Our Stories Carried Us Here

"Our Stories Carried Us Here is an exhibition of an original and fascinating journey by Zaynab Abdi, Aziz Kamal, Craig Moodie, Karelin, Ruth Mekoulom, Alex Tsipenyuk, Zurya Anjum, Sergio Cenoch and Mary Anne Quiroz, Vy Luong, Amara Solomon Kamara—eleven immigrants and refugees from Chad, Guatemala, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Liberia, Mexico, Myanmar (Rohingya), Pakistan, Philippines, Vietnam, and Yemen living across the United States.

The exhibition brings forward complex and challenging issues of race, religion, class, racial profiling, education inequality, systematic displacement and discrimination, mental health, disability, activism, and more to reclaim a narrative that has so often been shaped by hate, fear, and xenophobia.

Ten vibrantly illustrated stories co-created by first and second-generation immigrant illustrators that empower individuals of various backgrounds and act as a mirror and a light. They connect us all with experiences that inspire both hope and empathy.

This exhibition is based on the book titled, Our Stories Carried Us Here: A Graphic Novel Anthology, which is edited by Julie Vang, Tea Rozman, and Tom Kaczynski. Along with the foreword written by Thi Bui, book cover illustrated by Nate Powell, and published by Green Card Voices, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit organization that utilizes the art of storytelling to share first person narratives of America’s immigrants to establish a better understanding between immigrants and their communities.

The exhibition is co-presented by the Charles B. Wang Center and Green Card Voices ( www.greencardvoices.org)

Follow @ charlesb.wangcenter and @GreenCardVoices on social media

Books are available at the SBU Bookstore and www.greencardvoices.org/books/graphic-novel"

Charles B. Wang Center