B-L-A-N-K

 

    Hello! Recently in our Humanities class we had a makeshift poll to decide what our next AP should be about. A classmate of mine suggested a comic book and my teacher loved it, along with a few other people amongst our class. I felt (and still feel) this AP would be extremely fun and inclusive. We were to make a comic book surrounding and relating to our own identities along with a connection to the book of our choice for the unit. We were also provided with the option to work with up to 2 other people. This comic was not required to be realistic and could be completely non-fictional as long as aspects of our identities were included.

                                                                    My Chapter Draft

    My partner and I are both Black Americans but of 2 different sexes. We felt it would be more effective to have 2 separate "chapters" for our comic, that way we won't have to sacrifice many of our ideas while still collaborating. My chapter is based on a young black girl who lost her brother due to gun violence. She begins to suffer from anxiety and mild depression. Music becomes her coping mechanism, and she loses her sense of self without it. She also faces racism at school, being called constant slurs which also triggers her anxiety. Connecting to my book, her father treated her as if she was a lab rat; doing constant tests to prove and evaluate his many theories of what makes and "independent black woman". 

    In my partners chapter, the main character is a college student that faces both racism and bullying. This resorts in him hating school, he is made fun of and pushed around at school and called slurs on social media. This chapter covers a very sensitive topic of cyber bullying. He allows his intrusive thoughts to win and shoots people within his school. He leaves, unregretful of his actions and still angry from all of the pain he suffered. The title of our book is "Blank", leaving room for one's own ideas, experiences, engagement, and perspective.

    This comic book was extremely fun to make, and very intentional. I loved getting to express my ideas and this allowed me to challenge both my artistic abilities as well as my creativity. I feel the major lesson I learned from this project is that time management is extremely important and is something I should definitely working. Overall, this project was hands down my favorite and I'm glad we were presented the opportunity.