JE SUIS LE CRAYON OUBLIÉ
(I am the forgotten pencil)
by Mark Gonzales & Reuben Brand
As a storyteller who began writing before the launch of the digital era, I have a deep love and respect for pen and pencils. This is why, in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo shooting, I was captivated by the powerful images that were created and quickly went viral, illustrating the unbreakable power of the pen and the pencil. Yet even as the creative in me loved so many images were being circulated, the human heart in me cringed at how short sighted the majority were.
A sample of 30 different designs circulating the internet post-Hebdo showed the majority of visuals using the pencil as a metaphor for human life, from pencils being broken and resharpened (here) to pencils standing like towers being flown into by planes (here). While each drawing was a loving tribute by the illustrator to their fallen companions in creativity, it seemed the comparisons to other tragedies were limited to the last fifteen years. Additionally, they were all incidents where a person from former invaded lands were attacking a person of European descent or a former colonizing country. Absent, were comparisons to other tragedies of white-on-white massacres, or white-on-Muslim, or white-on-the GlobalSouth.
In short, we were segregating our tears.
A key principle in trauma and growth foundations is this: how one names a wound directly affects how they attempt to heal from it. This principle opens up a key question that must be asked in the wake of the Hebdo shootings:
how can a society heal from what it will not admit occurred, much less speak about?
Every person who has held a pencil knows it has two ends: one with the ability to create, the other to erase. Yet if writers and illustrators limit their story arch to the same stories, varying only in metaphor, then they are that rare breed of creatives who have found a way to use the writing end of the pencil as an eraser, one that erases through omission. This is not an attack on the creatives who illustrated the current imagery, but an invitation to reflect on their own storytelling capacity, and a call for them to expand it.
My family taught me at a young age that what we stay silent about can hold even more weight than what we give voice to. This is why I reached out to Rueben Brand, a cartoonist based in Australia with a design concept, and asked him to imagine a cartoon that would open up new conversations. One that would allow Je Suis Charlie to become Je Suis le Crayon Oublié (I am the Forgotten Pencil).
For after fifteen years of engaging the unique role story plays in shaping human behavior, it is clear to me until we open honest conversations that extends beyond our most recent wounds, our cities will never come to a space where we can engage the scar tissue that lay at the base of our heightening social tensions. The primary excuse given for avoiding such questions is that they re-open old wounds. While this may be the case, the trauma of biology and the story of wellbeing have taught me:
“sometimes a wound has to be reopened in order to properly heal.”
Mark Gonzales is a catalyst & social educator who uses compelling narratives to explore human relationships across generations, companies, and governments. He is the chief storyteller for multiple start ups & serves as the CEO of the Institute of Narrative Growth, designing story based tools and trainings that advance wellbeing for all.
Reuben Brand is a cartoonist by training, as well as Co-Founder and Director of a new online e-learning platform called Creative Ummah. An initiative that aims to foster positive growth and empower people and communities with affordable online courses. The platform enables people to teach and share their expertise with people from all over the world.
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