Thank you all for such a great turnout!
If you’ve missed our 2021 gala, please check out recordings of the event below.
Our Stories Carried Us Here, Green Card Voices’ 2021 Gala
This celebration brings us full circle to what we do best: innovate, co-create, and celebrate the stories of the “superheroes” who walk among us.
Here’s what you can expect on Gala Night—the launch of our newest e-book Our Stories Carried Us Here. This e-book marks a milestone for us and it is full of Firsts:
- Our first Graphic Novel—the graphic novel genre makes these stories flow with creative artistry and authentic emotion.
- Our first National Anthology—10 stories from authors living across the US.
- Our first ever Co-Created Novel—we have paired storytellers and illustrators from the same linguistic, cultural, and regional backgrounds to work together to create a unique blend between story and illustration.
- The first time we’ve included Bilingual Storytelling capturing more realistic dialogue.
Meet Our Superheros!
Thi Bui, Forward Author
Thi is an award winning illustrator. Born in Vietnam, she and her family fled to the United States after the end of the Vietnam War. Her debut graphic memoir, The Best We Could Do has been selected for an American Book Award. Thi Bui has illustrated several children’s books, including one co-written with her son. Her illustrations of picture book A Different Pond, by poet Bao Phi, won Thi Bui a Caldecott Honor. She currently resides in the San Francisco Area in California.
Nate Powell, Book Cover Illustrator
Nate is an award-winning graphic novelist/illustrator (Save it for Later, Come Again, and the illustrator of John Lewis’ graphic memoir, March.) He is the first cartoonist to win the National Book Award. Comics Alliance says, Anything that Nate Powell writes or draws is pretty much a must-read. Nate lives in Bloomington, Indiana.
Ana Hinojosa, Story Illustrator
Ana is from the Dominican Republic, is an MCAD graduate and currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia. One of “the most promising illustrators of her generation,” be sure to follow her on Instagram @theskinnyartist, along with her 46.6K followers.
We thought you’d be intrigued. Now, meet the rest of the authors and illustrators who share their stories and art in the pages of our newest book.
Zaynab Abdi
Amara Solomon Kamara
Mary Anne & Sergio Cenoch
Karelin
Zurya Anjum
Vy Loung
Alex Tsipenyuk
Craig Moodie
Ruth Mekolum
Aziz Kamal
Tom Kaczynski
Cori Lin
Sunshine Gao
Toufic El Rassi
Hamid Ibrahim
Mike Centeno
Camilo Aguirre
Gérard Nyunai Ngan
Ana Hinojosa
A bold and unconventional collection of first-person stories told and illustrated by immigrants and refugees living across the United States.
A Stanford scientist, a deaf student, an indigenous activist, a Black entrepreneur—all immigrants and refugees—recount journeys from their home countries in four of the ten vibrantly illustrated stories. Faced by unfamiliar vistas, they are welcomed with possibilities, and confronted by challenges and prejudice. Timely, sobering, and insightful, Our Stories Carried Us Here acts as a mirror and a light to connect us all with immigrant and refugee experiences.
The following storytellers are featured in the Graphic Novel: Alex Tsipenyuk, Amara Kamara, Aziz Kamal, Craig Moodie, Karelin, Mary Anne and Sergio Quiroz, Ruth Mekoulo, Vy Luong, Zaynab Abdi and Zurya Anjum.
Their stories began in different places all over the world: Kazakhstan, Liberia, Myanmar, Jamaica, Guatemala, Mexico, Chad, Vietnam, Yemen and Pakistan.
Their journeys are continuing all over the U.S: Rochester, NY, Minneapolis, MN, Milwaukee, WI, Atlanta, GA, Fargo, ND, Madison, WI, and Sartell, MN.
The illustrators we collaborated with on this project are: Cori Lin, Camilo Aguirre, Sunshine Gao, Tom Kaczynski, Ana Hinojosa, Toufic El Rassi, Ashraf El-Attar, Hamid Ibrahim, Gérard Nyunai Ngan, Mike Centeno and Nate Powell.
Among the illustrators, nine are first and one second-generation immigrant. They lived all over the world before making the United States their home; including Dominican Republic, Columbia, Cameroon, Uganda, Venezuela, China, Poland, Lebanon, and Egypt. They are currently based across the US (Atlanta, GA, Minneapolis, MN, Arlington, VA, Chicago, IL) and internationally in Cameron, and the UK.
