Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
November 22, 2024

Students create animation project The Color of My Voice to combat racism

By EUNICE PARK | April 27, 2021

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COURTESY OF JEANIE FUNG, AMARA GAMMON AND KEIDAI LEE

The animation recently won in the Mixed Media category of the Diversify Our Narrative Art Collective Competition. 

The Color of My Voice is an animated project meant to elevate the voices of those who have experienced racism and discrimination. Originally created by junior Keidai Lee, The Color of My Voice is now a collaborative project between Hopkins students and those at surrounding universities. With the goal of “illustrating stories about people facing and overcoming racial discrimination,” Lee and his team have been working on the project for almost a year. 

The animation is available on YouTube and online platforms, and I recommend taking the 15 minutes to watch it. Using real quotes and true stories to create a unique and diverse narrative, it immerses its viewers by exposing the harmful comments made against minority groups. Everything in the animation comes from real-life experiences and was created by hand. 

In an interview with The News-Letter, Lee described the mission of the project. 

“Minority characters in media or film are often definitely not celebrated. They’re usually just the butt of a joke or objectified if they do show up,” Lee said. “[Our goal is] for people who normally do not listen to underrepresented voices to perceive these groups more positively, not only at Hopkins but beyond.” 

Lee and his team recently won in the Mixed Media category of the Diversify Our Narrative Art Collective Competition. Diversify Our Narrative Art Collective works to “promote and center artwork around BIPOC and intersectional issues.”

Lee has had 20 students from different university join him in working on the project. The team consists of not only Hopkins students, but also students from Columbia University, Tufts University, National Taiwan University and The University of Maryland, College Park. 

Freshman Sophia Lin, a member of the screenwriting and pre-production team, noted that the team’s win will help it prosper in the future. 

“I joined the team a bit later and wasn’t as involved in the animation that won, but it’s great that we’re being recognized, and I think it’s for a very important cause that we did this,” she said. “It’ll help us a lot in the future too, because we’re having a mentor assigned to us since we won.” 

With everything that’s going on, I find it not only important but also extremely admirable that Lee and his team are sharing powerful memories through a creative, award-winning animation. Congratulations to the team for The Color of My Voice!


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