Illustrative Voices Advocacy Page
Advocacy Director: Anh Tran, MA, AMFT, ATR-P
From a young age, I did not have the capacity to explain into words of the struggles I experienced from the years of bullying, suicidal thoughts, body shaming and self-hate I endured growing up. Experiencing community and family violence only exacerbated the pain. Drawing usually became a solace, and I did not realize how that became my medicine for my soul. During the journey of healing myself well into my adult years through what made the most sense to me, through art, it seemed even more sensible to become an Art Therapist. Then, in a blossoming way of how time unraveled itself, I was asked to become the Advocacy Director of Illustrative Voices, another step that made sense to me.
Art can be a powerful force, beginning the important discussions around social change and to strengthen our communities. Yet, many of us cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that many folks within marginalized communities, such as our communities of color, our immigrants and refugees, our LGTBQI+, and people with disabilities have historically and currently experience much oppression, such as access to various resources, particularly the arts culture. Illustrative Voices is committed to raising the voices of the marginalized, to share the narratives within these communities in order to empower our communities through not only the individual, but the shared collective resilience as well.
As the Advocacy Director, I feel obligated to be up to date with most recent news of the social injustices and inequities that continue to plague our minds and our communities, to stand in solidarity with communities impacted by the continued oppression as a result of white supremacist ideologies that are seaped into our unconscious and into our institutions themselves, and to speak up of the continued atrocities that continue to impact our most marginalized communities. We at Illustrative Voices know that we know revolutionary change does not occur overnight, but we can continue to come together as a collective, as we are stronger together, to listen to each other, and witness each others’ stories through the language that makes the most sense: art. I hope to hear from you, connect with you, and hear what you have to say, how we can continue to use this platform to raise your voices, or how we can do better.
If you have questions, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact us at anh.tran@illustrativevoices.org