Tragedy and Hope
Tag Archives: Protest
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
Interview: Nate Powell and SAVE IT FOR LATER and RUN
RUN
SAVE IT FOR LATER
Nate Powell is an American graphic novelist and musician. His 2008 graphic novel Swallow Me Whole won an Ignatz Award and Eisner Award for Best Original Graphic Novel. He illustrated the March trilogy, an autobiographical series written by U.S. Congressman John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, which received the 2016 National Book Award, making Powell the first cartoonist to receive the award. Powell’s latest book is Save it for Later: Promises, Parenthood, and the Urgency of Protest, published by Abrams and out April 6, 2021.
Today is especially newsworthy in connection with a Nate Powell interview as it was officially announced that Run, a new trilogy and a continuation of March will be coming out this August. Thankfully, Powell and I get to talk about that towards the end of this interview. Here is the news release today by The Associated Press:
NEW YORK — The award-winning series of graphic novels about congressman and civil rights activist John Lewis will continue a year after his death.
Abrams announced Tuesday that “Run: Book One” will be published Aug. 3, just over a year after Lewis died at age 80. As with the “March” trilogy, which traced Lewis’ growing involvement with the civil rights movement in the 1960s, “Run” features longtime collaborator Andrew Aydin and illustrator Nate Powell as they shape a narrative around Lewis’ reflections. Comic artist L. Fury will assist with illustrations.
“Run: Book One” begins after the signing of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.
“Lewis recounts the highs and lows of a movement fighting to harness their hard-won legal protections to become an electoral force as the Vietnam War consumes the American political landscape — all while the forces of white supremacy gather to mount a decades-long campaign to destroy the dream of the ‘Beloved Community’ that John Lewis, Dr. King, and so many others worked to build,” according to Abrams.
Lewis, Aydin and Powell shared a National Book Award in 2016 for the third volume of the “March” trilogy.
How do we get to where we want to be when it comes to social justice and related matters? Well, as Nate Powell points out in our interview, we need to arrive at a shared objective reality. That seems to be a tall order now in the disrupted and fragmented world we live in dominated by social media and tribalism. But if we don’t find a way back, we just add to our struggle. Powell brings up Nelson Mandela’s call for a return to truth in order to achieve reconciliation. And that’s at the heart of so much of the conflict and misunderstanding, intentional or not. This is an interview that focuses on Powell’s new book, a set of essays that explore the American landscape since the Trump era and beyond. Will we move on? In the big picture, we Americans have no choice. It all hangs in the balance, including democracy as we know it.
This interview is very special as I appreciate Nate Powell’s work as working at the highest level of what we expect in the best of comics and graphic novels. A select group of cartoonists can truly call themselves graphic novelists. A select group of cartoonists reach a point where they truly are the go-to folks we can rely upon for solid compelling storytelling. Nate Powell, without a doubt, is in that group.
So, I hope you enjoy this conversation. I hope it does all the good things that an interview can do: inform and inspire.
Save it for Later is available as of April 6, 2021. For more information, visit Abrams ComicArts.
Filed under Interviews, Nate Powell
Bitch Media Needs Your Help: At Halfway Point to Reach Goal by Sep 25
Bitch magazine
BITCH MEDIA celebrates over 20 years of award-winning, nonprofit, feminist response to pop culture. Due to COVID-19 and the economic downturn, Bitch Media is in danger of ceasing operation. Help Bitch Media keep up the good fight with a donation by joining its campaign that closes on September 25, 2020. Donate, join, or subscribe today.
Bitch Media
Press release follows:
Filed under Feminism, Magazines, pop culture, Social Justice
Review: TITAN by François Vigneault
TITAN by François Vigneault
Titan. by François Vigneault. Oni Press, Portland, OR, 2020. 202pp, $19.99.
François Vigneault is one of the most original and fun cartoonists out there today. If you have not checked out his Titan comics, this is the perfect time since Oni Press presents a new collection of the series coming out November 10, 2020. Consider this an advance review. I will follow up with another Titan-related post closer to the release date. It is often said that the best science fiction has a timeless quality as well as comments with precision on its own time. Titan certainly is relevant to our tumultuous times full of protest. Meet João da Silva and Phoebe Mackintosh: one is a member of the ruling elite; the other is a member of the exploited working class. It is the not-too-distant future, about a hundred years from now. The old mining colony of Homestead, on a moon of Titan, is steadily working its way to obsolescence. In order to try to salvage the situation, MGR First Class da Silva arrives on the scene from HQ, planet Terra. His liaison officer is one of the best workers, Phoebe. What could go wrong? For starters, João and Phoebe immediately sense some hot chemistry between them. Meanwhile, the entire order of things is coming apart at the seams.
