The Solar Grid
The Solar Grid is a serialized graphic novel by the Egyptian artist Ganzeer. The Solar Grid is full of social and political commentary on things like environmentalism, racism, controlled media, the police and much more. The author and artist of this graphic novel was widely influenced by the Egyptian Revolution, but much of the story can be understood through a Western lens as well. Ganzeer has said publicly that the seed of the story within The Solar Grid is universal, and he did not see the point of making something just Egyptians would understand when his stories could inform the world (Ismail, 2018). This sci-fi story takes place in a future dystopian world where a flood has covered much of the Earth in water. Much of the world's population has moved to colonies on Mars, Venus, and the Moon, but primarily people of color inhabit the abandoned Earth. The story has a few different threads following several characters in different time periods in the post-apocalyptic space-scape. These different story lines reveal a complex history of the circumstances each character finds themselves in. We see the detrimental effects of climate change, while also being able to see the choices that brought the circumstances upon the characters. We see how choices made today will affect society for years to come, and has an obvious connection to the world we live in today. It is fantasy, inspired by contemporary events that plague our world. The Solar Grid is still in the process of being made, with only 4 of the 9 chapters published so far, so there is still a lot of story to come. The first three volumes were created over the course of 2016, and it is now available in hardcover format due to funding via Kickstarter. It has also been available online, with the first volume being free to view.
If you're interested in reading it, it's available at
www.thesolargrid.net
Below is the first trailer about The Solar Grid which was created by Ganzeer.
If you're interested in reading it, it's available at
www.thesolargrid.net
Below is the first trailer about The Solar Grid which was created by Ganzeer.
About the Author/Artist
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The author of The Solar Grid, Mohamed Fahmy, (Ganzeer), was born in 1982 in Giza, and wanted to be a cartoonist since he was a child. When he attempted to go to art school, he failed the entrance exam, and went to business school instead. After graduation he created an art studio with his friends titled, "Ganzeer." People started calling Fahmy Ganzeer by mistake, and soon he began writing "Ganzeer" under all his art, and has since adopted it as his pseudonym.
In Arabic "ganzeer" translates to "chain" or more specifically, "bicycle chain". Ganzeer says he chose this name "because he likes to think of artists as the mechanism that pushes change forward" saying in an interview conducted by The New York Times, "We are not the driving force. We are not the people pedaling, but we can connect ideas and by doing this we allow the thing to move." Ganzeer is very outspoken about the fact that he believes art should have a message; a purpose. He believes art should go beyond just an aesthetic experience. In the past, Ganzeer has used his artwork to make political and social statements about his current environment. While Ganzeer doesn't consider himself a graffiti artist his name has become very big in the Egyptian street art movement getting features in the movie, Art War and the book, Walls of Freedom: Street Art of the Egyptian Revolution. Some of his most well known pieces are street art done during the 2011 revolution. The first piece is a large wall mural of a tank pointed at a man on a bicycle. The second was a poster (which he was arrested for in 2011) of what he calls The Mask of Freedom, a commentary on the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF, the group that took power after Hosni Mubarak, the previous president). He was very active during the "Arab Spring" in North Africa and the Middle East. Many areas had revolutions during this time, including Egypt, and Ganzeer was one of many political artists who used street art to call out injustices. He was arrested during this time but was quickly released. Ganzeer continues to use art as a way to commentate on the events taking place around him in his online graphic novel The Solar Grid. The Solar Grid points out some of the biggest issue we face today and the effects of these issues if they remain unchecked for several hundred years into the future. As Ganzeer said in an interview with Daily News Egypt, "Art responds to the surrounding social and political contexts [...] It is also capable of taking part and becoming a catalyst for new social and political contexts." After the Egyptian Revolution, Ganzeer was publicly denounced by authorities in 2013. Fleeing persecution, and possibly death, in Egypt, Ganzeer moved to the United States in 2014. He now resides in Houston and continues to make art that criticizes social injustices abroad and at home. He is wildly popular in the United States, has lived in New York, Los Angeles, Denver, and obviously now Houston, and has a big social media presence which he uses to raise awareness to social injustice, art, and the world. He continues to do exhibitions, comic strips, talks, and art shows. He refutes the title of street artist because he is so involved with many different mediums of art. He has 40 art exhibitions to his name and has been dubbed a chameleon in the art scene, engaging with many different mediums. He is also referred to as "The Banksy of Egypt." Some of his other art pieces include The Apartment in Bab El-Louk, which won the Mahmoud Kahil Award for "Best Graphic Novel" in 2014. He also created a comic strip titled "Selective Myopia / Cairo Under the Crackdown" in 2016. He is also involved in creating a short story collection titled, Times New Human which he started in 2018. |
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Art by Ganzeer
In this video, the lyrics in the song talk about being frustrated and about to blow up with anger. This bodes well with Ganzeer's artwork because a lot of his work pulls from frustration with the way the system operates. His anger at the injustices in society work with the themes of the song to further his point of view of art as a means of advocacy.
