My Multi-Modal Project (1.0)

            For my multi-modal piece I decided to make a graphic novel detailing a few events that fall under four different sections of my identity. I covered how my race, religion, gender, and nationality affect how I think and move through the world.

            When we were first given this assignment for this class, many people seemed to be relieved that we had the opportunity to reuse something we’ve created for a similar assignment we had for our Classes, Schools, and Communities class. I, however, saw it as an opportunity to redo the assignment. The first time we did this assignment, I made a slideshow with pictures and conducted a presentation. While I was able to demonstrate my beliefs and facets of my identity, I did not feel like the format of my product was me enough. This time around, I decided to utilize some of my personal interests – drawing and storytelling – to show parts of who I am.

            I enjoyed the process of constructing this piece. I knew I wouldn’t have enough time to cover all of the different pieces of identity that were listed on our assignment sheet, so I started by choosing the four sections that stand out the most for me in my life. Then, I thought of two times these sections have made a difference for me and drew a picture for each event. I was calmed and satisfied by the freedom to express myself through drawings, but this process was also a little emotional as I waded through some tough or challenging memories to find a few to put on the page.

            As I created this piece, I decided to name it “A Snapshot of My Identity”. This decision came from the fact that while each page covers a deeply personal and real part of my identity, because of time limits versus the amount of work required for each page, I was only able to cover a tiny part of my identity. Even within each category, I was only able to cover a little bit of huge parts of my life. I was able to cover some of the big events or feelings that have been brought up throughout my life, but there are countless silences that just could not be touched while using this format.

            My two classmates who viewed my graphic novel asked about a couple of the silences within it. One of their points in particular that I found to be interesting had to do with the final section of the graphic novel, which covered my feelings of nationality. The basis of these pages were that as a child, I blindly believed that the U.S.A. was the greatest country in the world because that’s what I was told by the adults around me, but the older I get, the more and more I realize all of the problems this country has. One of my classmates asked if I held any pride in my country, and where that pride might lie. This question has stuck with me this whole week. I know that I feel pride in parts of my country, but it is so much harder to pick out the good things, especially when we live in a time where blatantly ignorant and hateful people are at the wheel, and so many people are fearing for their lives. After pondering this question for a long time, I’ve come to the basic idea that while our government generally disgusts me, I do find pride in what some of the average citizens of America are pushing for. Maybe it is just because I am living in a city (rather than the tiny rural town I come from), but I am noticing more and more people pushing for basic human rights and equity for all, people holding each other’s hands and giving assistance to those in need, people coming together to fight the hate. I know there really are great things about this country, but this is the one thing I am clinging to for pride in the U.S.A.

            Moving forward with this piece, I’m not sure if I will continue with the graphic novel format. While this has been a great process for me, I feel I cannot get enough of my story out with just a few pages. I’m not really sure what I will try next, but I hope to uncover some of the silences within the next version of this project.

            As for my resource for this week, I decided to choose a video that is both relevant to my struggles with finding pride for my country as well as to current events. The internet has blown up with a recent Nike ad featuring NFL quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, stating "Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything. This ad has made a big splash because Kaepernick was one of the first NFL players to kneel during the national anthem in protest of injustices in this country, such as police brutality. I've decided to link this post-game interview with Kaepernick, where he explains his decision to kneel and protest for those who don't have as much of a voice in our society.