Page from TITAN
Vigneault has a very vivid and direct drawing style. Whether he draws with a pen and paper or directly on a digital tablet, he has nailed quite a fluid and expressive line. This is a wonderfully cartoony style with an immediate impact that attracts the reader to the characters and action. Vigneault has a way of evoking emotion that holds its own with any other drawing style with its authenticity. I don’t feel a false note anywhere. Any reader will get hooked into what becomes of João and Phoebe and, by extension, the rest of Homestead, even the whole freaking solar system! In the grand science fiction tradition, the fate of worlds depends upon these two–but also with a touch of irony to boot. This isn’t your father’s sci-fi, after all.
I’ll tell you one thing. Vigneault manages to pull off one of the trickiest of metaphors. In lesser hands, I think this would have felt like a heavy-handed gambit. The ruling class from Terra appear tiny in comparison to the Titan workers, genetically modified for maximum efficiency. When João and Phoebe become lovers, the symbolism is totally brought home, and the stark contrast is pretty powerful, even beautiful. João and Phoebe, as different as they are, fit together. João is small and nimble. Phoebe is large and strong. João can’t help but bring up his concern over whether he is big enough for her to which Phoebe reassures him that “size doesn’t matter.” Over the course of their story, the reader comes to appreciate how right they are for each other.
Panel excerpt: Phoebe reassures João.
Comics and graphic novels share much in common. If a comic strip, for example, is done right, it will entice the reader to go through it more than one quick scan. A reader may not even be fully aware of it but it is likely that the comic strip is digested a number of times, as in a loop. The reader seeks the stimulation and goes for repeated rewards. And then it’s time to move on to something else. But, at that moment, a comics loop experience is enjoyed. And so it can, and does, happen with graphic novels. There are certain passages that must be re-visited. Pages to go back to, pages to compare. Some academics theorize that comics are read in an entirely different way when displayed on a gallery wall and perhaps that even hurts the comics experience. Well, I don’t buy it. I say all this because Vigneault has managed to find that sweet spot in making comics where his creation entices the reader to linger, to re-visit, and to revel in the work. Not all comics do that and perhaps some comics creators don’t even factor that in. But Vigneault does.
I really good novel, or movie, or graphic novel, invites repeated consumption. It is built-in. That is going on here with Titan, a story of two star-crossed lovers caught up in events bigger than themselves. If the characters are compelling, the events in question can recede into the background and come up to the forefront as needed. Not all novels are created equal, of course! The point here is that Vigneault, in the driver’s seat as a auteur cartoonist (both writer and artist), fully understands how to drive a story forward. He is someone who would be fun to chat with over an interview. We would discuss process, storytelling in general, as well as social commentary and science fiction. In the end, what we would talk about would be the art of making comics. It’s not easy and, like the most complex of art forms, it seems to require a bit of magic. You will definitely find something magical about this graphic novel with its pacing, symbols, and daring.
Filed under Comics, Graphic Novel Reviews, science fiction
Review: ‘Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio’ by Derf Backderf
Panel excerpt: Allison and Bonnie amid a backdrop of emerging unrest.
Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio. by Derf Backderf. Abrams ComicArts. New York. 2020. 288pp, $24.99.
The connection between journalism and comics runs very deep. You could say the first cut is the deepest of all. Comics and journalism in America goes back to its very roots. So, it is no surprise that many of the comics I am drawn to and that I feature here have that connection. In fact, more have it than don’t; some more than others. That said, it makes a lot of sense why some cartoonists have one foot in art and the other in writing, specifically nonfiction, more the literary journalism type. This brings us to Derf Backderf who is an excellent example of the cartoonist auteur compelled to explain and report. In his latest graphic novel, Backderf takes his formidable visual storytelling skills and presents, Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio.
Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio by Derf Backderf
It’s a little silly to call yourself a graphic novelist unless you’ve really established a track record of creating graphic novels. Usually, it’s just fine to call yourself a cartoonist. That said, Derf Backderf could, if he chose to, claim such a title. Beginning with his comic strip, The City, a favorite in numerous alt-weeklies, Backderf was building the skills required to take on a longform work in comics. Then things started to evolve when Backderf created a 24-page minic-comic about his high school friendship with Jeffrey Dahmer, who later became the infamous serial killer. That project developed into the 2012 award-winning graphic novel, My Friend Dahmer. This led to another graphic novel about sanitation workers, 2015’s Trashed. And now, after more than a quarter century of creating comics, perhaps Backderf could call himself a graphic novelist, if he chose such a title! What is clear is that Kent State is a masterful work: a sprawling narrative with great clarity and sense of purpose.
KENT STATE by Derf Backderf
Backderf, like an auteur movie director, focuses in on one specific character and action after another, then rolls back to provide perspective, and so on. The reader gets to know a set of main characters who can speak to events from various vantage points. Some are in the thick of it. Some have their facts wrong. Some are simply caught in the middle. Backderf gives the narrative a journalist’s objective framework with the goal of setting the record straight: events are presented in chronological order, backed up by dates and documented facts, all leading up to May 4, 1970, when members of the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of Kent State University demonstrators, killing four and wounding nine Kent State students. The book spans five days: April 30 to May 4, 1970.
Every great cartoonist has a certain predominant approach and sensibility. What is clear about Derf Backderf is that he’s very empathetic. When you want someone to bring a subject to life and make sense of it, call on a cartoonist like Backderf. We are living in very chaotic and complex times now and so were we at the height of the Vietnam War. Backderf begins his graphic novel with a quick look back at himself at the time of the Kent State shootings: a 10-year-old boy aware of the world in a “kid’s clueless way.” But it’s where you were at such an age that will stick with you for the rest of your life. So, just as once working as a sanitation worker or somehow briefly being friends with a future serial killer can compel a creative mind, Backderf confronts the big story brewing when he was a boy waking up to the world-at-large. In fact, the Backderf family was living only a few miles away from Kent State which adds another layer. It all adds up to a personal quest to understand and get the facts right.
Page excerpt: Protests, 1970.
It’s quite impressive how Backderf intertwines his research within this book. The reader is never taken out of the narrative and all the moments specific to each character. When you wonder about the future of transmedia storytelling, if you even do, I highly recommend a book like this that lets you know all is well with simply processing information one page at a time. For instance, there’s a sequence following the misadventures of Terry, the most inept of student protest infiltrators. At one point, a segue is made to get a deeper look at the historical record. Here, Backderf provides a lot of eye-opening information like the fact that the CIA’s Operation CHAOS is still not fully declassified. This was during the Cold War and the Nixon administration’s full tilt war on student protestors. These factoids then give way back to more intimate circumstances like the relationship between two students, Sandy and Jeff. While Sandy cooks dinner, Jeff confides in her his being scared of even leaving the house for fear of being spied on or stopped by soldiers. Maybe listening to the new Paul McCartney album can relieve the tension for a little while.
Panel excerpt: Sandy and Jeff try to find a little peace.
You see the world a certain way. And a auteur cartoonist writes and draws the world in a certain way. Backderf’s people are imbued with a fierce earnestness that leaves them looking determined but also quite vulnerable. Even the most formidable villain in Backderf’s world is susceptible to the most utterly heartbreaking self-doubt. These are mostly melancholy people who aspire to some possible happiness. And that’s a profoundly good place to start any story. In this case, this is a story of young men who are trapped by the military industrial complex eager to draft them off to war. Protesting the war comes as natural as breathing. Each one of these young men protesting, along with their female compatriots, wishes to breathe. An older and conservative generation mostly doesn’t understand and it can be easy for some to demonize the protestors. In order to steadily keep track of events, Backderf’s empathetic voice makes a big difference. It is this empathy that will guide the reader and provide an accurate and insightful look at what happened at Kent State fifty years ago. Has it been that long? Well, it can feel like it was only yesterday and, in a way, it was.
Filed under Comics, Graphic Novel Reviews, Protest
GOOD TROUBLE. John Lewis (1940-2020)
MARCH
Michelle Goldberg, in the NYT podcast, The Argument, said something that put the first five months of this year into stark perspective. She said that 2020 started off like 1974 (an impeachment crisis), quickly became 1918 (a pandemic), turned into 1929 (economic crash), and is now 1968 (massive urban unrest).” What next? Protest will continue. We all can look to John Lewis on how to cause some “good trouble.”