Banksy of Egypt
Ganzeer is commonly referred to as, "The Banksy of Egypt." Banksy is an anonymous street artist based out of the U.K. who has been popularized for his graffiti that often uses activism as inspiration for his artwork. I believe the resemblance between Banksy and Ganzeer can be boiled down to many different things. Both artists use stenciling techniques for their street art. They also both engage in using activism as a basis for their art. Ganzeer is also a pseudonym, much like Banksy, that creates a layer of anonymity for him as well. Carlo McCormick, a critic and author of “Trespass: A History of Uncommissioned Urban Art” (Taschen, 2010), was one of the people to first put Ganzeer in league with artists like Banksy. In my opinion, while Banksy's artwork is provactive and intriguing, Ganzeer uses a lot more styles than Banksy, and often adapts to his surroundings to create new and interesting things everywhere he goes. Ganzeer also faces very real consequences for some of the art he creates, especially during his time in Cairo when he was critiquing a regime that persecuted and often killed resistors of the regime. Banksy, in his anonymity, does not face many of the real consequences Ganzeer could, and being put in a space like that, I think pushes Ganzeer to make art that he is willing to die for. This added pressure and bravery creates art that is real, relatable, and provacative in ways a lot of Western-based artists will never be able to do. Personally, I think Banksy is the Western, and more privileged version of Ganzeer. To compare the two and to make Ganzeer the derivative of another artist is somewhat insulting, because he is making art in circumstances Banksy never had to face.
Below is a video giving us an insight to Ganzeer's background in Egypt, some of his artwork in the States, and some of his philosophy on art in general.
Below is a video giving us an insight to Ganzeer's background in Egypt, some of his artwork in the States, and some of his philosophy on art in general.
Social and Political Commentary in The Solar Grid
Race |
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Above is an article published by Holly Badchapel, a Martian woman (from Mars) who came to Earth to do a story on the people living there. Through it we come to understand a little bit about the racialized history behind why some people left the planet and others didn't and how those who left were chosen.
There is a clear segregation in place as far as who lives on Mars and who was left behind to live on a ruined Earth. She talks about her trouble blending in with people from the Wastecountry [sections of Earth covered in waste - where Latifah lives] or anywhere on Earth because "Pale skin and blue eyes are a rarity on Earth" and that "No amount of fresh grime can camouflage years of easy living." She says that on Mars they believe the move to Mars happened when "they, the Southerners... the Colored Ones, that brought destruction upon the Earth's atmosphere, prompting us, white Northerners to seek better life on Mars" she begins to doubt this story as fact because the story on Earth is that "they [the colored southerners] were the ones to force us [the white northerners] to leave". Many people have the idea that it is developing countries, with primarily with people of color, who are to blame for environmental impacts, when in actuality many American interests take their manufacturing overseas to these countries to avoid environmental regulations. By contracting away our environmental issues, developing countries are putting themselves at risk and dealing with the majority of the impacts, while the Western world blames them for inadequate environmental practices.
This article is reminiscent of the racial disparities in the effects of climate change. In the United States and in developing countries alike, people of color are disproportionately affected by climate change related health risks and calamities (United Nations). Much like the people remaining on Earth in The Solar Grid, real children of color on Earth are also growing up under dangerous conditions with "21.8 percent of children living in New York City public housing have asthma, three times higher than the rate in private housing" (Klein). There is an intersectionality between climate change and race, and Ganzeer is creatively working with these ideologies in the faux article above.
