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Draw The Line

Over 100 comic artists present positive political actions anyone can take.

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"actions kids can take"

Family time: actions kids can take (part 1)

Family time: actions kids can take (part 2)

Family time: actions kids can take (part 3)

If you’re able: actions that support disabled people

Changing the world with paint and songs: actions artists can take

Strength in numbers: actions that support minorities

Tell the world: actions that raise awareness

Be a sister: actions that help women

Save the world: actions that help the environment

Flash the cash: actions that require money, or crowdfunding

Actions that make small changes to your habits for a big cumulative effect

Turn down the heat: actions that fight global warming

Actions that exercise your democratic rights – while you still have them

Far from home: actions that support asylum seekers, refugees and displaced people

Party on: have fun while doing good

Give it a chance: things that help bring world peace

Next steps

Need to know more about any of the actions suggested on this site? Here are some links to help you with your research.

If you spot a broken link, or have suggestions for sites we should add to a specific category, please let us know.


035_emily_haworth-booth ATTEND MEETINGS

  • Guardian: Want to get involved in party politics? It costs less than you think
  • Indivisible Guide: A practical guide to resisting the Trump agenda

021_rachael_ball BE A RAGING GRANNY

098_edieOP BE A TRUFFLE PIG

DrawTheLine BE AN INTROVERT

056_soizick_jaffre BE SOMEONE TO LOOK UP TO

045_kate_moon BE SOMEONE’S VOICE

083_steven_appleby BE WHO YOU ARE

085_kirsty_hunter BREAK THE CARTELS

Draw The Line BROADCAST

135_jaime_huxtable BUILD A WALL OF KINDNESS

127_kate_evans BREAK THE LAW

130_apila_pepita_miettinen CALL OUT

126_katriona_chapman CARRY WATER

129_jeroen_janssen CHANGE YOUR BUSINESS MODEL

013_david_blumenstein-50 CHECK FACTS

078_victor_szepessy CHECK YOUR VOCABULARY

  • Alternet: 11 things white people can do to become real anti-racist allies

120_joan_reilly CRAFT YOUR PROTEST

107_jacqueline_nicholls CRANK UP THE SINGER

110_dave_windett_john_gatehouse DONATE SKILLS

  • CHIRLA provides immigration legal services at low cost
  • Reach Connects charities and skilled volunteers in the UK
  • Catchafire connects social good organisations with pro bono professionals who want to donate their skills in the USA
  • Computer Weekly: Charities need donations of IT skills

074_paul_shinn DONATE YOUR WASTE GOODS

102_sarah_lippett EAT LESS MEAT

Colleen Laurent EDUCATE YOURSELF IN BLACK HISTORY

136_wallis_eates EMPLOY THE LESS EMPLOYABLE

091_myfanwy_tristram ESCHEW THE NEW

008_mijal_bloch-50 FOLLOW THE LEADERS

093_guin_thompson FOLLOW THE MONEY

043_jan_wheatley FORM A POSSE

  • Indivisible: A practical guide for resisting the Trump agenda

041_dave_mckean GIVE MINDFULLY

  • Jezebel: a list of pro-women, pro-immigrant, pro-earth, anti-bigotry organisations that need your support

022_myfanwy_tristram GO CROSS-COUNTRY

016_hunt_emerson-50 GO LARGE

036_daniel_locke GO REUSABLE

108_ricamarch_ GO SLOW

117_birta_thrastardottir GROW WILD

132_steve_reynolds HACK THE GOVERNMENT

132_steve_reynolds HACK THE STREETS

068_sally-anne_hickman HANG UP A WELCOME SIGN

023_amber_hsu HAVE YOUR DAY IN COURT

  • Kottke: Important victory for the kids suing the US over climate change

113_hannah_berry INTERPRET A NEW LIFE

090_rachael_house KICK IT OLD-SCHOOL

039_sarah_mirk KNOW THE AGENDA

040_hannah-mccann KNOW YOUR REPRESENTATIVES

  • TheyWorkForYou: UK site that makes it easy to see who your MP is and what they’ve been up to

128_kate_charlesworth LEAVE A DEPOSIT

062_siiri_viljakka LISTEN, PAY ATTENTION, & RESPECT

037_jo_harrison LOOK TO YOUR BATHROOM

009_jim_medway-50 MAKE A JOKE

  • Chequeado (which means “Checked Out”) in Latin America is a fact-checking service which sometimes creates funny songs based on politicians’ lies.

