Author: Lexi Lai
Date: Spring 2023
Class: Honors English Protest Project
Medium: Graphic Design
Tools: Graphics tool: Adobe PhotoShop
The project asked me to choose an issue meaningful enough that I would protest for it, then demonstrate that protest in any form I chose. I selected Asian-American Pacific Islander (AAPI) hate. As someone drawn to visual storytelling, I created a collage that exposes the ongoing brutality and racism against Asian Americans while illustrating the power of collective action.
The composition layers newspaper headlines documenting anti-AAPI violence with stark portraits of victims and graffiti reading “Remember Vincent Chin”, a reminder that this hatred didn’t begin in the twenty-first century. A celebratory poster of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act anchors the piece, overlaid with a Banksy-inspired angry businessman looming over a cowering Asian woman, connecting historical persecution to modern threats.
Creating this piece revealed how art can transform passion into activism. The collage became more than an assignment; it became my vehicle for channeling outrage into education, forcing viewers to confront a crisis that demands attention.
My word art is a self portrait and also a declaration of the manifestations of AAPI hatred.
The following notecards outline steps viewers can put into action to ensure they help make progress towards building awareness against and eliminating AAPI hate.