The death of John Lewis reverberates and can’t help but provide guidance. Here is John Lewis in his own words: “I learned from Rosa Parks and from Martin Luther King Jr. I found a way to get in the way. To cause good trouble. Necessary trouble.”
Here is a review I did back on August 28, 2013 of the first installment of MARCH, the graphic novel that John Lewis created with Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell:
Review: MARCH: BOOK ONE by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
The 50th anniversary of the March on Washington is today, August 28, 2013. It is one of the most inspiring moments in American history and all of history. It will only grow in stature and significance as time continues its own march. The United States of America was desperately lagging behind in full self-awareness as a nation when it received an opportunity for collective clarity. It was a beautiful, gentle, and energetic plea for understanding. There were marches before and after this distinguished one. Progress would still take time. His words would still be dismissed by some. But, on that day, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to a nation. He gave a speech. He spoke of a dream.
We continue to remember that moment, and that movement, in new ways. One shining example is “March,” the new graphic novel, published by Top Shelf Productions, written by Rep. John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, and drawn by Nate Powell. “March: Book One,” the first part of a trilogy, has already gained critical and popular acclaim. It has made it to the number one spot on The New York Times bestsellers list for Graphic Books. The creation of this book is inspiring in itself. Congressman John Lewis is a perfect guide. He was an active participant in the civil rights movement right from the start. He is the last surviving dignitary who gave a speech during the March on Washington. And he’s a wealth of knowledge and goodwill. The “March” trilogy gives us a front row seat to the civil rights movement in America through the eyes of Mr. Lewis. The story is framed all in one day, January 20, 2009, the day of the inauguration of President Barack Obama. It’s an ambitious project that reads quite smoothly, just as if Mr. Lewis was there to tell you the story in person.
The script seems to embrace a cinematic pace. The main character is recalling his life all in a short span of time with each recollection triggering an extended flashback. It is left to Nate Powell’s storytelling ability as a cartoonist to bring out aspects that gel with the comics medium. You see this in the various ways that Powell plays with text and composition like when he has a favorite passage from the Bible run across a silhouette of young John Lewis: “Behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” And, of course, the distinctive drawing style of Nate Powell takes over. We easily become immersed in the intelligent and caring ways of this boy who is compelled to preach to the chickens on the family farm. In due time, the young man’s compassion becomes refined and focuses on the social gospel, the idea that church principles can guide social justice.
Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story, published by F.O.R. in 1956
It is a dangerous world that young Lewis must navigate. There is constant humiliation and intimidation. You could easily be killed, just like 14-year-old Emmett Till. But a violent reaction would not be the answer. The key was passive resistance and keeping faith. There were various techniques to learn in order to outwit one’s attackers with the prevailing goal being to draw out your enemy’s humanity. We find an actual comic book pamphlet of the time laying out the Montgomery Method that worked so well for Dr. King and his followers. It is a satisfying comics reference within a comic. It was an inspiration for the young John Lewis. And it’s a compelling link to the past to this contemporary look back.
It will be great to see the whole trilogy. It’s so important for new generations to have something contemporary in order to help them hook into history. The civil rights movement is really relatively recent history depending on how you look at it! This book and “Lee Daniel’s The Butler” make a big difference. The United States of America has a lot of wounds that are still healing and we still have a lot to learn and relearn. It’s this book and that movie that provide essential hooks for young people, give them proper context, help them appreciate when they hear on the news that our voting rights as a people are, even today, being compromised. You can’t put enough value on a book like “March” and more power to Top Shelf Productions for publishing it.
“March: Book One” is a beautiful book. It is a new way to honor and understand what has come before us and be inspired for what lies ahead. It is a 128-page trade paperback and is available for $14.95 (US) print and $9.95 (US) digital. Visit our friends at Top Shelf Productions here.
Filed under Comics, Graphic Novel Reviews, March on Washington
Confederate Statues Are Being Removed–But Then What? A Proposal For Infamous Statues
Proposal For Infamous Statues
Confederate statues are being removed, including that infamous Robert E. Lee statue, the one at the center of the tragedy in Charlottesville in 2017. What is essential to know is that these Confederate leader statues were not erected immediately after the Civil War in 1865 but were installed years later, during the era of Jim Crow. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s research, the biggest spike was between 1900 and the 1920s. Lost in the shuffle is the question of what happens to these statues once they’re “removed.” One Lee statue in Dallas was removed in 2019 only to be sold to an unknown party. In 2017, New Orleans removed a total of four Confederate statues including one of Lee. New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said that the monuments represent a “sanitized” view of the Confederacy. Landrieu added that they were erected years after the Civil War ended by people who wanted to show that white supremacy still held sway in the city. The cost of removal was over 2.1 millions dollars. Some of the factors in that huge price tag involved public safety and security but that still seems to be a steep price to pay. And, again, what exactly should be the end result to all of these statues? That’s a very good question.
Artist rebel Banksy offers an option byway of a recent removal of a statue across the pond, that of Edward Colston in Bristol. Colston was a 17th-century slave trader that was responsible for having transported over 80,000 enslaved individuals between 1672 and 1689. This past Sunday, protestors took down the statue of Colston from its pedestal, located in the center of Bristol, and sank it to the bottom of the Avon River. Banksy proposes to keep the infamous statue but repurpose it. As Banksy states on Instagram:
“What should we do with the empty plinth in the middle of Bristol?
Here’s an idea that caters for both those who miss the Colston statue and those who don’t.
We drag him out the water, put him back on the plinth, tie cable round his neck and commission some life size bronze statues of protestors in the act of pulling him down. Everyone happy. A famous day commemorated.”
Sounds like a very good answer. Of course, taking a sledgehammer to these statues is another option. New Orleans Mayor Landrieu led the way with the removal of his city’s four statues. Other cities followed, including Baltimore, Austin, and Durham, North Carolina. But where did these statues end up? The New Orleans statues are kept, to this very day, in some old shed in an undisclosed location.
Filed under Art, Black Lives Matter, Protest
Review: A FOR ANONYMOUS by David Kushner and Koren Shadmi
A FOR ANONYMOUS by David Kushner and Koren Shadmi
You have probably heard of Anonymous, the so-called, “hacker activist group,” but perhaps you’re not so clear on the details. Then consider this new graphic novel: A for Anonymous: How a Mysterious Hacker Collective Transformed the World (Bold Type Books; on sale March 31) by David Kushner and Koren Shadmi. The journalist and illustrator, who teamed up once before on Rise of the Dungeon Master, tell the story of the legendary hacktivist group Anonymous—from their origin story to their most daring exploits.
Who or What is Anonymous?
As a cartoonist myself, I can tell you that Kushner and Shadmi both understand the comics language. The art of visual storytelling requires a precise and concise translation from another medium. Unless you’ve done it yourself, it can be hard to appreciate the work involved. Yes, you need to edit like a madman but you also have to strike a balance as you juggle various facts and events. Some wrongheaded critic may accuse you of taking too much out and leaving a disjointed thread. But, if you’ve carefully laid out your work, cooler heads will prevail and hail you a genius! Kushner knows how to write a comics script and Shadmi knows how to compliment the steady tempo that Kushner has set up. And off we go as we follow Kushner’s reportage on the whole Anonymous phenomena.
Anonymous is not a group and it’s not a person.
In A for Anonymous, Kushner and Shadmi follow the Anonymous phenomena, including its acts of rebellion set to embarrass rich and powerful targets—from Sony and Paypal to the Church of Scientology and the Ferguson Police Department—all in the name of freedom of speech and information. Much like Kushner’s well-received New Yorker article from which this book is adapted, this work follows Commander X as a guide to all the anonymous activity, giving readers a character they can follow through a story that involves a wide variety of shadowy figures. What we come to appreciate is that Anonymous is not any one person or group but a vast network, not all pursuing the same goal. The origins of Anonymous go back to early efforts by a small club of hobbyist coders known as The Cult of the Dead Cow. Back in the mid-1980s, they chose to deliver a blow to the powerful and nefarious Church of Scientology. They started messing with their online forum. It was a small but significant act of protest, one of the earliest hacks. Not exactly the work of a sinister criminal element. And then things began to snowball into bigger acts of protest like crashing government websites in support of downtrodden rebels. We follow along to the development of 4chan and the swamp of cowardly acts of hate and violence. Not all fun and games by a long shot. All in all, this is a fascinating guide to help us better appreciate and understand the virtual rabbit hole that attracts virtually anyone.
