Political comic strips have been around since the early days of newspaper, but many of today’s young comic strip creators are spearheading a new trend toward social awareness. From comic strips like Questionable Content that take on social problems of everyday people to dizABLED, a comic strip with wheelchair bound main characters, creators are taking on social issues and promoting open discussion.
India’s Grassroots Comics
Grassroots Comics founder Sharad Sharma is on a mission. Since the early 1990s, Sharma has used comic strips as a way to raise awareness about India’s rural northeastern region. He talked with residents who were dealing with issues from political unrest to child sexual abuse. A journalist himself, Sharma discovered that encouraging people to express their ideas and thoughts through comic strips was a way to address not only the problems in the region, but also to get the world’s attention. Grassroots Comics programs are now found throughout India, Africa and Latin America to give the underserved a voice.
Wititudes and Facebook
Wititudes is a popular Facebook application that puts comic strip creativity in the hands of users. The application’s creator, Steven Liang, developed Wititudes in order to encourage public discourse through a user’s own creativity. There were other meme creators on Facebook before Wititudes, but Liang’s app provides a game-like structure that encourages discussion, promotes collaboration and urges open dialogue. Liang hopes that as users participate in the game they actively research political and current events on their own.
The Comic Book Project
Like comic strips, comic books are in a unique position to open up discourse and promote awareness. The Comic Book Project (CBP) is a literacy initiative that puts creative control into the hands of children. The program features Common Core Standards literacy components, creative skill and career development, original comic book digital publication and a feature exhibit at the Kids Comic-Con. Dr. Michael Bitz founded CBP in 2001. By 2003, CBP was used citywide in Cleveland and New York City. The Cleveland project focused on conflict resolution and the New York City program focused on environmental awareness. Since its inception, CBP has served over 100,000 children in every state and expanded to Canada, Mexico and Nicaragua.
Comic Strip Conversations
Carol Gray developed Comic strip conversations in 1994. Comic strip conversations are techniques designed to improve the social skills of people with autism. By using a series of symbols, colors, stick figures and drawings, educators promote a visual dialogue that offers insight into how the autistic individual perceives a situation and teaches socially acceptable behaviors.
Why It Works
Comic strips and books are the perfect tools for delivering messages and raising awareness about social issues. Comics are readily adapted to ever changing content based on current social issues and events. The visual nature of comic strips adds an element of understanding and the addition of humor makes it easy for readers to understand the message even if they disagree.
