Nu ook ‘Humans of Brussels’ na ‘Humans of New York’?
Humans of Brussels
Bij de Brusselaars klinkt het eenstemmig: “We willen laten zien dat Brussel een warme en gezellige stad is, met een grote verscheidenheid aan culturen en mensen, en niet de shithole die Donald Trump en sommige anderen ervan willen maken. Na de aanslagen ziet heel de wereld Brussel als een boevenstad. Maar Brussel is een stad als een ander, met duizenden mensen die allemaal een verhaal te hebben vertellen. “
Humans of New York
Stanton brengt met zijn blog verhalen en foto’s over de gewone New Yorker, vaak met een erg emotionele insteek. Zijn blog wordt wereldwijd gelezen, gedeeld en inspireert velen. De initiatiefnemers hopen met de hashtag #invitebrandtobrussels het grote publiek warm te maken om Brandon Stanton tot in Brussel te krijgen. De Brusselaars beschouwen Stanton als dé aangewezen persoon om Brussel in de kijker te zetten.
De open brief aan Brandon
#invitebrandontobrussels
Dear Brandon,
We have been followers of your blog ‘Humans of New York’ for a few years, and eagerly await each day the fragments of humanity it shows us.
You have the gift of presenting our fellow humans as they are, far removed from prejudice, generalizations, recuperations, abstractions and the like, that media and some politicians spoon feed us, according to the needs of their agenda.
We are from Brussels, a wounded and criticized city in the heart of Europe that has lately been too much in the news for all the wrong reasons. Adding misrepresentation to our wounds, we have been forced to read nonsense describing Brussels in ways that we do not recognize. You have heard some of these words yourself, probably.
Well, in our view, Brussels needs to be shown as it is, that is to say, who its inhabitants are, shown in their humanity, their diversity, in the myriad of ways that defy and transcend the stereotypes and shallow deconstructions of our town’s reality, currently being broadcast the world over.
Would you not agree that this is a job for Humans of New York? We, humans of Brussels, would like to invite you to Brussels to put your unique talent to work capturing sparkles of what makes us who we are and to share these with the world.
We know this invitation is a long shot. We have however followed your blog long enough to know that it not only shares and shows what makes us all humans, but it has also become an agent of change. Here, the change we would seek is to alter the way the world sees Brussels — but it may even change us, and our beloved town for the better… a long shot worth taking, in other words.
This invitation is for you and your camera, the time you think it would take. You’ll be our guest, don’t worry about the logistics.
On self-appointed behalf of the women and men of Brussels.
Beeld: © Brandon Stanton
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