Krieger School sophomore Alexander Chang co-wrote the recently released Fighting to Belong, a graphic novel about Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) history in the United States. It’s the first in a series of three graphic novels, and covers key AANHPI history from the 1700s to the 1800s.
The idea for Fighting to Belong was a response to a rise in anti-Asian sentiment during the COVID pandemic, conceived in collaboration with the Asian American Foundation. Chang and his co-writer Amy Chu (who is also his mother and a comic book writer) referenced curriculum from the Asian American Education Project to build out the story. The result is a graphic novel that highlights AANHPI contributions to American society.
History that isn’t taught
Chang is a third-generation Chinese American, but he did not know most of the history in the graphic novel before he started writing. The goal for the graphic novel is to fill that omission in middle and high-school curriculums. “There are so many other students like me who do not know about these events,” he says. “They deserve to know it, especially if they don’t feel represented enough within American history.”
Chang and his co-writer took this curriculum, formed a story, and set the scene of the graphic novel. Four students—Sammy, Tiana, Joe, and Padmini—take a museum field trip that turns magical. They time travel to 18th-century Louisiana and shrimp dance with the Manilamen, Filipino indentured servants who escaped Spanish ships and are considered the oldest AAPI community in America. The children also dodge explosions with Chinese railroad workers, learn about immigration laws and race riots, and watch native Hawaiians fight for workers’ rights.
There are so many other students like me who do not know about the history of these events. They deserve to know it, especially if they don’t feel represented enough within American history.”
—Alex Chang ’26
A love of graphic novels
This is not Chang’s first graphic novel. He has edited and proofread his mother’s scripts since middle school, gradually taking on more responsibility with each project. The duo started working on volume one in 2021, the summer before his senior year of high school. He’s working on the second and third volumes of Fighting to Belong while completing a double major in English and environmental studies and a minor in The Writing Seminars. Chang has always loved graphic novels himself, and is hopeful that together, the organizations behind the graphic novel will be able to get it into schools and get students and teachers interested in this history.
“When I was a kid, I would spend so much time in the library reading graphic novels,” he says. “By adapting it into this format, we’re hoping the content will interest readers enough to want to learn more.”
The next two volumes of Fighting to Belong will be published in September 2024 and January 2025 by Third State Books.
