The State of Black Science Fiction 2012

Yesterday at The State of Black Science Fiction 2012, the panel began by reading a story out loud.  I missed the very beginning, but it was about a dystopian society set in Atlanta.  There was a recurring interactive portion when a panelist asked the audience "Do you see?", and the audience responded "Yes, I see."  After they finished reading the story, they discussed if they considered their writing to be "speculative fiction", "sic-fi", or "science fiction".  I did not know that there was that big of a difference between the categories, but apparently there is.  The term "speculative fiction" was coined by Robert Heinlein, the author of Stranger in a Strange Land, a Tolkein fantasy epic knockoff.  I learned that originally, the New York Times was not supposed to include fantasy or science fiction books in their issues.  Speculative fiction is a larger category which encompasses science fiction and fantasy.