Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

Recently, CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein addressed the Long Island Resources Council’s Annual Conference on Libraries and the Future. The theme of this year’s meeting was “Extinction is not an Option: Ensuring OUR Future,” focusing on the future of libraries in an increasingly digital environment. Brownstein spoke about the history of comics censorship and the challenges comics will face in the future. You can listen to the discussion and download a PDF of the presentation here.

Please help support CBLDF’s important First Amendment work by bidding on original artwork, making a donation, or becoming a member of the CBLDF!

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Two weeks ago, cartoonist Susie Cagle was arrested during a night of violence that marred the Occupy Oakland protests. Despite wearing a press badge and participating peacefully, Cagle and several other nonviolent protesters were taken in for failure to leave the scene of a riot.

Michael Cavna with The Washington Post recently examined Cagle’s work in his blog, Comic Riffs, and compared it to the work of cartoonist Nate Beeler. Both cartoonists are situated in the middle of the action — Cagle in Oakland and Beeler at Occupy D.C. And both have divergent takes on the events taking place:

From his drawing board, Nate Beeler can survey it all. The block-lettered signs and dirt-caked tents, the makeshift meals and ever-present drums. The political cartoonist sits perched in the K Street NW newsroom of the Washington Examiner, on the block neatly overlooking the Occupy D.C. encampment. As the protestors go through their rhythms established from six weeks of autumn squatting, Beeler — amused — can’t help but smirk.

On the opposite coast, in the middle of Occupy Oakland, another talented young cartoonist, Susie Cagle, finds her city’s scene engrossing. So much so that she decides to draw closer, to commune with the plaza’s protestors and understand what makes them tick and picket.

You can read the rest of Cavna’s fascinating article about how these two cartoonist exercise their right to Free Speech here.

The diversity among the cartooning voices covering the Occupy movement is only possible because of the First Amendment. Please help support CBLDF’s important First Amendment work by bidding on original artwork, making a donation, or becoming a member of the CBLDF!

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Last week, cartoonist Susie Cagle was arrested during the latest round of violence that has marred the Occupy Oakland protests. Laura Hudson with Comics Alliance interviewed Cagle about the arrest.

Cagle describes the moment the police came to arrest her, along with several other demonstrators:

I found this doorway, and there were tons of people crammed in there — maybe 20 or 30. Many of them had the bright green National Lawyers Guild legal observer hats, and I thought, that is a good place to be. So I ran in there and we all put our hands up thinking this should be all right. We’re away from the action, clearly peaceful, and I have my press badge around my neck. The police come up to the doorway and are basically about to beat us, and we have to scream, “No, no, please please.” About 20 seconds later, they said, “Everyone get on the ground, you’re under arrest.”

Read the rest of Cagle’s interview here.

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