Globalvoices Stories

🌈Why I Created "The Amazing Inspiration about LGBTQ+ and Tanka" June is 🏳️‍🌈Pride Month. Around the world, I see growing resistance to diversity and inclusion. Though I may be powerless, I still want to speak out. I grew up in a small northern port town in Japan. As a child from a single-mother family, I faced bullying and prejudice. My mother, who always said "Don't give up," gave me the strength to stand up for justice. Later, I became a journalist and exposed a major archaeological scandal, winning Japan's top press award. But my mother passed away before she saw that. This project is my way of honoring her, and of supporting the LGBTQ+ community. Each of these nine crayon illustrations is paired with a traditional tanka poem. Together, they carry a message of hope and resilience: "We won't lose."🏳️‍🌈 -SamuraiSixCoin (Japan) P.S. I also invite you to read my novel here on Wattpad: 🛵 *The Girl on the Red Ducati* - A coming-of-age novel set in 1980s Japan, following a teenage biker's emotional journey across Hokkaido.