Representation and diversity have become major talking points over the last year. Phrases like “if you can see it you can be it,” are popular platitudes of support, offered at diversity seminars and plastered in Millennial pink quote backdrops on Instagram.
But all of this talk around diversity has made it this silent thief in the night. Like a diverse world is aspirational. When the reality is that diversity is already here. And if we aren’t seeing it in the spaces that we occupy, it’s because it’s been deliberately left out. What we often end up seeing instead is tokenism. A multi-cultural and multi-racial world that reflects dominant and behaviors.
Representation, especially in media and pop culture as we know it has been from a historically white, wealthy, cis-gendered, heteronormative lens. And this representation doesn’t reflect our reality. My guest this week is an incredible Toronto-based artist, visual storyteller, and photographer, Zahra Siddiqui — who challenges this portrayal of our world through The Invisible Majority — a body of work that speaks to the consciousness of our civilization.
Zahra takes portraits of members of the BIPOC and 2SLGBTQ people, exactly as they are and want to be seen. There is no code-switching to fit in.
Zahra’s work reflects the reality of our society. That BIPOC people are a majority. And even in a diverse, multi-cultural city like Toronto, we remain unseen.
Some aspects of this episode may be triggering and so you’re encouraged to listen at your comfort.
To follow Zahra's work, head on over to www. theinvisiblemajority.com