Breakthrough Visuals

On Monday, the Male Contraceptive Initiative (MCI) had me back to virtually capture a session on what research tells us about South African adolescent male attitudes towards s*x and relationships. The researcher and presenter, Dr. Tsidiso Tolla, PHD, from the University of Cape Town School of Public Health, discovered her interviewees had views that were quite different from what is stereotypically assumed. They:

👉 Valued romance and relationships as much or more than s*x
👉 Were quite concerned with the well-being of their partners
👉 Wanted to avoid pregnancy
👉 Were open to using contraception, including contraceptive drugs

The conversation was both interesting and moving, and I learned a lot. I'll be recording more sessions for this organization later in the year, and I'm really looking forward to them!

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of once again taking visual notes at a meeting of Philadelphia Ceasefire, a community-based organization that works directly with members of affected communities to prevent gun violence. There is a lot of evidence that the efforts of Philadelphia Ceasefire and organizations like it are a big reason that violent crime in Philadelphia and other cities has decreased to rates not seen since the early 60s, and I’m grateful to have made a small contribution to the effort.

I’ve done a lot of work with Philadelphia Ceasefire in the past few years, but this is the first time I’ve worked with them virtually. I don’t do as much virtual work as I used to, so this was a welcome opportunity.

There are pros and cons to virtual versus live graphic recording, but one of the pros is that it's easy to fine-tune the chart. I’m quite happy with the way this one turned out. Thanks to Marla Davis Bellamy for bringing me in once again!

On February 11, I was at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland, graphic recording for a day-long session on leadership and storytelling for The Meaningful Consulting Group with this year’s APG Cohort. This is the 5th year I’ve worked with this client, and each time, though the groups have been different, the program has remained much the same, meaning I re-create more-or-less the same boards.

I’ve found this incredibly interesting. Live graphic recording is an improvisation, and usually when I’m finished, I feel that if I’d known what was going to happen, I would have done at least some things differently. With these sessions, I actually do know.

But, as familiar as I am with the program, there are still things that surprise me, and still things I struggle to get right and improve. It’s like Bill Murray going through Groundhog Day. How many times did he do it before he got every single thing right?

I was tagged in a really nice LinkedIn post yesterday by the Eidos LGBTQ+ Health Initiative, which featured a graphic honoring Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a pioneering trans activist. It includes a sketch of her I drew as part of a graphic recording chart created at Eidos' Health Initiative Summit last October. It's both a beautiful piece on its own and a great example of how graphic recordings can be used to create new work and add value long after the events they captured are over.

It's more important than ever to tell these stories, and I'm honored to play a small part in that effort. Happy Black History Month, everyone!