A review by leodanbrock
Still Alive: Notes from Australia's Immigration Detention System by Safdar Ahmed

5.0

"Art can be helpful for trauma - which the brain codes differently to other experiences. Traumatic experience forms a 'hot memory' wihch spills through time and space - meaning it can be relived and felt as though in the present. Its narrative context is lost...allowing it to penetrate a person's everyday life."
This absolutely needs to be mandatory reading...especially for all Australians. Graphic novels can be such a powerful medium for educating people on serious topics and this book is a clear example of it. Safdar Ahmed directly addresses the wilful implicitness of Australians when it comes to advocating for refugees; simply disagreeing with the inhumane policies our government has established is not enough - what are you actively doing in your community to support these people? I really hope that this becomes a useful text to students in Australian high schools - I really would have loved to have read something like this when I was younger and I feel like this is such an accessible text to further educating yourself. Definitely something I'll be lending to others.