Monday, September 1, 2014

Humans of New York, Giving Everyone the Chance to be Heard

Never has anything changed social media like Facebook. Reaching millions of people a day, Facebook is a pivotal part of many people's day. While Facebook isn't always used for good Brandon, creator of Humans of New York, has found a way to not only harness the power of Facebook in a positive way, but has created a way for people all around the world to glimpse a peek at the real people of New York City. The Facebook page Humans of New York (HONY) defies stereotypes and prejudices by including people from all walks of life. It gives everyone a voice and a chance to show that there is more to a person than meets the eye.

One important way that HONY breaks stereotypes is that people from all socioeconomic classes are included and given equal respect and the ability to have their voices heard. An example of this is a post from 2012 about a taxi driver who had immigrated from Niger. He explained how he had been a teacher back in Niger, but here he had no papers and couldn't get a teaching job so he spent his time working small jobs to pay for his schooling so he could become a teacher in the US. This breaks the socioeconomic stereotype of people from lower classes being less hard working then those from higher classes; people usually view taxi drivers as uneducated and not driven individuals. HONY also expresses the true plight of an immigrant (to have a better life), and dismissed the stereotype that immigrants are lazy and stupid people.

HONY breaks away stereotypes to show the greater human truths. So far 9,464,791 people have liked the HONY Facebook page. The page has become such a success that the creator of the page, Brandon, now is in the Middle East working with the United Nations taking pictures and writing quotes from the refuges and people who reside in these tumult filled places.
"Everyone who sees my resume asks me why I drive a cab. Back in Niger, I was a French teacher. But the government stopped paying us for a few months, so I decided to quit my job and move to America. That was 12 years ago.

I thought I could teach French here, but I had no idea how hard it would be to get a job without papers. The only place I could find work was a carwash. Back in Niger, kids would wash my car for me. Now all day long I was washing cars for other people. I was very depressed. But I was too embarrassed to go back home. Then one year after I arrived, George Bush got elected and everyone was telling me that it meant very bad things for me. They said the Republicans would make trouble for me. So I was very scared.

After the car wash, I became a stock boy. Then, a delivery driver. Five years ago, I got my papers and became a citizen, so now I'm able to work at the airport. At nights, and on my days off, I drive a cab. Just this year I graduated from Brooklyn College with a Masters degree in French. I finished third in my class. Now I think I can become a professor."
 — at Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
Photo: "Everyone who sees my resume asks me why I drive a cab.  Back in Niger, I was a French teacher.  But the government stopped paying us for a few months, so I decided to quit my job and move to America.  That was 12 years ago. 

I thought I could teach French here, but I had no idea how hard it would be to get a job without papers.  The only place I could find work was a carwash.  Back in Niger, kids would wash my car for me.  Now all day long I was washing cars for other people.  I was very depressed.  But I was too embarrassed to go back home.  Then one year after I arrived, George Bush got elected and everyone was telling me that it meant very bad things for me.  They said the Republicans would make trouble for me.  So I was very scared.   

After the car wash, I became a stock boy.  Then, a delivery driver.  Five years ago, I got my papers and became a citizen, so now I'm able to work at the airport.  At nights, and on my days off, I drive a cab.  Just this year I graduated from Brooklyn College with a Masters degree in French.  I finished third in my class.  Now I think I can become a professor."

3 comments:

  1. As someone who thoroughly enjoys HONY, this was an awesome article. It definitely provides a look into lives we couldn't imagine, and it breaks down so many pre- conceived ideas about other cultures.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I enjooyed this article almost as much as I enjoyed the actual HONY page. It is great to see that so many people are being impacted by these pictures and breaking down the stereotypes.

    ReplyDelete
  3. HONY is great and I'm glad that someone did an analysis on it. I agree that it helps get other people's perspectives out to the public, and breaks stereotypes of many groups that otherwise most of us wouldn't know. Such a nice idea to make good use of facebook

    ReplyDelete