Tragedy and Hope
Tag Archives: Activism
Alyson Chadwick | Comedy | Paul Rusesabagina | Activism
Paul Rusesabagina
Alyson Chadwick is a standup comic and an activist. That keeps her busy balancing the funny and the serious. In this talk, we cover it all, including Paul Ryan and even Matt Gaetz! On the serious side, be sure to look up Paul Rusesabagina and his being kidnapped by the Rawandan government. You may know Paul from his story turned into the film, HOTEL RAWANDA. Paul did his part in opposition to the genocide of the Tutsi by Rawanda in 1994. Last year, Paul was kidnapped by Rawanda’s Kagame regime and is awaiting trial on false charges.
You can do your part to help bring about his release. Visit Alyson’s website as well as the No Business with Genocide website:
Filed under Comedy, Interviews, Paul Rusesabagina, Rawanda
Book Review: IT OCCURS TO ME THAT I AM AMERICA: NEW STORIES AND ART
It Occurs to Me That I Am America: New Stories and Art
What does it mean to be American in these strange times we live in? We have someone in power who behaves like a self-serving gremlin, determined to dismantle and foment unrest, boasting a horribly inarticulate screed. Here is a collection from some of the most respected names in the arts that acts as an answer to what it is to be American. It is entitled, It Occurs to Me That I Am America: New Stories and Art, published by Touchstone, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. This title came out in 2018 and it deserves to be on everyone’s radar in 2019 and for years to come.
Vote Hillary by Deborah Kass
Sometimes, perhaps too often, we get such a gem of a book that deserves a whole new shout out. Let me run through for you what makes this one special. Gathered within 375 pages are works by talented artists and writers all tackling a common theme in refreshingly unexpected ways. The book is edited by celebrated artist and novelist Jonathan Santlofer, with an introduction by Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen. The roster of creators runs the gamut from exciting new talent to established legends. Each piece is a highly original voice. You’ll find, for instance, Hate for Sale, by Neil Gaiman, a poem tailor-made for today and yet unnervingly timeless. Or how about Joyce Carol Oates, “Good News!”a cautionary tale that nicely channels Ray Bradbury.
Little House on the Prairie Holding Company LLC by David Storey
Among visual art, one that immediately strikes just the right defiant tone is Vote Hillary, by Deborah Kass, a screen print channeling Andy Warhol with Trump replacing Nixon as the subject. Another compelling piece is The Ugliest American Alphabet, by Eric Orner, where he recounts all that is dismaying about Trump using every letter of the alphabet. Some other thoughtful work in comics comes from Roz Chast with Politics; and from Mimi Pond with Your Sacred American Rights Bingo. And one of the most beguiling works in comics in this book is a tryptic by Art Spiegelman. To be sure, all the work here is not espousing one particular point of view. You’ll find a bit of everything when it comes to articulating all things American. It’s not as easy as simply pointing fingers. It’s complicated, right? All in all, you have 52 distinctive voices here sharing with you just how complicated it all is in the best spirit of vigorous critical inquiry.
Your Sacred American Rights Bingo by Mimi Pond
I will finish up here by taking a closer look at the piece by Alice Walker, Don’t Despair. It is one of the shortest works and comes towards the end of this collection. She recounts how growing up in rural Georgia, all white men seemed to be like Donald Trump, petty and hateful. She looks back and wonders how she survived those times. Part of the answer is that Walker comes from a long line of ancestors who chose to live or die on their feet. Her family would survive, even proper, in the tiniest of spaces allowed to them by white people. Fast forward to today, Walker asks Is living under a dictatorship all that of a surprise? Her solution: Study hard! Study who you’re really voting for! And don’t rely on just voting for someone! “It is our ignorance that keeps us hoping somebody we elect will do all the work while we drive off to the mall.” Walker isn’t just offering hope. As she puts it, she’s offering counsel. Real change is personal and involves relating with each other. It is a time for an awakening and the choice is ours.
The Ugliest American Alphabet, by Eric Orner
It Occurs to Me That I Am America: New Stories and Art is a 375-page hardcover, with black & white and color images, published by Touchstone, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
Filed under Anthologies, Art, Art books, Art Spiegelman, Artists, Book Reviews, Books, Comics, Eric Orner, Fiction, Jonathan Santlofer, Mimi Pond, Protest, writers, writing
#NoBillNoBreak and BRAVE NEW FILMS
#NoBillNoBreak
Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts was fed up with the ritual in Congress of a moment of silence followed by no further response to the latest mass shooting in America. She approached civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis of Georgia. Lewis responded with organizing a classic sit-in. This time it would be inside the well of the House of Representatives, something never done before. And so history is being made. The Democrats are now galvanized and vow to continue the fight. Moving forward, spreading the word about the issues involved is crucial and Brave New Films is one great resource.
Rep. Katherine Clark teamed up with Rep. John Lewis for the sit-in. –Katherine Clark / Twitter
Brave New Films is doing its part to spread awareness with its own Gun Safety campaign running since 2014. You may think you know the story but the facts will speak for themselves:
On January 5, 2016, President Obama announced executive actions aimed at expanding background checks. That same day, Smith & Wesson’s share prices rose to a record high of $25.86* a share.
Eleven days ago, 49 people died and 53 were injured in Orlando Florida, the 133rd mass shooting this year. As of yesterday, Smith & Wesson shares are up 19%** since Orlando.
Smith & Wesson is MAKING A KILLING, and they are not the only ones. The NRA, gun manufacturers and the politicians they pay are all guilty of greed.
