BLOG #12: P.O.P. + Semester Recap
Due to the pandemic and the stay at home order, our Producing Our Power event has been transfigured into something that we could take part in while we are quarantined within the walls of our homes. For P.O.P., we had to design three social media graphics for the campaign #StopAAPIHate.
Since March 19th, the CAA has received about 1,500 reported incidents of coronavirus-related discrimination. The pandemic fueled anti-Asian American sentiments all over the country, and a lot of innocent Asian Americans are being hated upon for the things that they did not do.
For the Inform part of my design, I used the Data Analysis presented by the CAA/A3PCON STOP AAPI HATE website in order to highlight an important statistic from the reports that have been submitted to them over the past few months.
"Out of the 1,497 reports of hate submitted on the CAA/A3PCON STOP AAPI HATE website from March 19 - April 15, 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, 89.8% of those reports involved racial discrimination." The photo also features a parking lot vandalized with a "No Asian Parking" sentiment as a reflection of one of the accounts that I have read while scrolling through the data that they have presented.
For the Educate part of my design, I chose to bring to light the steps that should be taken into consideration once an individual is experiencing hate. With the "When Experiencing Hate" Information link on ilearn, I have devised a way to remember that steps to take in order to get a hold of the situation at hand.
The illustration that I created is very self-explanatory. Just remember the word SAFE.
For the last part of my design, the Motivate part, it was quite hard to find a tagline that would stick. But I figured it out at the last minute and connected it in a way that brings a component of activism into the image. The call to action goes:
People should focus on how they could prevent themselves and others from being infected by the virus-- practice some empathy, consideration, and proper hygiene instead of focusing their negative energy into something that wouldn't exactly help with our current situation. I'd even argue that the anti-Asian American sentiments will probably keep us inside for longer. Remember, that hate will not lead us to a vaccine, nor flatten the curve of infection. I know we are a lot more sensible than that.
Semester Recap: Doing the P.O.P assignment was a great way to conclude the semester itself. Every blog, every creative project that I have done in this class has led me to become more aware of my roots and the socioeconomic injustices that minorities, just like Asian Americans, face on a daily basis within the United States. This class helped me to resonate better with the things that are occurring around me. I get distracted a lot with most of my biology and anatomy classes and seldom have the time to turn on the tv and watch the news online. This class has widened my consciousness about my culture and how much influence it had over the narrative that I have written for myself. I'm glad that I had the chance to experience such an amazing class with an amazing professor and an amazing group of people (especially my fruit salad peeps huhuhu). Even if we had to switch to remote instruction due to the pandemic, this class never failed to offer support and understanding throughout the semester. And to my fruit salad group mates, y'all are so supportive and super fantastic! I consider myself lucky to be in a group with you guys and I'll always treasure our fun times together! I hope you all stay safe and healthy! 🤗💞