Photovoice as Counterspeech

Publication Date

3-1-2022

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Health Promotion Practice

Volume

23

Issue

2

DOI

10.1177/15248399211059129

First Page

230

Last Page

234

Abstract

A notorious hate group purchased anti-Muslim advertisements on buses operated by the San Francisco Municipal Transit Authority. The San Francisco Human Rights Commission engaged members of the Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian communities in a photovoice project to explore the cultural identities, challenges, and resilience of community members coping with discrimination. The project provided a case example of photovoice as counterspeech and demonstrated the way in which counterspeech empowers affected communities to push back against harmful and threatening expression with resilience, cultural pride, and self-determination. Women and men in the photovoice participant group represented a wide range of backgrounds and ethnicities: Palestinian, Indian, Pakistani, and Lebanese. Religious affiliations included Muslim, Sikh, Christian, nondenominational, and agnostic. The exhibit was presented to the public in three major venues and was made available online.

Keywords

community-based participatory research, counterspeech, discrimination, hate speech, Islamophobia, photovoice, resilience, visual methods

Department

Public Health and Recreation

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