Meet MariNaomi: The Artistic Advocate for the Asian Community

As the pandemic raised hatred disturbance against the Asian community across the United States, award-winning author and illustrator MariNaomi presented a 100-foot comic mural in four different cities in California to protect and advocate for the Asian community.

MariNaomi began her journey creating comics in February 1997 after reading a memoir called “Twisted Sisters: A Collection of Bad Girl Art” by Mary Fleener. MariNaomi uses fiction, poetry, memoir, and other artistic mediums in her works as storytelling. During the pandemic, MariNaomi grew hopeless at the constant verbal and physical attacks against the Asian community. In an article from Pasadena Star-News, she revealed her breaking point occurred after hearing the news about a woman who looked like her grandmother experienced a hate crime in her hometown. After being approached with a new project on these similar situations, she took her anger and poured it into a mural design.

 

The mural consists of six panels of a linear storyline from MariNaomi’s perspective. Social media plays the central role in the story because platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and more consist of text-based updates or visuals on local incidents reaching national headlines. The rising number of reports intensifies worries for the Asian community and their surroundings. 

The theme of identity also supports MariNaomi’s story’s context in support of the Asian community. In one panel, she titles three significant events that exemplified scapegoating Asian-Americans, especially in California. The following boards list Asian and Asian-American heroes of artists, activists, and more. MariNaomi also utilizes her Japanese heritage with a cherry blossom background in a panel as a visual representation.

Overall, inequity is common today, as many victims still did not get justice for what happened to their loved ones and themselves. Her personal overcoming of distress concerning the high number of racial attacks transcended by bringing optimism within her art to communities. 

The success of the display sparked a lot of positive attention and publicity by local media and victims of brutality. For instance, on June 5, a 70-year-old resident of Cerritos, Cesar Echano, was called slurs such as “go back to your country.” “When I saw this mural part, ‘Together, we are stronger,’ I feel good. I feel stronger,” said Echano in Asian Journal. The mural’s vital mission addresses the current national hostility and praises individuals who want positive changes for the Asian community.