Firebrands
Activists You Didn't Learn about in School
This illustrated history celebrates American changemakers and revolutionaries that are often left out of public narratives about our shared past. These firebrands hail from Canada, Chile, and everywhere in between, from the 1500s to today.
Instead of focusing on the powerful, rich white folks so often featured in textbooks, these gorgeous portraits with accompanying biographies recognise the work of grassroots organisers, revolutionaries, visionaries, anarchists, workers, and artists. These heroes put their bodies and souls into fighting injustice and making their communities better, and they often gave their lives for the causes they believed in.
Each story is vividly illustrated by a member of Justseeds Artists' Cooperative and offers a radical glimpse into how individuals can work to change the world. A new introduction by editor Shaun Slifer launches the third edition of this beloved collection, which 15 years later remains a powerful resource for anyone of any age seeking the role models they missed out on in school.
Firebrands include Frida Kahlo, Audre Lorde, Sitting Bull, Gloria Anzaldúa, Pablo Neruda, Nina Simone, Emma Goldman, Fred Hampton, Buckminster Fuller, Paulo Freire, W.E.B. Du Bois, Sojourner Truth, Chico Mendes, Tupac Shakur, Grace Lee Boggs, Muhammad Ali, Yuri Kochiyama, and many more.
Justseeds is an artists' cooperative that focuses on environmental, social, and political engagement. Its thirty artists hail from Canada, Mexico, and the United States, and each of them bring their own unique methods and viewpoints to the table to create unified work and collective action. Just Seeds aids grassroots fights for justice by contributing graphics, produces collective portfolios, builds sculptural installations and wheatpaste, and helps each other out by offering daily support, allyship, and friendship.
Shaun Slifer is an artist, a member of the Justseeds Artists' Cooperative, and coauthor of the zine Digging Up a Tennessee Anarchist. He lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Bec Young is a visual artist based in Detroit, Michigan who seeks to inspire-and draw inspiration from-movements for justice and ecological wellness. She works primarily in printmaking, paper-cutting, illustration, and installation. Her practice also includes direct interactions within communities, empowering others, skill-sharing, and facilitating change. She is a member of the Justseeds Artists' Cooperative.