067_una MAKE A NOISE

095_zara_slattery MAKE BETTER USE OF YOUR PRIVILEGE

  • Time magazine: Black Lives Matter protest at London Airport leaves some confused

140_amy_lam MEET THE NEIGHBOURS

115_paul_peart_smith MONITOR YOUR PARLIAMENT

019_joe_decie-50 PART-OWN YOUR STUFF

122_beth_dawson PAY WELL

088_abigail_lingford PLANT A TREE

057_zara_slattery PLANT RADICAL ROOTS

061_adrien_lee POP YOUR BUBBLE

  • Reddit: Ask Trump Supporters: “Q&A subreddit to understand Trump supporters, their views, and the reasons behind those views”
  • Wired: How to Break Out of Your Social Media Echo Chamber
  • Politics.co.uk: You can break out of your echo chamber – and here’s how
  • Huff Post How To Break Out Of An Echo Chamber – Your Bubble

020_kel_winser PRINT MONEY

  • Laissez Faire: Create your own currency in four simple steps
  • Shareable: How to start a community currency
  • The Ecologist: Ten steps towards creating your own local currency
  • Chiemgauer (Wikipedia): a regional local currency started in 2003 in Prien am Chiemsee, Bavaria, Germany
  • Chiemgaur official site
  • BerkShares
  • Independent: They don’t just shop local in Totnes; they have their very own currency
  • Telegraph: What is the point of a local currency?

080_david_baillie PUT IT LIVE

  • Witness: collaborating with activists, human rights lawyers and international justice organizations to enhance the evidentiary value of video captured in the field.

111_karrie_fransman PUT OUT A WELCOME MAT

  • Jewish Voice for Peace
  • Citylab: How a simple graphic poster takes a stand against Islamophobia
  • HIAS works around the world to protect refugees who have been forced to flee their homelands because of who they are, including ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities. For more than 130 years, HIAS has been helping refugees rebuild their lives in safety and dignity.
  • UK government: how to help refugees
  • UN Refugee Agency: get involved

038_simon_russell PUT THE PRESSURE ON

092_roger_langridge PUT UP A UNITED FRONT

092_roger_langridge QUESTION SOURCES

071_landis_blair QUESTION THE NARRATIVE

  • First Draft News: dedicated to improving skills and standards in the reporting and sharing of information that emerges online

101_beata_sosnowska RECLAIM THE NIGHT

015_kripa_joshi-50 REPRESENT EVERYONE

047_ignatious_fluke REQUEST TRUTH

  • Muckrock: a list of some things you can ask the Trump administration right now
  • mySociety: FOI uncovers dubious practices by the UK government
  • WhatDoTheyKnow: UK site which makes it easy to submit an FOI request
  • Muckrock: US site which makes it easy to submit an FOI request
  • Frag Den Staat: German site which makes it easy to submit an FOI request
  • Alaveteli: FOI sites in many other countries

096_graeme_mcgregor REREAD HISTORY

075_nic_vas RESIST IMMIGRATION RAIDS

Woodrow Phoenix SEE PEOPLE AS PEOPLE

112_sha_nazir SEND A LETTER

070_richy_k_chandler SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES

Here are a couple of blogs that show people trying to give up plastic:

076_jenny_drew SHARE YOUR SKILLS

030_lucy_knisley SHOP LOCAL

004_jo_neary-50 SHOUT TO THE STREET

002_nicholas_sputnik_miller-50 SIGN, SEAL, DELIVER

104_aki_alaraatikka SLEEP OUT

133_beata_sosnowska SORT IT OUT

012_cesarlador-50 SPEAK UP AGAINST BULLYING

052_emmi_bat SPEND WISELY

  • Shop Ethical app
  • MakeUseOf: Save the world with these 5 ethical apps
  • Guardian: New app launches for ethical shopping
  • Shop Ethica: Ethical shopping apps
  • Open Corporates: making information on companies more widely available, particularly to tackle the use of companies for criminal or anti-social purposes, for example corruption, money laundering and organised crime
  • Global Beneficial Ownership Register: publishing thoughts, analysis and new around beneficial ownership transparency
  • Stop Funding Hate: UK campaign to stop big companies advertising in newspapers which encourage division and discrimination

