5 Heart-Warming Examples of Inclusive and Accessible Activism

April 25, 2016 / Robot Hugs

Is your activism as inclusive and accessible as you want it to be?

Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of putting together events, rallies, and education, we don’t notice who we’re leaving out.

Does someone need a college degree to understand the vocabulary you’re using? Does being low-income mean they can’t afford to get into your event?

It can be hard to keep track of all the details of being inclusive. But here’s a good start – a comic that shows some of the common ways people are excluded due to disability, class, and more.

Each example has some practical ideas for making sure everyone’s included. Can you think of any other solutions to these problems?

With Love,
The Editors at Everyday Feminism

Click for the Transcript

Accessibility

Title: Is your activism as Accessible and Inclusive as you want it to be?

(This comic is set up in groups of three panels: the first describes a situation in activism, the second shows how someone may be excluded from participating, and the third suggests a remedy for that exclusion)

Row 1 (this row introduces the structure of the comic)

Panel 1

Text: Sometimes the coordination of feminist activism, events, or education…

Panel 2

Text: …fails to consider the ways that people may be excluded from participation.

Panel 3

Text: As organizers and community leaders, it’s our responsibility to ask “Who is included, and who is excluded?” and to do our best to break down those barriers to participation.

Row 2

Panel 4

(Two people are talking)

Person 1: There’s this awesome feminist zine fair this Saturday! You should come!

Panel 5

(Person 2 is with two children. One is tugging their arm and asking a question, the other is crying. Person 2 looks overwhelmed).

Panel 6

(Person 2 and the children are entering a room signed “Feminist Zine Fair – Childcare Room”.)

Row 3

Panel 7

(Person 3 is talking to Person 4)

Person 3:. There’s a big pro-choice protest this afternoon outside the courthouse. It’s our last chance to make ourselves heard!

Panel 8

Boss: (speaking to person 3) Well, sure, you can take this afternoon off. But if you do, don’t bother coming in tomorrow.

Panel 9

(a pro-choice protest – there are a number of people, and signs with pro-choice slogans. Person 3 is standing at the front and speaking through a megaphone)

Person 3: Another letter from someone who couldn’t be here today: ‘At the age of 24, when I found out I was pregnant…’

Row 4

Panel 10

(A flyer advertises the schedule for Toronto’s Weekly Feminist Speaking Series)

Text on the schedule: 5-6 pm Meet and Greet, 6-8pm Discussion Panel – Examining Regulative Discourses and Socialized Gender Performances – Butler Revisited.

Panel 11

(The same flyer is shown, but instead of the title of the discussion panel, it says: ‘Don’t bother, you’re not welcome here without a Bachelor’s Degree’)

Panel 12

(Sheet of paper, titled Panel Proposal Checklist)

Text on the paper: This series is intended to encourage discussion and participation from different perspectives and diverse backgrounds.

Do the speakers in your panel reflect that? How?
What are you assuming attendees already know?
How are you approaching this topic, in an experience-first way rather than a theory-first way?

Row 5

Panel 13

(A website advertises a Workshop called Assault, Resilience, and Self Care. Beneath is a ‘sign up’ button)

Panel 14

(Person 4 is looking at the website, talking to themselves. They look unhappy).

Person 4: $200 a ticket, across town, not transit accessible. Forget it.

Panel 15

(The same website is shown, but below the ‘sign up’ button, it says “or stream the event at a reduced rate”, with a ‘go’ button)

Row 6

Panel 16

(Librarian is standing beside shelves of books).

Librarian: Our resource library includes all the feminist greats! We have hundreds of books that you can read any time!

Panel 17

(We see that the librarian is speaking to a blind person, who is shrugging)

Panel 18

(The librarian is in the same scenario, but now says…)

Librarian: Our library includes paperback, audio, and electronic book, videos, and webinars.

To learn more about this topic, check out:

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Robot Hugs is a webcomic that discusses identity, gender, and sexuality, explores depression and mental illness, and often includes cats. The creator lives in Toronto; they have a degree in Linguistics and a graduate degree in Information Studies. Specifically, they identify as a non-binary genderqueer peoplequeer mentally ill non-monogamous kinky critical feminist robot. Their hobbies include worrying, being concerned about things they can’t change, being angry, being uselessly angry, hiding from the world, and knitting. Follow Robot Hugs on Twitter @RobotHugsComic.