A for Anonymous is a 128-page trade paperback, black & white, published by Bold Type Books will be released on March 31, 2020. For more details, visit Hachette Book Group right here.
Filed under Comics, Graphic Novel Reviews
Seattle Focus: Public Safety Concerns Underscored by Mass Shooting
Illustration by Jennifer Daydreamer
Guest Column by Jennifer Daydreamer
Editor’s Note: On January 22, 2019, the Seattle downtown core was rocked by a mass shooting. Part of the heart of downtown Seattle is Third Avenue and Pine Street, one of the most congested downtown areas in any American city and long known as a hub for crime. This incident underscores the dysfunction at City Hall and how Seattle city leaders have long struggled to understand and address crime. Seattle cartoonist and writer Jennifer Daydreamer speaks out on the challenging situation Seattle citizens must face.
Seattle mass shooting crime scene. The Seattle Times.
SEATTLE: THIS IS HOW TO PROTEST THE CRIME
We have a real crime problem in Seattle. Who are the superheroes that have emerged to champion public safety? The business community. The Downtown Business Association commissioned the 2019 System Failure Report, held an impromptu 1.24.20 downtown safety rally, and, most recently, signed a petition letter to Seattle and King County leadership, pleading for safety reform. This should give one pause. Can you feel the topsy-turvy of a non government entity – businesses – doing our government’s job of protecting the people? Something is terribly wrong.
What has our council, mayor and governor been doing in response to crime? They give speeches! It’s always the same one, too. Their speeches consist of feel good solutions that appeal to their voter base. They never have the courage to say that the law is not being enforced and if it were, it would reduce the crime on the streets dramatically. Now, why would their voter base not want safety? The short answer is that the hard Left is keen on bridging the economic divide. An example of this is the focus on free bus rides, library fees waived and free winter rent (to be paid back, if the landlord can collect it). Do you hear our leaders talk with the same passion on the need to stop people from getting stabbed, gunned, punched, pushed and robbed? No.
In case you have been asleep like Sleeping Beauty the last decade, the speech our leaders give is this: “We have to build more housing, have alternatives to incarceration, offer drug rehabilitation programs and mental health assistance.” All of that is very good. Well planned, thoughtful alternatives are important. The problem is, given the track record of our government’s inability to create such entities, I don’t think these ambitions will become reality for another twenty years, if ever. When politicians offer up nonsensical solutions to the immediate need of public safety, it’s a way of denying the crime.
I recognize the Emperor’s New Clothes when I see it. Make no mistake, the crime is real. The majority of you in Seattle know this; you’re experiencing crime and reading and watching the news. At its core level, law and order is gold; it’s been melted down and is slipping through your civic fingers. I recommend KOMO television’s 1.27.2020 Town Hall, Downtown Seattle Violence: Enough is Enough. Attorney Scott Lindsay describes the City’s approach to public safety as “The appearance of gross negligence.”
When you hold a large protest, it tells our politicians that this is a voting public. Allow me to describe to you my dream rally. Have a simple rally, centrally located in downtown. Chants can be yelled for ten minutes such as ‘Enough Is Enough!’ and ‘We Want Safety and We Want It Now!’ The twist is, in any part of downtown, business owners only have to step outside their building to the sidewalk, to join in the chanting. Isn’t it cool that business is strategically located to have a protest that stretches to both ends of downtown? Anyone can join in, employees, passersbys, all people. I really believe there are enough people affected by crime that many will join in. Yet, this can be peaceful. There’s no need to spill onto the streets and block traffic. Police can join in for a change instead of having to keep the peace. Businesses won’t break their own windows. Everyone yells during his or her break and then back to work. Efficient!
Maybe I’m dreaming too big, to say this, but the protest can be spectacular and stretch “across the land” from business to business, residence to residence, person to person; to Belltown to Beacon Hill to Capitol Hill, all the way to Alki Beach to Ballard to Fremont to the U District…you get the picture.
We are in a kingdom, a fiefdom! It’s time to awaken! Although I use fairy tales as metaphors, I am not naïve. I know I am preaching to the choir out there in the Emerald City. Seattle, you know the crime is real.
Let your voices soar, loud and clear.
Jennifer Daydreamer
Filed under Comics, Editorial Cartoons
