There is a new Muslim comic book superhero coming out soon. His name is Silver Scorpion. With the popularity of The 99 (who have worked with the Justice League), that isn’t so remarkable these days. What is great here is who thought it up. The Open Hands Initiative flew a group of disabled American youth to Damascus to meet a group of disabled Syrian youth. Together they came up with Silver Scorpion, a boy in a wheel chair who lost his legs in a land mine accident.
I love that this is the brainchild of Americans and Syrians. Aren’t they supposed to not like each other? And I love that this is the brainchild of disabled youth. Aren’t their lives supposed to be less meaningful?
I found it remarkable that none of the youth wanted his superpower to be something that cured his disability. Sharad Devarajan, CEO of Liquid Comics, noted, “They were empowered by their own disabilities, and they should not be seen as a source of weakness.”
Jaka, one of the American youth, said, “There’s a lot of hatred, and it really can be dispelled by just sitting down and talking to people and realizing you share experiences in common. That’s what happened when I started talking to one of the disabled Syrians. We both discovered that we had a love of basketball and … loved the same players,”
Abdulraham Hussein, a Syrian, said, “I like the American people as I found them friendly.”
A little face to face communication goes a long way in bringing people together. Read the whole article.
Related Posts:
Just the Way I Am
Bittersweet: A Muslim’s Spiritual Perspective on Special Needs Parenting
The 99 – Muslim Comic Heroes
HT: Islamicate
Thank you so much for encouraging face-to-face communication. I especially loved the quote from Jaka, “There’s a lot of hatred, and it really can be dispelled by just sitting down and talking to people and realizing you share experiences in common.”
I would love to re-post this post, with credit, on our non-profit’s Facebook page – New Path Center.
Thanks Bonnie. Please do.