A trip to India and Pakistan during high school led Sasha Khokha to ask deeper questions about identity and political systems.
Origin Stories | Sasha Khokha - Host, The California Report Magazine
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Transcript of Comic Strip
This is a KQED Origin Story by Sasha Khokha, Host of The California Report Magazine. Sasha speaking in the panels.
Panel 1: I grew up in a family of storytellers.
Panel 2: My grandfather and father would share vivid stories about life in India, about their journey as refugees after the partition of India and Pakistan. My dad later immigrated to the U.S., met my mom and moved to L.A.
Panel 3: A young woman stands in the middle of a bustling city street. She wears a head covering and holds a young child on one hip while also clutching a red cup. A caption says, “In high school, I traveled to India and Pakistan and wrote an article for my school newspaper about meeting a girl my age who was asking for money on the street, a baby on her hip.”
Panel 4: Sasha stands in front of her high school with a backpack slung over one shoulder holding a red notebook. She speaks to woman with long hair. A caption says, “A parent at my school who was a journalist, encouraged me to pursue writing . . .”
Panel 5: The panel is split in half with one portion showing half of Sasha’s face with a backpack slung over one shoulder and the other portion showing half of the girl’s face who Sasha saw asking for money with a baby on her hip. A caption says, “. . . and ask deeper questions about poverty, caste and the systems that made that girl's life so different from my own.”
Panel 6: An outline of the state of California has lines drawn pointing in and out of it representing movement. Text over the image says, “Questions about migration and identity have always been at the heart of the stories I like to tell about California.”
Panel 7: The panel is ringed by images of different people and groups: two young women smiling, a man with a beard and glasses speaking into a microphone, a woman playing guitar, a woman speaking into a microphone, a group of four women dancing, and a family with two young children. A caption says, “Hearing the voices of people who are the authorities on their own lived experiences can change hearts and minds, and help spark systemic change.”