I should perhaps save this one for February 10th, the day of the protest, but it was one of the most interesting things I’ve read online this year, so I didn’t want to wait.

I am a voracious reader of the comics, a habit that must have its roots in my childhood love of Peanuts and the multitude of those cartoon collections we had around the house growing up. I am not really a newspaper reader anymore, but there are plenty of places on the internet to find and read these comics. (I do struggle with slight guilt over the knowledge that my reading comics online does nothing for the cartoonist’s bottom line, but I am not sure what I can really do about that.)

I make a point to read comic strips written by people of color because it shows what a cool white person I am it provides me additional opportunities to have my eyes opened to the larger world around me, and gives me a much-needed perspective that I wouldn’t get otherwise. I have written here before about the conflicting feelings I’ve struggled with in terms of one of my favorite cartoons, “The Boondocks”, but (and this is in part the point of the upcoming protest) there are many other comic strips out there that provide a variety of perspectives, and I see each comic strip I read as another piece of my education.

So the idea of this protest is intriguing to me, and I’ll be watching it closely to see what kind of reaction it gets. I hope that it will draw some attention and create some conversations, but maybe I’m too optimistic.

 and here’s a perspective from another blogger who believes that this current crisis is indicative of a larger problem with the comics world in general . . . and maybe this is why I am captivated by this story . . . comics as a dying medium, resisting the reality that the world is changing and that survival depends on our embracing “the other” . . . sure. that doesn’t remind me at all of any institution I’m a part of!