State of Emergency
“Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign. But stories can also be used to empower, and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of people. But stories can also repair that broken dignity.” —Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
It is with Adichie’s words in mind that I set out, soon after the November elections, to put together an online graphic narrative series to help amplify the voices and stories of the communities most at risk in this new and hostile reality. Seemingly overnight, we stepped back decades of hard-fought progress on issues of racism, bigotry, homophobia, xenophobia, nationalism, and so much more. At this point, we are a nation so deeply divided, we can’t even agree on what is real or fake news. We are in a state of emergency.
When I emailed the Illustrated PEN Editors Meg Lemke, Rob Kirby, and MariNaomi with the idea for this feature, they signed on instantly. Our hope is that the stories created for this series will help empower and inspire people to stand up and speak out and to begin to repair what has been so thoroughly broken. —Antonio Aiello
Precious Time
There’s nothing like losing your country when you’re little to help you see NATIONALISM as the strange and unnatural thing that it is. More
Battleground
When I lived between border patrol checkpoints, no one ever told me to go home. More
#Snowflake
I remember that horrible feeling on election night, when it became clear things were rapidly going south. More
Weekend After
I grew up in the deep south during segregation. It was the worst racism and discrimination. But we fought and we didn’t let ourselves become hopeless. More
Evident Truths
My Maternal grandmother was 6 years old when the 19th amendment passed. Her mother, who was illiterate, wouldn’t get to vote until her daughters brought her to the polls… More
Next World Tarot
A visual spectacle of both the battle cry and the reconnection between outcasts and their criminalized identities. More