Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists: A Graphic History of Women's Fight for Their Rights

by Mikki Kendall, A. D'Amico (Illustrator)

Overview

A bold and gripping graphic history of the fight for women’s rights by the New York Times bestselling author of Hood Feminism

“A beautifully drawn, hold-no-punches, surprisingly deep dive through the history of women's rights around the world, which will entrance kids and adults alike.”—N. K. Jemisin, Hugo Award–winning author of the Broken Earth trilogy
 
The ongoing struggle for women’s rights has spanned human history, touched nearly every culture on Earth, and encompassed a wide range of issues, such as the right to vote, work, get an education, own property, exercise bodily autonomy, and beyond. Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists is a fun and fascinating graphic novel–style primer that covers the key figures and events that have advanced women’s rights from antiquity to the modern era. In addition, this compelling book illuminates the stories of notable women throughout history—from queens and freedom fighters to warriors and spies—and the progressive movements led by women that have shaped history, including abolition, suffrage, labor, civil rights, LGBTQ liberation, reproductive rights, and more.

Examining where we've been, where we are, and where we're going, Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists is an indispensable resource for people of all genders interested in the fight for a more liberated future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780399581793
Publisher:	Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed
Publication date:	11/05/2019
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	118,162
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

MIKKI KENDALL is a writer, historian, and diversity consultant who writes about intersectionality, policing, gender, sexual assault, and other current events. Kendall's nonfiction can be found at Time.com, the Guardian, Washington Post, Ebony, Essence, Salon, XoJane, Bustle, Islamic Monthly, and a host of other outlets. Her media appearances include BBC, NPR, Al Jazeera, WVON, WBEZ, TWIB, and Showtime. Her comics work can be found in the Swords of Sorrow anthology, the Princeless charity anthology, and in the Columbus College of Art and Design anthology of 2016.

ASTER D'AMICO is a Cincinnati-born illustrator who loves all things tea, costuming, and history. She graduated from the Columbus College of Art and Design with a BFA in illustration in 2016, and has been creating comics, watercolor paintings, and digital illustrations ever since.

Editorial Reviews

11/04/2019

The fight for women’s rights perseveres through incremental progress, frustrating setbacks, and persistence in this wide-ranging history, with glorious gains celebrated along the way. Organized somewhat clunkily as a field trip through time (beginning in 4500 BCE and continuing to present day) led by an adorable, purple-skinned artificial intelligence, writer Kendall and artist D’Amico explore women’s courageous activities and activism, such as those of the shield-maidens of the Viking Age, or Josephine Baker’s espionage work on behalf of the French Resistance during WWII. The earliest chapters suffer from confusing panel layouts and stiff illustration, but this awkwardness gives way to lavish depictions of the fight for suffrage and the Harlem Renaissance. Kendall and D’Amico manage the challenge of inclusivity with aplomb. Lesser-known black activists, disability rights advocates, and Native American leaders are portrayed with the same fulsome treatment as household names such as Susan B. Anthony, all with an accessible tone and striking portraiture. Perhaps the largest omission is that of a bibliography—those looking to explore the sources relied upon are left without citations. Still, what is accomplished in these lively, jewel-toned pages speaks for itself. Agent: Charlie Olsen, Inkwell. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

This is a beautifully drawn, hold-no-punches, surprisingly deep dive through the history of women's rights around the world, which will entrance kids and adults alike.”—N. K. Jemisin, Hugo Award–winning author of the Broken Earth trilogy
 
“An absolute masterpiece: audacious, unbothered, and utterly brilliant. This thoroughly researched and urgently necessary book needs to be in every classroom, every library, every household, everywhere.”—Daniel José Older, New York Times bestselling author of The Shadowsahper Cypher and Dactyl Hill Squad 
 
 “Whip-smart, hugely entertaining, and unexpectedly moving.”—Alex de Campi, author of Bad Girls and Twisted Romance
 
“Compelling, comprehensive, and gorgeously illustrated, this book is the perfect launchpad for a thousand further investigations into inspiring and influential women.”—Scott Westerfeld, author of Impostors

“Like so much of Mikki Kendall's work, this book is vibrant, active, complicated, funny, and resists easy answers.”—Daniel Mallory Ortberg, author of The Merry Spinster and cofounder of The Toast

From the Publisher

12/01/2019

Kendall (editor, Hidden Youth: Speculative Fiction from the Margins) and D'Amico (Flowers in the Wind) present this primer on the major figures and key events in the ongoing struggle for women's rights. A group of students in a futuristic classroom are swept back to antiquity by their instructor, and an Artificial Intelligence, who then proceeds to guide them and readers on a fast-paced journey that leads to the present. Well-known leaders such as Pharaoh Hatshepsut and Queen Mary I appear alongside those perhaps lesser known to Western readers, such as Lady Xian of China and Queen Anna Nzinga of Hdongo and Matamba. This spirit of inclusivity continues throughout the book, which goes on to explore the roles women around the world play in resisting slavery and colonialism, and their contributions to the suffrage movement, civil rights, sexual revolution, and more, before concluding with a look at the current state of feminism and an urgent call to action, reminding that "equality isn't just an issue for the oppressed, it's an issue for us all." VERDICT An incredibly comprehensive resource for readers seeking a look at women's history that diverges from what is typically taught in school.

Library Journal

★ 2019-09-10
This graphic narrative traces the history of women's rights around the globe.

When their purple-skinned, white-haired AI instructor introduces the subject of women's rights, the class of six young women breaks out in argument. The instructor responds by transporting them across time and space to show them the history of women's rights. Starting with ancient Sumer, the instructor exposes her class, and consequently, readers, to influential women from diverse backgrounds by highlighting the struggles and achievements of nearly 200 individuals who were leaders in a variety of areas of pursuit, including well-known figures such as Pharaoh Hatshepsut and Harriet Tubman as well as others who deserve to be better known. The content is both historical and up to the minute, with relevance to current issues, covering, among other topics, colonization, suffrage, civil rights, redress movements, the wage gap, sexual harassment, reproductive rights, and LGBTQ rights. Kendall's (contributor: Here We Are, 2017, etc.) informative text and D'Amico's realistic full-color illustrations also include brief biographies of contemporary women, including Naelyn Pike, an environmental and Indigenous rights activist, and Alice Wong, who advocates for disability rights. The unnamed students represent a diverse range of identities and manners of gender expression: Five of the six are people of color, one has a prosthetic limb, and another is hijabi. Source notes and suggestions for further reading would have been valuable additions.

A fabulous introduction—informative, forthright, and highly appealing. (index) (Graphic nonfiction. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews