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If you’re like me, you might be having difficulty figuring out what to do with yourself now that the hateful, fascistic president we all hoped had been banished from power for good in 2020 is back in power. With certain people trying their hardest to normalize what is happening, you might even feel like there is not only nothing you can do but no reason to do anything at all.
This is not normal. The fight is not over. And yes, there are things you can do.
The graphic anthology Girl Rebels spotlights several names you already know (Malala and Greta) and several that may be less familiar, like Yusra Mardini, a Syrian swimmer who joined the inaugural Refugee Olympic Team in Rio in 2016. The one thing each comic’s subject has in common: she faced, and overcame, tremendous odds to make a real difference in her own life, her community, and the world.
Each affecting story is told by a different creative team that showcases each girl’s unique situation and personality—and each one ends with a photograph of the story’s subject, driving home just how young they were when they set out on their respective missions (and still are as they continue the fight). While imperfect—the book defines Asperger syndrome but fails to mention that this is an outdated diagnosis—Girl Rebels shows that you don’t have to sit back and accept the unacceptable.
It doesn’t matter who you are—if there is a cause that you feel strongly about, there is something you can do about it. Sure, most of us won’t garner international attention and acclaim, but that’s not the point of activism. Maybe you have just enough spare time or money to volunteer or donate to charity. Maybe you can write to your state or local representatives urging action on important issues. If you’re feeling really ambitious, you can attend or organize protests or run for office. Or maybe all you can do right now is lend emotional support to those in the thick of the fight or who are struggling to cope— as the stories in Girl Rebels show, familial support was often essential to their success.
You can’t fix everything, but that doesn’t give you permission to do nothing.
Because, as good as it feels to read about other people accomplishing amazing things, the books won’t save us. By itself, reading the “right” books doesn’t count as resisting, persisting, or protesting. You need to go beyond that and put what you read into practice. So don’t just read Girl Rebels. Look at where you are, what you care about, and what you have to give. And let the stories of the rebels who have come before provide you with the comfort of knowing that people are out there fighting for you —and that you have the ability to fight, too.