There is a clear segregation in place as far as who lives on Mars and who was left behind to live on a ruined Earth. She talks about her trouble blending in with people from the Wastecountry [sections of Earth covered in waste - where Latifah lives] or anywhere on Earth because "Pale skin and blue eyes are a rarity on Earth" and that "No amount of fresh grime can camouflage years of easy living." She says that on Mars they believe the move to Mars happened when "they, the Southerners... the Colored Ones, that brought destruction upon the Earth's atmosphere, prompting us, white Northerners to seek better life on Mars" she begins to doubt this story as fact because the story on Earth is that "they [the colored southerners] were the ones to force us [the white northerners] to leave". Many people have the idea that it is developing countries, with primarily with people of color, who are to blame for environmental impacts, when in actuality many American interests take their manufacturing overseas to these countries to avoid environmental regulations. By contracting away our environmental issues, developing countries are putting themselves at risk and dealing with the majority of the impacts, while the Western world blames them for inadequate environmental practices.
This article is reminiscent of the racial disparities in the effects of climate change. In the United States and in developing countries alike, people of color are disproportionately affected by climate change related health risks and calamities (United Nations). Much like the people remaining on Earth in The Solar Grid, real children of color on Earth are also growing up under dangerous conditions with "21.8 percent of children living in New York City public housing have asthma, three times higher than the rate in private housing" (Klein). There is an intersectionality between climate change and race, and Ganzeer is creatively working with these ideologies in the faux article above.
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One of the main characters in The Solar Grid , Sharif Algebri, is having a flashback to when him and one of his friends are laughing, and talking about the future. During this flashback, Algebri's friend is targeted not only with hateful speech, but becomes a victim to a hate crime and is murdered in front of his eyes.
This racialized violence towards people of Middle Eastern descent is not uncommon, especially in the United States. Post 9/11, many people of perceived Middle Eastern descent were victims of hate crimes and racial discrimination that is still prevalent today. The ideology surrounding people of Arab descent is not new, however. Orientalist ideologies have persisted in the Western consciousness since the "discovery of the Orient." Edward Said, writer of Orientalism, has written extensively on how the West curated, and perpetuated an idea of the Orient that allows for their continued disregard and misrepresentation in the world's discourse today. Much like the racist murderer in The Solar Grid, Western ideologies paint Arab people like violent, evil, and oppressive. They have been painted as a threat to Western ideals, and remain a racialized other, when clearly the only threat in this narrative is the white racist. The dehumanization of an entire group of people allows not just discrimination to take place, but exploitation as well. In The Solar Grid and in real life, the exploitation of resources from a dehumanized other is what the Western world builds their economy upon. |
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Corrupt Institutions & Exploitation of Women |
In North Africa and the Middle East, there has been a history of corruption in political, judicial, and police institutions for years. As democracy struggles to maintain a hold on the region, and "without sufficient checks and balances or political rights in place to challenge autocratic tendencies, anti-corruption efforts suffer and authoritarian practices persist across the region" (Transparency International).
In a recent survey, it was found that 1 in 3 people in the region had to pay a bribe to the police to get basic assistance (Washington Post). Tax officials, politicians, police officers, and even religious leaders have been at the source of this corruption and have left many in the region feeling frustrated and helpless.
Ganzeer, being from Egypt, knows firsthand the damaging effects of corruption, and recently a judge by the name of Shehata was protested against for his prejudice against activists, and his ability to abuse and intimidate officers (PEN America).
In a recent survey, it was found that 1 in 3 people in the region had to pay a bribe to the police to get basic assistance (Washington Post). Tax officials, politicians, police officers, and even religious leaders have been at the source of this corruption and have left many in the region feeling frustrated and helpless.
Ganzeer, being from Egypt, knows firsthand the damaging effects of corruption, and recently a judge by the name of Shehata was protested against for his prejudice against activists, and his ability to abuse and intimidate officers (PEN America).
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In Volume 4 of The Solar Grid , a woman is taken into custody for putting up posters that were interpreted to be a form of resistance to the governing powers on Earth. She is manipulated into giving an officer sexual favors in exchange for her freedom. This gross misconduct of power leads to the rape of this woman, and while we may wish this story was not true, many instances occur where people in power abuse their position to sexually exploit women.
