Sustained Investigation
I have always been proud of my identity as an Asian American, but I am baffled by the lack of knowledge surrounding Asian American history by my peers as well as many adults in my life. Many historical events for people of color, both triumphs and tragedies, have been simply forgotten. For my sustained investigation, I wanted to highlight the forgotten history of the people of color in the United States through various uses of typography.
The Murder of Vincent Chin
Specifically inspired by the murder of Vincent Chin in 1982. Two white men murdered him on the unfound claim that he "stole" their jobs. In fact, the supposed cause of their job loss was due to the Japanese auto industry competition. His killers never paid any reparations and weren't given any sentence for their cold-blooded murder. The lack of sentencing was a catalyst to an uprising of outrage by Asian American communities. I represented that idea in the piece using the Illustrator blend tool on the text and overlaying a bitmap of x's over the whole piece.
The Chinese Massacre
Inspired by the lynching of between 17-20 Chinese people in Los Angeles in one night 1871. This is regarded as the largest mass lynching in American history when a mob of over 500 lynched around 10% of the Chinese population of Los Angeles at the time. The piece depicts the hanging of so many Chinese individuals in the one night, but the history of the massacre is fading into the background as the history is often forgotten and had not local news reports during the time of the event. The border on the outside is inspired by the memorial plaque of the massacre in Los Angeles today.
The Cells of Henrietta Lacks
The story of Henrietta Lacks is less forgotten, as the story of her cervical cells being taken without her consent has been told more in recent years. But from her "immortal" cells, incredible scientific advancements were achieved without crediting or asking for her consent. The piece is a digitally drawn recreation of her cells under a microscope as the words "Stolen Cells No Consent" are intertwined with an infinity sign representing the immortality of her cells.
Onesimus and Inoculation
Inspired by the history of Onesimus, a slave who introduced the concept of inoculation to his master Cotton Mather in Boston during the outbreak of smallpox in 1721. The piece has the map of Boston with red dots similar to smallpox as well as disease outbreak dots. The type is my design utilizing different patterns of dots.
Henry B. Gonzalez's Filibuster
Inspired by Henry B. Gonzalez, a Mexican American and the first Hispanic American representative from Texas, who used the power of the filibuster to prevent the resegregation of schools in Texas. His filibuster set the record for the longest recorded filibuster at that time in the State Senate clocking in at 36 hours. The piece uses different words and phrases defining his life to create the shape of a clock with the most important achievements being the largest.
Native American Boarding Schools
Inspired by the Native American boarding schools, the phrase "Kill the Indian, Save the Man" was spoken by Richard H. Pratt who established the Carlisle Indian School to force the assimilation of indigenous people into the American lifestyle while shedding all of their cultural ties. I used the words "Kill the Indian, Save the Man" with the idea that this history tries to cover up the negative aspects of the boarding schools with the idea that they were helpful and good, and I tried to represent that with the typography. The fading background color and shapes also gives a city skyline affect relating to the way these people would be forced into this vastly different American life.
Claudette Colvin
This piece was inspired by the story of Claudette Colvin who refused to give up her seat on a bus months before Rosa Parks. On her way home one day, she was told to vacate her space on the bus for a white person, and she refused to do so. This was nine months before Rosa Parks did the same thing sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott. But Colvin was arrested just as Parks was, only she was fifteen at the time. Her actions are often overshadowed by Parks because they didn’t want to use a young and “emotional” girl as the face of the movement and waited for initiating the boycott. I represented this by creating a vast sea of protest signs about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott overshadowing a singular Claudette Colvin sign.
Hawaiian Colonization
Inspired by the colonization of Hawaii and the missionaries that Americanized the islands. This piece took many inspirations for different elements of it. The general layout of the piece is directly inspired by a postage stamp from the Hawaiian Missionaries, the letters on the side make up the Hawaiian alphabet, and the "Banned Language 1896" represents the time when the Hawaiian language was banned from being taught in schools after the U.S. overthrew the Hawaiian government. This piece encapsulates many varying elements of the colonization of Hawaii.
Bessie Coleman
Bessie Coleman was the first African American and Native American pilot. This piece was inspired by her love for tricks, her nickname, "Brave Bessie," and her plane. The plane was recreated based on Bessie Coleman's actual plane.
Southeast Asian Refugees
Inspired by the history of Southeast Asian refugees. After the Vietnam War, many Southeast Asian individuals were left displaced and became refugees in the United States. They represent the largest refugee settlement population in the history of the united states. Many young refugees were swept into gangs and violence, and today, Southeast Asian refugees are three times more likely to be deported on a former conviction than other immigrant groups. The center shape is an outline of Vietnam and represents the movement of people as the left Vietnam as refugees and then had to leave the United States if they were deported.
Process Explanation