New School students aren’t your typical college kids. They’re bright, determined, and armed with the skills needed to revolutionize our world. Through fashion, music, art, writing, social research and more, these future leaders are ready to leave their mark and shake up the rules. This is especially true for New Schooler Anum Nawaz. She’s smart, ambitious, and on a social mission to make sure every voice is heard; even when society tries to silence them. Anum is the co-founder and initiator of My Voice Unheard, a site that offers minorities a welcoming platform to shine and share their struggles, achievements, and most importantly, their unheard voices.
HC: Anum, can you give the readers a background about yourself?
AN: “My name is Anum Nawaz, I was born and raised in Lahore, Pakistan. I grew up in a Muslim family, but my education was mostly in Christian Missionary schools. I majored in both Psychology and Philosophy and for about five years, I worked in the educational and developmental sectors in Pakistan. During this time, I had a chance to meet passionate youth from all over the country.”
“Academically, my prime interest has always been in social psychology – a fairly new field that needs lots of exploration and attention. However, I always tried to give a practical element to the theory we read in class. I came to New York this August as a Fulbright student and am currently enrolled in the cognitive, social and developmental graduate program at The New School.”
HC: Can you tell us more about My Voice Unheard?
AN: “My Voice Unheard is a digital media initiative capturing the invisible voices around us. It was initially started in Pakistan to shift the focus from the destructive media onto what shapes the people of the country. However, I think the vision is bigger than I had perceived.”
HC: How so?
AN: “It has transformed into a platform where people from all ethnicities, religions, and cultures are encouraged to talk about their lives so that readers can know them better and avoid prejudice and stereotyping.”
“My Voice Unheard is a design system which incorporates visual story-telling, short biographies and memoirs in developing ecological new media tools to address the stereotypes that we all have, against people who are different from us. The idea works around building an empathetic design in new media to bring communities together and closer, bringing consciousness to what shapes behavior, identity, culture, history and heritage in order to defy general negative, media narratives.”
HC: That is a very powerful initiative. How do you achieve this?
AN: “We basically collect short biographies and memoirs of individuals and publish them on our website and social media accounts. We also make short documentaries, illustrations, and animations to highlight the stories of individuals who do not otherwise get mainstream media attention. We also have an active blog on self-expression which provides individuals with the opportunity to express themselves and their opinions in whatever way they want. We are planning to launch a photo blog that encourages people to tell stories and share their experiences through pictures and videos.”
HC: What was the inspiration behind My Voice Unheard?
AN: “During my undergrad education, I had the opportunity to visit the United States as an exchange student. During my stay, I realized that people had negative perceptions about Pakistani Muslims. I traced these stereotypes back to the general media narrative about the socio-political and economic struggles in Pakistan. These narratives are so strong that Pakistan has been perceived as mainly negative. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this was not just the case for Pakistan alone. I truly believed that stereotyping spread to cover people hailing from different cultures, ethnic backgrounds and religions.”
“With the recent political framework in the U.S., I knew that we needed to address these stereotypes, and storytelling through visual communication on digital media could be an effective way to do so (we’re all in love with social media, after all).”
“Hammad, my friend and My Voice Unheard co-founder, has always wanted highlight those everyday heroes that are never appreciated. He wanted to encourage people for what they did and appreciate their struggles. So with a shared vision, My Voice Unheard was created.”
The My Voice Unheard team. Anum and Hammad are pictured in the top left and top middle.
HC: What is your vision for the project?
AN: “With My Voice Unheard, I aim to raise more awareness for the life and struggle of people living in different societies without judging them or feeling superior towards them. I want to dissolute the culture of social injustice that has permeated our society and resulted in our inability to care. At the same time, I want to put social media to good use by provoking discussion on matters that are affecting us every day.”
HC: What do you want readers to take away from My Voice Unheard?
AN: “The aim is simple: to highlight the daily life of an ordinary person who has a different life and struggles than ours. The message is also simple. If we have a negative perception about someone different from us, why not know a little more about their life? If we have that knowledge, chances are our perception about them may change and our views would be less prejudiced.”
“I want our followers to empathetically listen to another’s point of view and to give them a fair chance to be respected for who they are. Our history or background should not be the only things that define us. And hence, I want our readers to put themselves in the shoes of someone who is discriminated against. We should remember that at the end of the day, we are all humans with same basic needs.”
HC: Can readers become a part of the project? If so, how?
AN: “Absolutely! My Voice Unheard is not a closed project and we encourage our readers to be active contributors. We are actively collecting submissions from all over the country and publish them on a weekly basis. Of course, the project is not just solely based on collecting and publishing life stories, but also runs a very fine blog on self-expression where artists, musicians, writers, and academics – basically, everyone is encouraged to express!”
“Readers are also encouraged to share their own life story if they think their voice is unheard. We have a fine mobile application for Android and iOS, which enables our audience to share a stories they believe to be important anytime, anywhere.”
HC: Do you have any fun-facts you’d like to share with readers?
AN: “Well, I never thought I would initiate a digital project because I am not a tech savvy person and I used to hate working on the computer.”
“I also have a very diverse educational background. I have experimented with my studies so much, it’s almost hard to believe. I started with a pure background in science then developed an interest in finance during high school. Because I wanted to support myself, I started working part-time as a web designer (which I had no background in). Finally, I found myself in psychology and philosophy, which has been deeply satisfying.”
Stay connected with My Voice Unheard:
Website: www.myvoiceunheard.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myvoice.unheard/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myvoiceunheard/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/myvoice_unheard
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChM1FWuAv-MFF3OKMhBuZSA