What to know
- Last weekend, thousands of fans gathered at New York’s Javits Center for the annual popular culture convention better known as Comic Con.
- While being a fan of comics or superheroes is fun, the stories behind the costumes offer children, just like adults, a way to connect with personal identity and diversity.
- Diversity and inclusion in comics give their readers a way to see themselves in a leading role and for that very reason there are some educators who believe these comics are an additional tool in their classrooms.
NEW YORK – This past weekend, thousands of fans gathered at New York’s Javits Center for the annual popular culture convention better known as Comic Con.
While being a fan of comics or superheroes is fun, the stories behind the costumes offer children, just like adults, a way to connect with personal identity and diversity.
Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez, philanthropist and creator of the comic “La Borinqueña”, is a prime example of how the medium of comics and graphic novels opens the door to personal identity and acceptance.
“What inspired me to become an artist was the power that storytelling can bring to those who embrace these graphic novels or comics. It is a visual medium, but when done correctly it can create a transformative effect on an individual. In my space , as a Puerto Rican graphic novel, as a person of color, I take the opportunity to create a character who embraces her cultural heritage and nationality in a way and industry that doesn’t even reflect her existence, “said Miranda-Rodríguez.
For their part, Andrea Rose Washington and Cerece Rennie Murphy, both African American authors of fantasy novels, started creating their own stories because they didn’t have characters like them when they were little.
“It’s great to write stories with characters that physically resemble us because children want to see themselves reflected in what they read,” Washington said. “For me, it’s definitely very important because growing up I didn’t have it. Growing up I had to find a character and make him look like me because children grow up and see themselves as something they can aspire to in their imaginations.”
Murphy shared the same point from Washington, saying that having a character you can relate to is hugely important.
“You connect with the characters,” he said. “It’s easier to see yourself, it’s easier to empathize, it’s easier to understand. That’s what we all experience … actually the push now is to include all readers. Everyone has the same experience, but if you don’t see yourself, you don’t connect in the same way. “
Diversity and inclusion in comics give their readers a way to see themselves in a leading role and for that very reason there are some educators who believe these comics are an additional tool in their classrooms, especially for students who may have difficulty with traditional learning.
There are always those classic reading books in school, but according to school librarian Thomas Knowlton, bringing comics to class presents a different way of learning.
“I think the most important thing I’d like to say to an educator who wants to use graphic novels or comics would be that it’s neither a proposal nor / nor,” said Knowlton, a librarian at the High School of Fashion Industries in Manhattan. “It’s about reading more, not reading less … I think it’s important to have things that are topical and really capture the experiences of today’s students.”
