Sergio Peçanha is a visual columnist at the Opinions desk of the Washington Post. He wrote a piece recently headlined “Hug an election denier.” He writes: “I am now a citizen of two capital-stormed countries: Brazil and the United States. How bizarre to hear election deniers halfway down the planet expressing, in another language, the same sentiments felt two years earlier by American rioters. … It’s as though the rioters come from another planet. ….. But that oversimplification hurts us. …They are decent people (mostly). People we love (mostly). Maybe people who have become so detached from reality that we prefer to just avoid them.” However, Pecanha says we each need to pop the bubbles we’re living in and engage with those who believe differently than us.
Sergio Pecanha uses visual elements like illustrations, cartoons, maps, information graphics and videos to tell stories. Before joining The Post in 2019, he was a graphics editor at The New York Times for more than a decade, where he created visual stories for the International desk and the New York desk. Peçanha graduated in journalism from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. His work has been recognized multiple times by the Society for News Design and the Malofiej infographics awards, in Spain, including Gold medals, and he has served as a judge in both contests. He is a native of Rio, and speaks Portuguese and Spanish.
