer interview is my 34th one in the last couple of years. My goal is to interview 100 cosplayers, so I’m almost halfway to my goal. With that being said, I recently interviewed cosplayer Terrence Henderson and got to know more about him.

It’s been three months since I’ve done a cosplayer interview, but now, I’m back in the saddle doing them. Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing cosplayer Chris George. Get to know more about him by enjoying my interview.