Throughout ASTU 100, we have covered a wide range of topics, from life narratives to bearing witness. One topic that I constantly refer back to is that of counter narratives and how they act against the dominant framework put forth by society. My final blog post will focus on counter narratives, in particular life narratives from Humans of New York.
In their reading “Conjunctions: Life Narratives in the Field of Human Rights”, Schaffer and Smith discuss how counter narratives from marginalized groups allow dominant communities “occasions for witnessing to human rights abuse” (4). Marginalized groups are often overshadowed by the dominating party in society, making it difficult for them to have their voices and stories heard and told. Schaffer and Smith argue that local movements “generate climates that enable the reception and recognition of news stories… offering members new or newly valued subject positions from which to speak and address members of their own community” (4). One such local movements (although not so local anymore) is the popular blog and media site Humans of New York
Humans of New York is the brainchild of photographer Brandon Stanton. What started out as a simple photography journey around New York City has now turned into an international phenomenon, amassing over 20 million followers on social media. While Stanton’s original plan was to “photograph 10,000 New Yorkers on the street and create an exhaustive catalogue of the city’s inhabitants”, his work has taken him all around the globe, documenting and recording the stories of thousands of individuals. Stanton’s site is an archive of life narratives and stories ranging from prison inmates to refugees. His site gives raw, unfiltered and first hand encounters from individuals. I am most interested with his work concerning refugees, in particular his recent work with Rohingya refugees.
BBC has reported the Rohingya crisis to be one of the world’s fastest growing refugee crisis. Although there has been massive amounts news coverage on the crisis and the United Nations calling the massacre of Rohingya Muslims a form of ethnic cleansing, Myanmar has continued to deny such claims. During the month of March, Stanton began photographing and documenting the lives of Rohingya refugees. He also created a fundraising page to build bamboo houses for the refugees. The refugees were male and female and ranged from young children to the elderly. They told harrowing stories of military troops firing indiscriminately while villagers attempted to flee, villages that were set on fire, mothers who were forced to abandon their children etc. These stories that Stanton has documented are much more intimate and raw than what we might see and hear from news outlet sources. By personally approaching and asking these refugees to share such personal stories, Stanton is able to provide a platform for these refugees to be heard, and with such a large social media presence/following, these stories have managed to garner massive amounts of public attention. Stanton turns the spotlight on Rohingya crisis, framing it as a situation that is in need of public attention.
Final Thoughts
Our CAP stream is “Global Citizens”. What exactly does it mean to be global? Does it mean that we should work towards a more connected and globalized world? I think for us to be global citizens it means that we need to be aware of the happenings around the world, whether they are good or bad. It means that we need to acknowledge the fact that there are marginalized groups in society and that we have enforced hegemonic frameworks that act against such groups. We need to pay attention to these hegemonic frameworks and find ways to incorporate the voices of the marginalized that will help to break down these frameworks. Rather than running away from these issues, we need to find solutions that will help foster a more globalized, accepting and hospitable environment for all peoples.
Works Cited
“Myanmar Rohingya: What You Need to Know about the Crisis.” BBC News, BBC, 16 Jan. 2018, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41566561.
Schaffer, Kay and Smith Sidonie. “Conjunctions: Life Narratives in the Field of Human Rights.” Biography, vol. 27, no. 1, 2004, pp. 1-24.
Stanton, Brandon. “Humans of New York.” Humans of New York, www.humansofnewyork.com/.