According to Al Jazeera News, women in Saudi Arabia have reported that in order to silence qualms and protests women may have to the circumstances they find themselves in, they are electrocuted, flogged, and sexually assaulted. To keep women from speaking out, they are sexually assaulted and this tactic is used to repeatedly strike fear into women. In places like Iraq, attacks against women have skyrocketed since 2014, when ISIS took control of the region (Beiter). Political unrest has been linked to an increase in sexual assault in North Africa and the Middle East. Many experts believe that this connection means that people are using the threat of sexual assault to control and intimidate populations of people. The woman in The Solar Grid is being silenced for her presumed protest against the state, and is facing the same treatment many people across the region are facing today. To control a woman speaking out against the injustices and corruption, she is threatened with sexualized violence and rape. Ganzeer interacts with these ideas in a chillingly realistic and horrifying way that brings to light the injustices many people are dealing with today. |
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Technological Advancements & Consequences |
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In today's day and age there are new advancements being made in science and technology every day and it's hard to ensure that laws and ethics keep up with them. We need to constantly be aware of the effects our advancements can have. We see these concerns voiced in this scene where Sharif Algerbri is on a news show trying to convince people to buy into his Skyquench project after an employee leaked company information that showed a lot of the negative aspects of the project. Algebri is not concerned because he is not the one who has to see the most detrimental effects. Again, here we are seeing that those in power have the ability to exploit regions with less control to fit the needs of the dominant population. Algebri is contracting out the effects of climate change to Earth, which is populated by people of color, when the issues of climate change were caused by projects like Algebri's in the first place. We see another example of countries with populations of color being taken advantage of in this excerpt from The Solar Grid.
Propaganda and Art Resistance |
Ganzeer has voiced his anger over how public space is state owned and thus prevents him from creating art reminiscent of the neighborhood and the culture within it. He critiques this by using the example of billboards (like in the panels above), and in interviews as well. In an interview with fjwdfhdsj he states,
"It’s totally normal for a coconut water company to put up all these ads in a subway to tell you to buy their coconut water, but then if an artist comes to do a piece of artwork there it’s completely illegal. Even in my neighborhood, there are all these billboards. No one asked me if I wanted to see that billboard every day as I go to work or every time I look out my window in the morning. They did not get my permission even though it is within my living environment. But then they would be agitated if I, living in my neighborhood, decide to make a piece of art in that neighborhood, even with the consent of others living there. That’s still illegal...the state wants to regulate public opinion itself."
He interacts with these ideas in the above excerpt where a woman is putting up posters in her neighborhood that she describes as art, much to the apparent disbelief for the other people stumbling upon her putting it up. Ganzeer clearly has a personal connection to these scenarios as an avid protester and street artist during times of political dissent. He is not only a street artist, but he has used street art to criticize and call attention to injustices.
Ganzeer is one of many artists that is involved in the Alt-Comix scene. The staples of the Alt-Comix scene involves political and often deeply personal expressions in informal means (Guyer). What was once an underground phenomenon has now gone mainstream to publish art in zines, street art, panels, bubbles, and many other mediums. These small collections in this art scene help reflect the urgency of the region to tell their stories in times of dissent, but also in times of peace. In an attempt to cope, story-tell, criticize and inform, this art has a vast importance to the identity of many regions in the area. Ganzeer promotes art of this sort both in his own work, and in his promotion of his ideologies in interviews and talks.
"It’s totally normal for a coconut water company to put up all these ads in a subway to tell you to buy their coconut water, but then if an artist comes to do a piece of artwork there it’s completely illegal. Even in my neighborhood, there are all these billboards. No one asked me if I wanted to see that billboard every day as I go to work or every time I look out my window in the morning. They did not get my permission even though it is within my living environment. But then they would be agitated if I, living in my neighborhood, decide to make a piece of art in that neighborhood, even with the consent of others living there. That’s still illegal...the state wants to regulate public opinion itself."
He interacts with these ideas in the above excerpt where a woman is putting up posters in her neighborhood that she describes as art, much to the apparent disbelief for the other people stumbling upon her putting it up. Ganzeer clearly has a personal connection to these scenarios as an avid protester and street artist during times of political dissent. He is not only a street artist, but he has used street art to criticize and call attention to injustices.
Ganzeer is one of many artists that is involved in the Alt-Comix scene. The staples of the Alt-Comix scene involves political and often deeply personal expressions in informal means (Guyer). What was once an underground phenomenon has now gone mainstream to publish art in zines, street art, panels, bubbles, and many other mediums. These small collections in this art scene help reflect the urgency of the region to tell their stories in times of dissent, but also in times of peace. In an attempt to cope, story-tell, criticize and inform, this art has a vast importance to the identity of many regions in the area. Ganzeer promotes art of this sort both in his own work, and in his promotion of his ideologies in interviews and talks.
