A review by helenareadsbooks
Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists: A Graphic History of Women's Fight for Their Rights by Mikki Kendall

informative reflective

4.5

Amazons, Abolitionists, & Activists is a graphic novel by Mikki Kendall and A. D’Amico that illustrates the history of women’s fight for their rights. It discusses suffrage, reproductive rights and feminism, but it also has chapters dedicated to discussing colonialism, abolition, civil rights, and labour rights. It tells a linear narrative starting with women in antiquity, and explores the different challenges faced by women across the world and the movements that created change. 
 
The best aspect of this book is how inclusive it is. It focuses on women of colour, spotlights trans women and discusses the disability rights movement. It excels at showing the interconnectedness of our struggles and takes an intersectional approach to discussing women’s rights. This book celebrates women, but it also doesn’t shy away from criticizing white feminism and pointing out that some historical women leaders contributed to the suffering of other women. That said, I noticed two things: 
  1. The actions of queens like Isabella I are downplayed. It mentions her support of Columbus but ignores her other vile actions.
  2. No Palestinian (or Hawaiian or Iranian) women are included, not even at the end when it spotlights women fighting for our rights in present day.
 
My only other criticism of the book is that it would have been helpful to include more discussions about the facts it presents—including more details or expanding on ideas in some areas of the book would clarify the facts, and I think this is especially important for any young readers who pick this up. Otherwise, this book is well-researched and leaves no room to deny the information it presents.
 
This book is a great reminder of how far we’ve come, but it’s also a reminder of how far we have to go. It emphasizes that we all need to work together to create change because the fight for human rights, not just women's rights, isn’t over, and this is evident by current global humanitarian crises: Roe v Wade has been overturned, rates of sexual violence are escalating in Sudan, Palestinians don’t have access to sanitary products and are using tent scraps as pads, and Congolese people are being exploited for labour in cobalt mines. These are just a few of the crises happening and they impact us all. The book ends with a call to action, and I’m sure readers of this book will be inspired to take action and learn more about the movements that got us to where we are today, as well as the liberation movement happening now. 🍉