When Stories Become Comics: Anti-Racism, Belonging, and Youth Voice
May 13, 2026 by Gayathri Shukla
Over the past few months, I had the privilege of facilitating story-to-comic workshops with Black youth through Ladies in the Family Foundation, alongside the talented artist Mariella Villalobos.
The workshops invited participants to explore stories of identity, belonging, and anti-racism from their own life, and then begin shaping those stories into visual form. We began with reflective prompts, like what do people sometimes get wrong about you? What do you wish others understood?
From there, participants mapped their stories into key moments, developed characters and symbols, and worked with comic-style formats to translate experience into image, dialogue, and sequence. The comics were then assembled into the zine above by Mariella.
What stayed with me most was not only what the youth created, but that anti-racism work does not always look like panels and policy. Sometimes it looks like a circle of young people saying, this is what really happened — and this is what I want you to understand.
There were moments of “wait, I can actually do this?,” but also the unique energy that comes when young people are given just enough structure and freedom to make the work their own.
As facilitators, we had fun too. One of the gifts of facilitating the workshops was being reminded that serious topics can still make room for play and imagination. That may seem like an unusual thing to say about a workshop connected to racism and lived experience, but I don’t think it is. Joy is not a distraction from the work. Creativity gives people room to breathe while still telling the truth.
