Dear Media Rise supporters and contributors,
As we close the chapter on one of Media Rise's meaningful initiatives, "Quarantined Across Borders," (QAB), our nonprofit hopes to share some updates on the strides this heartfelt project made since its conclusion.
First and foremost, we believe the spirit behind Media Rise was materialized through QAB. For those who do not know, QAB is a blog series composed of meaningful essays about the experiences of immigrant, diasporic, and borderland communities during the lockdown issued due to COVID-19.
The journey started with a call, which ended on May 15, 2020, for members of historically marginalized groups to submit emailed entries. The selected blog stories were published on the Media Rise blog site and shared on its social media pages. Thereafter, selected pieces were invited to be elaborated upon for publication with the Journal of Applied Communication Research, a leading interdisciplinary communication journal.
Our inspiration, as always, was the promotion of mindful use of meaningful media for social change. QAB was our first entirely virtual multimedia online initiative. Since the accounts were posted, the QAB collection showcased narratives from over 80 people of diverse backgrounds, races, faiths, occupations, and ages; the writers represent over 30 countries.
We are happy to share that the QAB collection has been viewed more than 10,500 times so far. You can download Media Rise's 2020 impact report by clicking here.
Readers can check out QAB's Convener Note by Media Rise's Executive Director, Dr. Srivi. We invite you to please visit www.mediarisenow.org/qab to read all of QAB's stories.
QAB would not have been possible without the assistance of Anthony R. Ramirez, Olivia Osteen, and Miranda Calderon, the Melbern Glasscock Center for Humanities, the Texas A&M digital librarians, the authors, and all our readers.
As we continue to live through this global pandemic, these stories will serve as snapshots of a historic moment. Media Rise hopes the initiative can inspire humanity to work collectively toward a more just, equitable, healthy, and humane world.