Respect Existence or Expect Resistance!
Protests in support of Civil Rights and equality are plentiful. Whether centered on racial equality, women’s rights, disabled justice, 2SLGBTQIA+ rights, immigration, incarcerated people, or an intersection of identities, comics frequently depict the historical struggle for treating all humans as worthy of equal rights and respect. The comics on display here show the 1978 protest in Colorado where disability activists blocked city buses with their wheelchairs in protest against the inaccessibility of public transportation in Denver (1); the Attica prison rebellion of 1971 where incarcerated men demanded an end to violence against them and violations of their human rights in prison (2); and, the 1987 Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights where more than 200,000 people demanded more federal money for AIDS research and for an end to discrimination against homosexuals (3).
We learn more about Civil Rights activist Gloria Richardson, who fought for desegregation, as well as economic and social justice in housing, education, job opportunities, and health care (4). We see protests in favor of ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), initially proposed in Congress in 1923 in an effort to secure full equality for women. Seeking to end the legal distinctions between men and women in terms of divorce, property, employment, and other matters, as of 2024, the ERA has still not been adopted in the United States (5). Fictional examples are often grounded in contemporary issues, such as pro-immigration rallies (6). Lastly, the act of publishing certain titles can, itself, be viewed as an act of social protest, as is the case for Love is Love. This fundraiser comic donated proceeds to the victims of the horrific 2016 mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, where 49 people were killed and 53 more were wounded (7).
