Media Blog #7

I found this article a while back and I thought I would share because the contents and what it talks about is pretty interesting stuff. The article talks about two Syrian brothers and their families that immigrated from the Middle East to New York, families that every week creates a comic strip based off of their experiences living in America and seeing firsthand the racism and intolerance that runs rampant in the country. It found this medium of education (the comic strip) very cool and I think in general, this allows for people to step into the shoes of a migrant and better understand the world that they see.

The comic strip started a while back when one of the brothers received an anonymous message from someone saying that unless he left the country, the brother would have his head chopped off and his family killed. The anonymous caller for good measure made it clear to the brother that he knew where he lived, stating his address. This spurred the families to start writing about their experiences in the new world. As a family, they talk about their experiences as a family and translate them into a comic strip for the paper.

I find this idea intriguing because as stated before, this form of media allows the reader to see what a refugee sees. The fact that it is a cartoon form makes it more digestible and allows the reader to get out of their own shoes and step into the shoes of someone else. I think it is important that media like this exists because if our perception of the world goes unchanged, we will never expand to solve the problems of others because we won't be able to see past ourselves.

There are a lot of messed up people in the world, people that often go unnoticed, and this medium of information allows us to better perceive all that goes on behind the scenes in America, background noise we readily tune out in our heads. I never would have thought to use something so childish like a comic strip to convey important messages about the minority groups in America and the challenges they face. It has certainly made me change how I actively see the world and still challenges my past perceptions of reality.

Article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/insider/times-journalists-use-words-photos-graphics-and-video-and-now-a-comic-strip.html?action=click&contentCollection=insider&module=NextInCollection&region=Footer&pgtype=article&version=section&rref=collection%2Fsection%2Finsider