026_rosa_devine STAND UP

  • UK Parliament: Standing for election
  • UK Parliament: Who can stand as an MP?
  • Electoral Commission (PDF): Can you stand for election?
  • Crowdfunder: A now-finished campaign funding MPs dedicated to uniting and representing all types of people, beyond party politics. You can still read about it.

138_laura_sorvala_ START A CLUB

Do something great with an extra plate.

077_fumio_obata START A COLLECTION

048_nye_wright START A PETITION

005_richard_tingley-50 STAY ANGRY

  • NY Times: Here’s an example of a very polite message that was dismissed by the then President Elect Donald Trump as ‘rude and insulting’

137_riyadh_rateme STOP THE ROT

114_karen_rubins SUPPORT A FAMILY

  • Apply for Full Community Sponsorship (UK government): Full community sponsorship is a way that community groups can be involved in supporting the resettlement of vulnerable people fleeing conflict.

101_edie op SWAP SKILLS

097_aki_alaraatikka SWITCH TO GREEN

051_zoe_sugg THROW A HASHTAG OUT THERE

125_jessica-trevino TELL STORIES

116_dave_crane TRANSITION YOUR TOWN

058_jenny_soep VOTE, VOTE, VOTE

123_mael_estevez WRITE SONGS

  • Chequeado sets to music the lies his politicians have told

About

When the political climate starts to go against your own beliefs, it’s very easy to start feeling small and powerless.

This website brings together more than 100 comic artists, each illustrating actions that anyone can take, if they want to make a difference.

Some of them are actions you can take right now. Many of them can be done on the cheap, or for no money at all. Some are suitable for kids. They all have something in common: they are non-partisan steps that any citizen can take when they don’t like the way that politics are going.

Right now, we happen to be in a time when right-wing politics have taken the front seat — but one of the driving principles behind this project has been that, even if the reverse were true, it would still provide a decent toolset for tackling injustice within society.

Why comics?

As a comic artist, it is tempting to feel that one is the least well-suited member of society to bring about change. After all, comics are frivolous, fun, and just for kids, aren’t they?

Of course, they can be all those things. But anyone who has kept an eye on the burgeoning graphic novel and small press scenes lately will have seen a strong undercurrent of persuasive, political work.

It turns out that comics can touch the soul like no other artform. Witness Olivier Kugler, who is drawing straight from refugee camps, putting refugees’ words into beautiful pictures, testifying to these people’s life stories and the conditions they live in now. Of course, they are beautiful pieces of artwork in their own right: that is part of their power. They seem easy to access, quick to read — and then pow. They pack a punch.

Kate Evans, included as a Draw The Line artist, does similar work with her Threads comic, reporting from Calais. Guy Delisle and Sarah Glidden are among the many graphic novelists who show you a first person view as they try to untangle the truth of complex political situations.

‘Political cartoonist’ doesn’t just mean people like Steve Bell any more, turning in a daily drawing for the broadsheets — although that is important work too.

What now?

Go and enjoy the illustrations and cartoons from the Draw The Line comic artists. If they do the job we have aimed for, they will inspire and give hope.

Draw The Line started as a very modest project. Myfanwy Tristram, maker of small press comics, envisioned bringing 5 or 6 of her friends on board to make a print comic that they’d sell at festivals and conventions.

The idea must have hit a spark though, because within a few days, it had snowballed into the project you see today, with over 100 artists keen to take part.

Draw The Line, the book

We always envisaged Draw The Line as a book first and foremost, and now that vision has become a reality – twice over, in fact! After we put out our own initial self-published volume, Draw The Line was picked up by a mainstream publisher and is now available from Street Noise Books.

See credits, links and thanks.

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