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These are two different ads featured in The Solar Grid that interact with the idea that climate change is fashionable. This shows the evolution of capitalism to promote and even hope for the effects of climate change to continue to profit off of it instead of working to reduce the effects. Ganzeer is showing his ideologies surrounding industry and is provoking us into realizing that industries will continue to market and make money regardless of climate change, and that as long as they are making money and keeping the population docile, they don't have to change anything about their un-environmental practices.
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The power dynamics between the everyday population and the powerful industries at play is interacted with in this scene from TheSolar Grid. This woman's frustration at the propaganda fed to the general public comes through and is the reason she is putting her own art up as a means of dissent. This corruption and manipulation of the people living on Earth is not just something for graphic novelist fiction. People in power try to sway people to vote and give money to things that are not in their best interest, but rather are in the interest of those at the top. This woman in The Solar Grid knows this, and is trying to combat this propaganda and raise awareness before it is too late. She is just one voice among the powerful industries and discourses at work that are trying to squash dissenters like herself, and Ganzeer knows all too well that the threats of these entities are very real. Many protesters and activists are silenced in times of protest, and not too long after Ganzeer fled to the United States, a fellow street artist was found dead.
The Media
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In the excerpt to the right, Sharif Algebri is facing backlash for his wealth, and his plans to accumulate more of it. Instead of actually owning up to his role in the accumulation of his massive fortune, he is playing on the media's tendency to misrepresent Arab people as a racialized other. While a smart tactic, he is using it to divert attention from his money-grabbing schemes. One of his quotes above reads, "The media is a beast that thrives on ignorance..." This quote embodies how easy it is to misrepresent and skew public opinion by manipulating a system that many readers take as gospel as long as it fits into their own beliefs and values.
Western media has been especially guilty of misrepresenting people of color in popular discourse. The Middle East is often described as being, "trapped in an eternal cycle of violence, instability, and terrorism" (Kilbride). We need to reevaluate how we depict people of color in popular news outlets, and change whose voices are reporting on these news outlets. Ganzeer interacts with the ideas surrounding the willfully ignorant media, and its failure to represent people in an objective way. |
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Ganzeer tells us what else is happening in the world through news banners at the bottom of the screen during news casts and interviews. In these particular panels they are talking about sexual violence against women in the work place reaching "epidemic proportions" and that "critics were quick to accuse researchers of bias as a result of obtaining funding from Venus." (only women live on Venus). In another one of the banners we see a chant being shouted at protests against Safety First that go "No Justice No Peace, Till the End of Corporate Police". The banners are used to show us some of the effects of the decisions being made in our main story line.
Western media is disconnected from the Arab world and it is not an accident. In order to continue to exploit and allow U.S. injustices in the area to go unchecked, the background noise that the "war-ridden Middle East" often occupies goes unnoticed. This has been noted not only by Ganzeer in this issue of The Solar Grid but has also been mentioned by Edward Said in his book Orientalism. He states, “In newsreels or news-photos, the Arab is always shown in large numbers. No individuality, no personal characteristics or experiences. Most of the pictures represent mass rage and misery, or irrational (hence hopelessly eccentric) gestures. Lurking behind all of these images is the menace of jihad. Consequence: a fear that the Muslims (or Arabs) will take over the world." Just like in this excerpt, the Arab world has been painted as a tumultuous area that will never have a resolution and will continue to be as "backwards" as it always has been.
Western media is disconnected from the Arab world and it is not an accident. In order to continue to exploit and allow U.S. injustices in the area to go unchecked, the background noise that the "war-ridden Middle East" often occupies goes unnoticed. This has been noted not only by Ganzeer in this issue of The Solar Grid but has also been mentioned by Edward Said in his book Orientalism. He states, “In newsreels or news-photos, the Arab is always shown in large numbers. No individuality, no personal characteristics or experiences. Most of the pictures represent mass rage and misery, or irrational (hence hopelessly eccentric) gestures. Lurking behind all of these images is the menace of jihad. Consequence: a fear that the Muslims (or Arabs) will take over the world." Just like in this excerpt, the Arab world has been painted as a tumultuous area that will never have a resolution and will continue to be as "backwards" as it always has been.
Quotes in The Solar Grid
The front and back covers of The Solar Grid greatly contrast the pages within. The pages of The Solar Grid are all in black and white, and the covers are yellow, with huge quotes on the back. Each one interacts with the respective story within the pages, while also calling the readers' attention to them due to the contrast. A clear rhetorical choice by Ganzeer, I believe he is calling attention to these quotes to provoke thought in the reader to connect these stories to real events and real people in our lives. Ganzeer also chose quotes that were recorded at the earliest 58 years ago. These artistic choices Ganzeer made call attention to the idea that the stories in The Solar Grid are not far away, and that the movements around social justice and change are not new. We are already in motion towards a future that is reminiscent of The Solar Grid and Ganzeer is making artistic choices to reflect and inform that.
