Stunning art blog tells the stories of immigrant cab drivers from around the world
Many of us slide into the back seat of taxis and quickly bury ourselves in our phones to avoid conversation.
But a new blog is encouraging you to call shotgun and start chatting — especially with drivers of immigrant backgrounds.
Riding Up Front, a new "nonprofit art gallery blog," tells the stories of immigrant and refugee cab drivers from around the world now living in the U.S., hoping to challenge anti-immigrant rhetoric. The featured stories are submitted by immigrant passengers, recapping real conversations they've had with their drivers, and then illustrated by artists.
The blog's mission is to promote awareness and understanding of immigrant experiences, while creating community through creative forms of storytelling.
Riding Up Front also shows the powerful connection between people of immigrant backgrounds, showing the intimate and raw conversations immigrants have with each other when traveling from point A to point B.
"Driving with a complete stranger for a very long time can give rise to an intimacy and honesty that is very confessional," said Wei-En Tan, creator and executive director of Riding Up Front.
"Driving with a complete stranger for a very long time can give rise to an intimacy and honesty that is very confessional."
Tan, an immigrant from Singapore who now lives in the U.S., conceptualized the blog in November, though the site launched publicly on March 8. She was inspired to create Riding Up Front after the death of her grandmother — the woman who raised her, but someone whose life Tan knew very little about.
In the aftermath of her grandmother's death, Tan decided to seek out meaningful connections and conversations in everyday life to learn more about people — especially those of immigrant backgrounds like her family's.
"Because I was traveling so much for work, the first people I got to talk to on a meaningful basis were my drivers," she said. "I asked to ride up front with them to better listen and engage with them, hence the title of the blog."
In the weeks since the site's launch, more than 30 people of immigrant backgrounds have submitted their stories for Riding Up Front, with a team of 10 artists working to illustrate the conversations. The interactions show the breadth of the immigrant experience around the globe, covering the humorous, the heartbreaking and everything in between.
"I am hoping that we can create a dialogue, and convince at least one person to look at immigrants differently."
"They are stories that convey struggle, humanity and love," Tan said. "In so many of them, you can see the same values that we view as 'American' reflected throughout."
In one retelling of a conversation, for example, a Los Angeles Uber driver named Julián told his passenger he doesn't trust anyone. When his passenger asked why, Julián hesitated before elaborating.
"My mother brought me up in a rough neighborhood," he said. "She was a single mom and way too trusting, so people took advantage of her. That’s why I don't like many people — and I sure as hell don't trust them."
In another story, readers of Riding Up Front meet Fathi of Paris, a cab driver who was working while the majority of divers in the city were on strike.
"I have to," he explained to his passenger. "My wife and I, we have a new baby. I can't just strike for days and days. Everyone makes good money doing this."
In addition to showcasing these impactful stories, Riding Up Front also collects donations to support notable nonprofits doing work for immigrant populations. Money collected through the site's donate page is given to nonprofits like the ACLU, the American Immigration Council and the International Rescue Committee.
Donations are also used to pay artists for their eye-catching contributions to the site.
Though Tan hopes Riding Up Front will allow those who aren't immigrants to gain more understanding of those who are, she hopes — above all — that the series will help immigrants of all backgrounds to feel seen, heard and valued.
"There’s been so much demonization recently — and before as well," she said, referring to the rhetoric in the U.S. around the election of President Donald Trump.
"I am hoping that we can create a dialogue, and convince at least one person to look at immigrants differently."
Topics Social Good Immigration
Katie Dupere was a Social Good reporter at Mashable from May 2015 to July 2017, covering activism, identities and social impact. Prior to her work with Mashable, Katie penned pieces about queerness, body positivity, sex and relationships for Gurl. She also previously contributed LGBTQ news coverage to PinkNews.
