All posts tagged: Nor Sanavongsay

#TBT: Nor Sanavongsay and the power of imagination

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“With great power comes great responsibility,” we’re told time and again in the stories of that classic superhero, Spider Man. When Nor Sanavongsay was growing up in Elgin, Illinois, he has memories of both American superheroes and the Lao folktales his father and relatives took time to tell him. “Growing up, I always wished there were Lao superheroes or even more Asian superheroes, for that matter. I’ve grown tired of waiting and decided why not create my own and hopefully future generations can enjoy them,” Nor said. This weekend he’ll be discussing this problem at ZAPPCON with other fans and creators passionate about superheroes, where he’ll share his ideas and get some input and new perspectives on where we can go next. In the America of the 1980s, it was a deeply influential decade on comics, and Nor and other Lao Americans had a very good seat to see what was possible. It was a time when independent comics were starting to gain ground, creating characters like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Many classics of comic …

Throwback Thursday: The Boat People of Laos

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#ThrowbackThursday #RefugeesWelcome #BoatPeople #StraightOuttaCamp Boat people fleeing. Escaping violent wars. Struggling in poverty. Borders open and borders closed to welcoming and unwelcoming locals. To the thousands of refugees from Southeast Asia across the world, today’s images of Europe’s refugee crisis triggers those same memories. Over 30 years later, we’re still grappling with how we’re remembering, reflecting, and healing from the past in the midst of what we all feel too familiar with. Nor Sanavongsay’s newspaper clipping is an example of that. “My thoughts when looking at the newspaper clipping is, “we were so oblivious to what was happening and the significance of the history we were making.” When I think back about those times again, I wished I had been more in contact with my sponsors. They pretty much saved our lives, and gave us a better one. We owe a lot to them for taking great care of us.” -Nor Sanavongsay, Founder of Sahtu Press What do you think of the current refugee crisis? Do you have a similar memory from the past?