See Also:
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External References:
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Works Cited
- Al Jazeera. “Is Sexual Abuse Used as a Weapon to Silence Women?” Middle East | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 22 Nov. 2018, www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2018/11/sexual-abuse-weapon-silence-women-181122191823797.html.
- Allen, Mark. "Interview: Ganzeer on The Solar Grid." Flickering Myth. 21 Oct. 2016. Web.
- Bearak, Max. “1 In 3 People in the Arab World Had to Pay a Bribe for Basic Needs, Survey Reveals.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 19 Apr. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/05/04/as-if-the-arab-spring-never-happened-corruption-rampant-in-arab-nations-says-report/.
- Beiter, Katie. “Rates of Rape and Sexual Violence High in Middle East.” The Media Line, 8 Dec. 2016, themedialine.org/news/featured/rates-rape-sexual-violence-high-middle-east/.
- Chappell, Bill. “From Police To Courts, Corruption Seen Rising In Middle East.” NPR, NPR, 3 May 2016, www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/05/03/476619529/from-police-to-courts-corruption-seen-rising-in-middle-east.
- Crabapple, Molly. “The Revolutionary, No-Bullshit Art of Ganzeer.” Vice, 30 Jan. 2015, www.vice.com/en_us/article/av4mj8/the-revolutionary-no-bullshit-art-of-ganzeer.
- "Egyptian Street Artist Pressures Leaders, Threatened With Arrest." Voice Project. 22 May 2014. Web.
- Ganzeer. The Solar Grid. Issues 1-4.
- “Ganzeer.” Lambiek.net, 1 Jan. 1970, www.lambiek.net/artists/g/ganzeer.htm.
- Guyer, Jonathan. “War, Romance, and Everyday Life in Beirut's Emerging Alt-Comix Scene.” Atlas Obscura, Atlas Obscura, 8 Oct. 2019, www.atlasobscura.com/articles/middle-east-alternative-comics.
- “How Are Vulnerable Countries Adapting to Climate Change?” Frequently Asked Questions FAQs, www.iisd.org/faq/adapting-to-climate-change/.
- "Interview with Ganzeer." The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy. 01 Nov. 2014. Web.
- Ismail, Aymann. “The Solar Grid Turns the Egyptian Revolution Into Science Fiction.” Slate Magazine, Slate, 29 Jan. 2018, slate.com/culture/2018/01/the-solar-grid-turns-the-egyptian-revolution-into-science-fiction.html.
- Kilbride, Erin. “The Middle East Deserves More Thoughtful Coverage from Major US Media.” Quartz, Quartz, 28 May 2015, qz.com/412537/revolutionizing-mid-east-coverage/.
- Klein N. If Black Lives Mattered.. Nation [Internet]. 2015 Jan 5 [cited 2019 Nov 27];300(1):10–1. Available from: http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.humboldt.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=100020733&site=ehost-live
- Morgan, Marwa. "The Image is Always Stronger Than the Word: Ganzeer" Daily News Egypt. Daily News Egypt, 7 Sept. 2014. Web
- “Orientalism Quotes by Edward W. Said.” Goodreads, Goodreads, www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/2310058-orientalism-western-conceptions-of-the-orient.
- Pollack, Barbara. “Hieroglyphics That Won’t Be Silenced.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 12 July 2014. Web.
- Schwartz, Emma. “Quick Facts: How Climate Change Affects People Living in Poverty.” Mercy Corps, 19 Nov. 2019, www.mercycorps.org/articles/climate-change-affects-poverty.
- “Stop Shehata: The Story of An Egyptian Judge.” PEN America, 12 Dec. 2017, pen.org/stop-shehata-the-story-of-an-egyptian-judge/.
- “Unprecedented Impacts of Climate Change Disproportionately Burdening Developing Countries, Delegate Stresses, as Second Committee Concludes General Debate | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/press/en/2019/gaef3516.doc.htm.
- e.V., Transparency International. “Middle East & North Africa: Corruption Continues as Institutions and Political Rights Weaken.” Www.transparency.org, www.transparency.org/news/feature/regional-analysis-MENA.