Since launching our Gun Safety campaign in 2014, we have reached millions of people with our content. Because of your support and the thousands of supporters like you sharing and contributing, the narrative of our work is developing the connection for the mainstream media to see how greed is making us all less safe.
Will you donate $25 right now so we can continue to create content that activates millions? With every donation, big or small, you make an impact.
Content like this piece released yesterday and already reaching 210,000 people and counting. #NoBillNoBreak
The mainstream coverage of #NoBillNoBreak is promising. Now is the time to keep making the connection between the business of selling guns and the politics that allow an industry that fuels 133 mass shootings in less than half a year to keep making billions in profits. Together, we are reframing the gun debate because the right to safety should always triumph over greed.
Visit Brave New Films and learn more about their Gun Safety campaign and help support their film, THE REAL NRA: MAKING A KILLING.
Support Brave New Films in continuing to provide compelling content to millions of people. You can make a donation right here.
Filed under Brave New Films, Civil Disobedience, Documentaries, Gun violence, NRA, Protest
FCC.GOV/COMMENTS: Today Last Day to Tell Cable Companies Where To Go
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Net Neutrality, (HBO)
There they are, all your telecom friends: Time Warner Cable, Comcast, AT&T, Cox, and Verizon. If you leave it to them, they will get their internet fast lane, they will keep little start-up companies on a slow lane, and they will charge you if you want a faster internet connection from the slower one they have created for you. Care to comment?? Today is the last day for public comment as the FCC decides the next step toward the end of the internet as we know it. Leave your comment now at fcc.gov/comments.
Filed under Cable, Corporate, Corporations, Internet, Net Neutrality
Occupy Google and Saving The Internet
If you don’t take a stand for net neutrality, corporations, like cable companies, are more than happy to sound off against it by creating fake people’s campaigns. Corporations are people too, right? Time is running out to make YOUR VOICE heard in the latest test to a free Internet.
Filed under Internet, Net Neutrality
Interview: Peter Kuper and ‘The System’ and ‘World War 3 Illustrated 1979-2014’
Page 70 from “The System” by Peter Kuper
Peter Kuper is passionate about comics, New York City, and activism. He has established himself as a leading authority on all three subjects in a remarkable career that continues to explore and to grow. Where to begin? Well, many readers will know Mr. Kuper for his continuous work on “Spy vs. Spy” in MAD Magazine, since 1997. In that same year, his landmark graphic novel, “The System” was published. And it all begins with a love for underground comics and pushing the limits. This would lead to “World War 3 Illustrated,” started by Kuper and his childhood friend, Seth Tobocman. All sorts of subversive ideas were percolating between these two cartoonists while growing up in Cleveland. We discuss a key moment that brought things to a boil.
Filed under Comics, Graffiti, graphic novels, Illustration, Interviews, Peter Kuper, World War 3 Illustrated
Review: ‘World War 3 Illustrated 1979-2014,’ edited by Peter Kuper and Seth Tobocman
“War in the Neighborhood” by Seth Tobocman
There is a stark beauty to be found in the 320 pages of this full-color special collection of comics, “World War 3 Illustrated 1979-2014,” published by PM Press and set for release this July. I call it a stark beauty for good reason. I think it is the most economical way to express the urgency and the severity of the issues being confronted. It’s also a quick way to say that this is thoughtful and vital art that you’ll find in this collection of some of the best work to appear in the semi-annual anthology, “World War 3 Illustrated.”
Filed under Anthologies, Comics, Peter Kuper, World War 3 Illustrated
Preview: ‘World War 3 Illustrated 1979-2014,’ edited by Peter Kuper and Seth Tobocman, Release Party in NYC, June 19, 2014
“On The Tea Party Trail” by Peter Kuper
“World War 3 Illustrated 1979-2014,” edited by Peter Kuper and Seth Tobocman, with an introduction by Bill Ayers, is essential reading. Activism and comics are a natural together and this impressive collection is a shining example. It is a balancing act to make sense out of what can appear to be utter chaos. Of course, it’s this chaos that demands close scrutiny since it is likely orchestrated by others in power with a ruthless need to manipulate, cheat, and steal. Sure, you’ve heard of The Tea Party and you may think you know what they’re about. But do you really? Well, they’re not real. They were created by the Koch brothers. And maybe you know that. But, just like Thomas Nast “exposed” the corruption of New York City politics one hundred years ago by distilling dense information into compelling cartoons, so too do cartoonists today, like Peter Kuper, provide that same valuable service.
Filed under Anthologies, Comics, Peter Kuper, PM Press, World War 3 Illustrated
WE ARE COMICS
Fantagraphics Books shows support for We Are Comics
In the aftermath from a recent incident that rocked the comics industry, something good emerges. Welcome to We Are Comics.
Here are the details from Metafilter.com:
We are comics. When former DC Comics editor Janelle Asselin wrote a scathing critique of the art on the company’s new “Teen Titans” book, the response she got was depressingly predictable: a deluge of insults, some anonymous rape threats and even one (less predictable) attempt to hack her bank accounts. But after much of the online comics community rallied around Asselin, a tumblr-based project to show off the true diversity of comics creators and fans took off.
We Are Comics is the brainchild of writers/fans/editors Rachel Edidin, Arturo R. Garcia, and Elle Collins.
An epilogue: In the wake of Asselin’s abuse, Comic Book Resources – the Eisner-winning news site that hosted her original article – has locked its community forums and started over fresh, with a brand-new civility code.
posted by Holy Zarquon’s Singing Fish
We keep making inroads to a better world. It takes effort. We Are Comics is on the right track. You are welcome to join them.
Filed under Comic Book Resources, comic books, Comics, Comics News, DC Comics, Diversity, Janelle Asselin
