Rise Up! The Art of Protest

Praise

Published in collaboration with Amnesty International, this book combines protest art spanning two centuries with a strong message of encouragement to young activists all over the world.In her foreword, Mari Copeny, who drew President Barack Obama’s attention to the Flint water crisis in 2014, exhorts young people to “speak up for ourselves because it’s our present, and our future, that are at stake.” Each chapter deals with a specific issue, including women’s rights, racial justice, peace, youth rights, LGBTQ rights, and environmental issues. A short essay introduces each topic, prefaced by inspirational statements from key activists and politicians, including Gloria Steinem, Nelson Mandela, Ban Ki-moon, and Jane Goodall. The accompanying posters are the main event, most selections covering several decades. Each artwork is accompanied by a detailed caption explaining its significance and the historical situation that inspired it. The statement from David Hogg, a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in 2018, sums up the core message of the book. “If you don’t make your voices heard in the real world, nothing will change.” From the fight for women’s suffrage to Black Lives Matter, this book will be a useful tool for students exploring the story of activism. An effective survey of art that speaks truth to power.
—Kirkus Reviews

Beautiful, bold, eye-catching posters from protests around the world over the last 100 years are the focus of this book, which was written in collaboration with Amnesty International. After a foreword by teen activist Mari Copeny, chapters cover protests in support of women’s rights, civil rights, world peace, student protests, LGBTQ rights, and environmental issues. Information about Amnesty International’s work with human rights is included at the end. The featured posters, which depict events and movements such as the Stonewall riots, Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, and the March for Our Lives, are accompanied by brief explanations of historical significance. Each chapter begins with an inspirational quote from a figure like Margaret Mead, Gloria Steinem, Nelson Mandela, Ban Ki-moon, or David Hogg. Other influential people, like Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai, are mentioned, too. These evocative and powerful posters show the impact that an image or statement can have in creating change and will inspire young people to “speak truth to power.”
—Booklist

Produced in collaboration with Amnesty International, Rise Up! is a stirring account of the history of protest and an inspoiring walk through a long tradition of protest art. The volume combines high-quality reproductions of protest artwork and posters with the discussion of movements from eighteenth-century women’s suffrage in Europe to the ongoing global fight for LGBTQ+ rights and the contemporary Black Lives Matter movement to give new meaning to the idea that it is beautiful to fight for what is right.
—The Children’s Book Review